All that you wish to know about iPad Drag and Drop, Multitasking, and Split View in iOS 11

January 23, 2018September 25, 2017 Kamal Kaur

With the coming of iOS 11 last year there are many new interesting features of explore and make use of. One of them is the multi tasking feature for all of your 64 bit apps on the new dock of this IOS. This new dock also looks like Mac with a rounded rounded overlay interface, and can store many more apps. You can also now access it from any app with a small swipe up from the bottom of the screen, and switch apps with a tap. The tablets that are getting this new iOS 11 multitasking features are Apple’s 64 bit iPad line like the 12.9-inch iPad Pro first and second generation, 10.5-inch iPad Pro. Also 9.7-inch iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad, 5th generation, iPad mini 4, iPad mini 3 and iPad mini 2 as these apps have 4 GB of RAM you won’t be able to use every split view and slide over feature with these tabs.

New Split View and Slide Over controls

Split View and Slide Over have gotten super-charged in iOS 11, letting you have more open panels than ever before. Split View will also allow you to actively swap panels with different apps, and control which apps sit on which side of the screen.

Latest iOS 11 allows iPad users to sit two iPad apps side by side while working. But how you get into Split View in iOS 11 is a little different. As before, to enter Split View, you open the first app you’d like to use. But from there, there’s no side-of-the-screen swiping. Instead, you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to pull up your Dock, and drag the app you want to use onto the left or right side of the screen.

Split View iOS11 — Split View on iPad pro iOS 11: Source iGeeks

A single Slide Over window appears, showcasing the new app on top of the existing one, both the Slide Over app and active app can be interacted with simultaneously (if your iPad supports it). This means that even if an app hasn’t implemented true Split View support, you can use two apps simultaneously without having to constantly open and dismiss a Slide Over app. You can also move the Slide Over panel to either side of the screen at any time, so you’re not blocking the content you need.

It’s additionally easy to turn that Slide Over panel into a proper Split View screen if the apps in question support it: Just drag down on the top edit handle to pull the app into Split View mode; you can then adjust the vertical edit handle to change the sizing of each panel.

In Split View, you can look at applications in three ways when holding the iPad horizontally:

50-50: Each app takes up the exact same real estate on the iPad.
25-75: The app on the left takes up just 25% of the screen, with the right app taking up 75%.
75-25: The app on the left takes up 75% of the screen, with the right app taking up 25%.
When holding the iPad vertically, you’ll only have the 25-75 or 75-25 options.

You can also adjust which pane is on the left, and which is on the right: Tap and drag the top slider to swap it to the left or right side of the screen. You can also drag it down again to return it to Slide Over mode.

Also swap out different apps in Split View The best way is to pull up the Dock and go from there. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen, then drag the app you wish to use from the Dock into one of the Split View instances. It will then take over that instance, populating with the app in question.

To launch an app that isn’t in your Dock, you can return to the Home screen with the Home button, highlight the app in question, and use a second finger to re-open your original app.
To return a Split View app to a Slide Over panel you need only pull down again on the top edit handle.

If you wish to get rid of the Slide Over panel just swipe to the left or right to sweep the Slide over panel off the screen. It will continue to live on that side of the screen, so you can slide it back into existence at any time.

To exit Split View, you can drag the center edit handle all the way to the left or right side of the screen to have one of the two apps take over the entirety of the screen; from there, you can change the current app by opening the Dock, or swiping all the way up to enter the App Switcher, which contains snapshots of every app you’ve opened on your iPad.

You can alternatively search in Spotlight for a new app: Pull down from the top of the screen to access the new Lock screen/Notification Center, then swipe right to access the Search bar and type in your app query.

https://youtu.be/6EoMgUYVqqc

Note that each iPad model has a slightly different implementation of Split View, based on internal RAM and screen size.

