Early iPadOS26 Thoughts

I downloaded the lasted iPadOS public beta 6 last night on my main M4 iPad Pro 11”. Here are my initial thoughts:

• Love the Liquid Glass UI update. First beta release looked like legibility was a problem but not anymore. Animations and transitions between states are beautiful.
• Multitasking feels like an improvement though I’m still getting used to not having access to Slide-Over. Stage Manager and Windowed Apps Mode are flexible and natural but I can’t find keyboard shortcuts or trackpad gesture to access the Stage Manager Recent Apps sidebar.
• I don’t like the jumbo circular buttons for the default apps. They feel like out of place and distracting. Wish there was a way to turn that off.
• Glad Apple brought the Phone app to the iPad.
• Finder app updates are nice. Feels capable of handling serious file management workflows.
• Folders in the Dock means I can mirror my Mac setup by putting the Downloads and Inbox folders on my Dock.
• Photos app pulled back on design reverting a simpler Library and Collections view. Much better in my opinion.

That’s about it for now. I didn’t dive into background tasks, iMessage changes, Translation capabilities or new Shortcuts features yet. I’m debating whether to install the beta on my main iPhone 16 Pro Max.