Question about iPadOS 15 slide over app

[Saint_Blaise]

After I select a slide over app, it stops being the slide over app when I open the specific app on its own. Is that the correct behavior?? I seem to remember it going back to being the slide over app in iPadOS 14 and 15 betas 1 and 2 and losing its status only when the iPad is restarted.

 

[fwmireault]

I can’t say if it’s the expected behavior, but it is the way it works on my iPad. I am actually on beta 4 and it is the same.

 

[Saint_Blaise]

I can’t say if it’s the expected behavior, but it is the way it works on my iPad. I am actually on beta 4 and it is the same.

Which one? Keeps slide over status after its opened or loses it?

 

[fwmireault]

Which one? Keeps slide over status after its opened or loses it?

Sorry for the lack of precision. It loses it if I open a slide over app in full size or in split view

 

[Saint_Blaise]

Sorry for the lack of precision. It loses it if I open a slide over app in full size or in split view

Thanks. Unfortunately I don't have an iPad with 14 to see how it handles the slide over app.

 

[gnomeisland]

It depends on the app, doesn't it? With apps that support multiple instances it will keep the slide-over instance in place (sometimes, I'll admit this seem inconsistent).

Honestly, I wish things would stay in slide over unless explicitly moved by the user. I also wish Apple pushed more developers to support multiple instances. The new multi-tasking makes it easier to keep different "setups" of split-screen apps for different tasks in the background. Apps that don't support that throw off my workflow.

 

[Saint_Blaise]

It depends on the app, doesn't it? With apps that support multiple instances it will keep the slide-over instance in place (sometimes, I'll admit this seem inconsistent).

Honestly, I wish things would stay in slide over unless explicitly moved by the user. I also wish Apple pushed more developers to support multiple instances. The new multi-tasking makes it easier to keep different "setups" of split-screen apps for different tasks in the background. Apps that don't support that throw off my workflow.

If instancing is the issue, I don't think any apple apps support multiple instances for slide over on 15 so far. I do like how split view is handled. I wish slide over would stay even on the home screen but I understand that would conflict with changing pages.

 

[BigBlur]

I have iPadOS 14 on my main device and just tried the slide over using Notes. It works as you described, it stays being the slide over app after Notes has been opened on its own.

On iOS 15, it does not. A workaround though is to long press the app and tap ‘Show All Windows’, and then tap the ‘+’ button in the upper-right corner to start a new instance. This leaves the slide over one alone and remains being the slide over app.

 

[Saint_Blaise]

I have iPadOS 14 on my main device and just tried the slide over using Notes. It works as you described, it stays being the slide over app after Notes has been opened on its own.

On iOS 15, it does not. A workaround though is to long press the app and tap ‘Show All Windows’, and then tap the ‘+’ button in the upper-right corner to start a new instance. This leaves the slide over one alone and remains being the slide over app.

Thanks for checking that. I am going to submit a feedback/bug report. I am able to create another window of some apps by tapping on the open app's dock icon. Unfortunately, I can't for music, which is really the only app I want to stay in slide over.

 

[achappy]

I have iPadOS 14 on my main device and just tried the slide over using Notes. It works as you described, it stays being the slide over app after Notes has been opened on its own.

On iOS 15, it does not. A workaround though is to long press the app and tap ‘Show All Windows’, and then tap the ‘+’ button in the upper-right corner to start a new instance. This leaves the slide over one alone and remains being the slide over app.

Thank you for this!! I was struggling to understand why my slide overs would disappear periodically. One of my main workflows on iOS 14 was to have commonly used apps like Messages, Calendar, Reminders in slide over and that way I can use them at any time from any app. That wasn’t working.

Not sure if I like the current implemenation because if you open one of the wrong windows you then loose the Slide over.

 

[Saint_Blaise]

Thank you for this!! I was struggling to understand why my slide overs would disappear periodically. One of my main workflows on iOS 14 was to have commonly used apps like Messages, Calendar, Reminders in slide over and that way I can use them at any time from any app. That wasn’t working.

Not sure if I like the current implemenation because if you open one of the wrong windows you then loose the Slide over.

I think it’s a bug. If not it’s a very poor decision.

 

[blast87]

I am having this same issue. I had 3-4 apps I would keep in slide over for my workflow. This change is insanely frustrating. I hope its a bug.

I tried having 2 windows open for the same app, so that one would hypotheticall be the slide over window and the other be the full screen option. But that does not work

 

[Shirasaki]

I lean on its apples intentional design choice rather than a bug. That behavior has been like that since iPadOS 13 or 14 iirc. For most apps that doesn’t support multiple instances, slideover means no full screen app.

Unless Apple overhauls iPadOS windows management to something more like macOS, slideover will lose full screen or split view unless multiple instances are supported.