The Biggest Update to iPadOS 26: Why Background Tasking is the Real Game Changer

The latest update to iPadOS 26 has everyone buzzing about one feature: floating apps. Yes, floating windows! Apple has officially unveiled iPadOS 26, and they’re all about making the iPad feel more like a MacBook. Now, apps can float, glide, resize, and generally roam around your screen, offering a dynamic and futuristic experience.

Sounds great, right? It’s definitely something Apple fans have been waiting for, but let’s pause for a moment and ask: is this the update we really needed?

Don’t get me wrong, floating windows are cool, and they do bring some fun to the table. But in reality, most of us don’t need seven apps open at once to feel productive. Sure, it’s fun to juggle windows like a caffeinated octopus, but that’s not exactly how the majority of us use our iPads – especially if you’re working with an 11-inch screen. There’s something peaceful about the old iPad experience: one task, one focus. It’s like meditation for the digital age… well, except when your export crashes at 87% because you tapped on a notification. But that’s a different kind of zen.

The true star of iPadOS 26, however, isn’t the floating apps. It’s the game-changing update that allows your iPad to handle heavy background tasks without grinding to a halt. Finally! Remember those days when you’d be exporting a 4K video, editing a podcast, or batch-processing photos, and the second you switched apps, your iPad would freeze, politely reminding you that multitasking was more of a suggestion than a feature? Not anymore.

Now, with iPadOS 26, your background tasks continue to run smoothly, even when you switch apps. You can edit a video, export it, answer a message, doomscroll on Twitter, and still return to a fully rendered project. It’s a revolutionary feature that turns the iPad from a device that sometimes feels like it’s pretending to be a pro tool into a legitimate creative powerhouse that doesn’t penalize you for being distracted.

While I’ll still be using my iPad in single-app mode most of the time – because that’s just the vibe I like – the ability to easily check social media while my video project finishes? Now that’s something I can get behind. And as I mentioned in my WWDC 2025 recap, this update will definitely shut down the jokes from my colleagues who’ve been teasing me for working off an iPad!