By inadvertence, I have updated my M5 11" iPad Pro to iPadOS 27.0.1. The result is disastrous for me with my tremor, making the iPad almost unusable!
Under 26.x, whether attached to the keyboard or not, I could pull down from the top to reveal traffic lights, and on many apps a set of menus, just like one gets on MacOS. They stayed in place, allowing me to select from them as needed,
Under 27.0.1:
whether attached to the keyboard or not, dragging down from the top just takes me to the home screen… no traffic lights, no menus;
when not attached to the keyboard, to get the traffic lights to be able to close an app, I need to drag up and left from the bottom right corner to take the window out of full screen, then move it down so that the traffic lights which are revealed are not behind the time and date display and so can be accessed. But there is no way to access any menus!
when attached to the keyboard, using the touch screen is the same. However, using the trackpad with care and finding the right point at the top of the screen the traffic lights and the menus are revealed. However, the whole thing is not only shifted left, compared to where it was under 26.x, but is also very pixel-sensitive within a very narrow area. I find trackpads difficult to use thanks to my tremor… I have not yet succeeded in accessing the traffic lights or a menu entry.
I am recharging a spare mouse in the hope that I can use that, but of course that is not much use when not sitting at a table or desk… in an armchair or in bed.
Unless anyone here has any suggestions how to overcome this, I’m going to have to explore reverting to iPadOS 26.x.
I’m on 27.2, so not sure if this is the same, but for accessing the traffic lights while in full screen with the menu hidden, double-tapping anywhere along the top edge (menu bar area, even though it’s not all showing) bumps the window out of full screen and reveals the traffic light buttons in a small pill, which you can tap to enlarge and access the buttons.
For the menu, on 27.2 and I think in previous versions, you can disable the option in Settings under Multitasking & Gestures to Automatically Show And Hide Menu Bar, which will leave it always accessible. Otherwise, if the bar is hidden, unfortunately the only way I know is to tap on the app name, which is as you point out a small area.
If the menu bar is shown, tapping anywhere in the menu names will also reveal the traffic light icons, at the full size.
On iOS 27, to get the traffic lights and menu bar, you have to tap the app name at the top of the screen (next to the date). I don’t know why they changed this, because it was much quicker to swipe down from the top than it is to tap on the specific location of the app name, but there you go.
Mark, I too, downgraded to 26 almost immediately. As long as you have a recent backup you can restore from that backup. It’s a quick process.
I do recall that things in the menu bar in 27 were moved around, saving the top center for Apple Intelligence stuff, as I recall. The traffic lights are now in the far left corner rather than closer to the center. I was able to access them by just moving my cursor (I use the Apple Magic Keyboard always with my iPad) up to the left corner and then they’d pop down as previously with the menu, without pulling the app out of fullscreen. I hadn’t tried 27 without the keyboard, but any access of the traffic lights would be in that upper far left of the screen.
I downgraded due to numerous colour rendering issues of menus and sidebars in dark mode in 27. The processes determining the colours of those led to some being too light, as though they were inactive, or too dark to read easily.
Honestly I just turn off that windowing mode when I am not testing it, as it adds a lot of complication and delicacy to a significant portion of the screen, and for so little benefit. Search for “Full-Screen” in settings, to go back to how iPads worked before the change (roughly, it’s still a bit broken).
It’s not that I think floating windows are a bad idea on a tablet in general, I just think Apple’s approach to them, and all of the little ways they get triggered (by so much as tapping a button with too much angular moment, something I seem to do a lot of) has never struck me as all that useful, and rather kind of awkward instead. Split view went from elegant and simple to this weird, fiddly mess that takes what seems like fifteen steps to set up and then later tear down.
The only real downside is that Apple rather stupidly forgot to add the menu bar to full screen mode, and also removed the really useful slide-out sidebar where you could dock utilities, which to me makes way more sense than clunky floating windows, as well as split view. Over all it seems like Full Screen is to their mind “Legacy Mode”, and we should just chin up and accept how right they are about window mode, because they have no intention of keeping it evolving and uniquely useful.
Thanks a lot everyone for your input. I just have upgraded to 27.2 but haven’t noted any significant change. I have turned off Siri and need to disable all the intrusive data-mining (“learn from”!) in other apps. At my age and what I do, I have no use for “help” from AI… I don’t want things made easy, I want to learn from having to do things and from interacting with my apps.
@MimeticMouton I have been using your double-tap to take the window out of full screen and expose the traffic lights. That really helps. Downside is that the app then re-opens in the smaller window and I have to go through whatever is necessary to take it back to full screen for working. I’ll look into having the menu bar always visible.
@KB I too wonder why they replaced the swipe-down with a tap; it was much more efficient before. If you have an essential tremor like me, or are even more unfortunate in having Parkinson’s, tapping is more problematic than swiping, as it is difficult to ensure one is tapping in the right place. Perhaps someone in an appropriate position in Apple interface technology will one day become aware of this kind of disability.
@kpedgecomb I’m still bearing the possibility of downgrading in mind. My problem is not with colour rendering; so far I don’t have any problem with liquid glass. My problem is a motor one… my fingers are never still and using a trackpad I either over- or undershoot out of the zone, closing the bar down before I can click. I also have difficulty with the trackpad on my MBA, though it is a tad less sensitive, so I use a mouse whenever I can.
@AmberV Thanks for pointing out the “Full Screen” option in Settings. I’ll be looking at @MimeticMouton’s advice to make the menu bar always accessible. With that set too, I might well get on much better and not need to downgrade.
