AUGUST 2021 MACWORLD 57off the side of the screen with a
translucent arrow widget indicating that it’s
ready to be resurfaced.
Even if you discount all the other
evidence that Apple is building a
foundation for free windowing on the iPad,
it’s extremely hard to look at Quick Note
and believe anything else. It’s an
independent floating window layered
above other apps. Windowing on the iPad
isn’t just inevitable. It’s already here.
APPS OF ALL SHAPES
AND SIZES
One of the biggest arguments against
offering Mac-style windowing on the iPad
is that iPad (and iPhone) apps aren’t built
to be infinitely resizable the way Mac
windows are.
There’s truth in that,
though it’s not true as it
once was. Modern iOS
apps have to adapt to
numerous screen sizes
and orientations. And
once again, the Mac
shows the way: If you use
an iOS app on an M1 Mac,
you’ll see that they’re
resizable—with limits.
I doubt that any iPad
windowing scheme would
offer pixel-perfect resizing
of the sort the Mac offers.
But imagine resizing a window and
having it snap to a bunch of different
aspect ratios and sizes—corresponding
to the dimensions of various supported
Apple devices.
iOS apps can be chameleons. I think
I’d actually prefer to run the iPhone layout
of some apps on my iPad. Some apps are
a bit ridiculous on a 12.9-inch display, but
quite delightful when displayed in the
compact frame of an iPhone 12 mini.IT’S GOT MENUS,
BAR OPTIONAL
It’s not just windows. Apple is also
rebuilding the Mac menu bar on the iPad,
and it’s doing it in plain sight. Hold down
the Globe or Command keys in iPadOS 15,
and you’ll see an overlay that lists all the