iPad mini 2 and 3, and iPad Air can’t use true Split View; instead, they’ll be able to pull up a single Slide Over implementation.
iPad mini 4 (7.9-inch iPad) & all supported 9.7-inch iPads all use the Compact size class when going into Split View: This means that after you set two apps into Split View, those apps will display iPhone-style UI when set side by side in a 50-50 split, and one iPad, one iPhone-style when in a 25-75 or 75-25 split.
Because of RAM limitations on these iPads, you can pull up a maximum of two Split View apps with both in focus; you can also pull up to two Split View apps, one Slide Over app, and a Picture-in-Picture video all on the same screen, but only the Slide Over app will be in focus.
5-inch iPad Pro uses the Compact size class when going into Split View: This means that after you set two apps into Split View, those apps will display iPhone-style UI when set side by side in a 50-50 split, and one iPad, one iPhone-style when in a 25-75 or 75-25 split.
This iPad has 4GB of RAM, allowing it to pull up a maximum of two Split View apps, one Slide Over app, and a Picture-in-Picture video all on the same screen; all will be in focus.
9-inch iPads uses the Regular size class when going into Split View: This means that after you set two apps into Split View, those apps will display iPad-style UI when set side by side in a 50-50, 25-75 or 75-25 split.
This iPad has 4GB of RAM, allowing it to pull up a maximum of two Split View apps, one Slide Over app, and a Picture-in-Picture video all on the same screen; all will be in focus.

The App Switcher

You can either swipe all the way up from the bottom of the screen or use a four-finger swipe upward to access the App Switcher, which squishes App Spaces and Control Center together in an easy-to-access location. It essentially replaces both iOS’s Multitasking View and that awkward grey vertical scrolling space when swapping apps in Split View in iOS 9 and 10; instead, you’re presented with a horizontally-scrolling thumbnail gallery of every app you’ve ever opened — including those saved in Split View configurations.

Also to force quit apps in the new App Switcher all you need is to Tap and hold on any app (or App Space) to bring up Edit mode; from there, tap on the X in the upper left corner of the app or App Space to remove it.

Drag and Drop

Drag and drop has offers full support for dragging apps, documents, photos, text, and more, all with a tap and hold. Drag and Drop uses a touch-and-hold based multitouch interface to let you drag a remarkable amount of items inside an app itself, or even between apps using the Dock or Home button. To choose something to drag, simply highlight it and tap and hold — the item will enlarge slightly and its opacity will dim.

You can interact with any other item on screen or the Home button itself while in Drag mode — for instance, you can start dragging a photo in the Photos app, press the Home button, open the Files app from the Home screen, add a file to the selection from iCloud Drive, bring up the Dock, then drop your Photos and file attachments in a Mail message.

https://youtu.be/AvBVCe4mLx8

From here, you can use a secondary finger (or fingers) to either bring up the Dock or App Switcher while continuing to hold on that original item; you can navigate with your secondary fingers until you’ve found the app you wish to drop the item in, then hover it over the instance. The app will then double-pulse and open; if you can add the item to the new app, you’ll see a green plus button in the upper right corner once you see it, you’re free to release your hold on the item. Otherwise, releasing your hold will snap it back to its original location.

You can drag multiple items. After you tap the first item, use secondary fingers to lightly tap any and all additional items you want to move. You can even combine items from separate apps if you so choose as Drag states are persistent through app switching.

With iOS 11, you can thus quickly move multiple apps around on your iPad just press and hold on an app until you see it enter Edit mode; from there, use multiple fingers to tap on any secondary apps you wish to select, then move them to the appropriate screen or folder.

If you long press to drag an app into Split View note that the iPad doesn’t have 3D Touch, it’s all about how long you hold it: When you press and hold for a few moments, the icon will enlarge slightly and wiggle, letting you know it’s ready to be used for Split View. Continue to hold it, and it will go into full-on wiggle mode with the X in its upper right corner — that’s Edit mode.

https://youtu.be/q8EGFVuU0b4

The new dock now has more space and can accommodate up to 13 static apps on the 9.7-inch, and more on the larger options. As before, you can drag apps you love to the Dock to save them there; iOS will also intelligently suggest up to three more recently opened apps along the right side of the screen from which to pick. In apps, the Dock is omnipresent, too. All you need is to swipe up from the bottom of the screen in any app, and the Dock appears, ready to switch to a different app, open up an app in Slide Over mode, or enter Split View.

So make full use of these new features and multi tasking screens as the iPad’s new Control Center is set up with widgets on the right side of the screen, the Dock along the bottom, and App Spaces — app thumbnails, along with Split View instances with easy swipes.