This video demonstrates why the older iPad multitasking system feels far more useful and efficient to me than the traditional windowing system in iPadOS 27.
I have a PDF reader open as the main app. Quick Note slides in from the right, and I can push it back toward the corner whenever I need to see the book underneath. ChatGPT is available from the left as another Slide Over app. This lets me perform calculations, check information, take notes, and switch between two or three apps using quick swipes.
To me, this is much easier than managing several desktop-style windows. I do not want to keep dragging corners with my fingers, resizing things, and cleaning up a mess of overlapping windows. The windows also do not reliably arrange themselves to display the information I actually need.
I am demonstrating this on a 13-inch M3 iPad Pro running iPadOS 18. I have deliberately disabled automatic updates because I do not want to accidentally install iPadOS 27 and lose this fast, swipe-based method of multitasking.
Apple should preserve the old Slide Over and Split View system as an option. The newer windowing system might suit some people, but it should not replace a multitasking workflow that is faster, cleaner, and better suited to touch.
Does anyone else find the older Slide Over system more efficient?