{"slug": "ipados", "name": "iPadOS", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 2, "commenters": 3, "warners": 1, "score": 0.963, "rising": 2.0, "first": "2026-09-02", "latest": "2026-10-20", "why": "for all it\u2019s faults the iPad + iPadOS feels like a futuristic technology preview of macOS", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 0, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1], "listed": false, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "for all it\u2019s faults the iPad + iPadOS feels like a futuristic technology preview of macOS", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["iPadOS"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 802766320, "item_id": 50172895, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50172895", "by": "Ancapistani", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used an Android tablet for years prior to the iPad Pro releasing, and iPadOS is much better.", "excerpt": "> It is the best selling tablet brand, but that doesn't mean much when you look at the absolute garbage the rest of the industry is putting out. That\u2019s where I am. I love my iPad, because I love the tablet form factor. I used an Android tablet for years prior to the iPad Pro releasing, and iPadOS is much better. I\u2019ve played with Android tablets periodically since but they don\u2019t seem to care about the form factor at a", "context": "", "use_case": "tablet OS", "switched_from": "Android", "story": "Apple broke an essential presentation feature of iPads"}, {"id": 792665666, "item_id": 49541604, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49541604", "by": "armadyl", "date": "2026-09-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "for all it\u2019s faults the iPad + iPadOS feels like a futuristic technology preview of macOS", "excerpt": "> What's especially stuck in my mind lately is how insecure basically all desktop OS' feel. I ended up switching away from using my Mac to using an iPad M5 + Magic Keyboard as my sole computing device for the security benefits, and it\u2019s been working pretty well and in retrospect I don\u2019t miss anything from macOS aside from a chromium-based browser. However I\u2019ve said it before that switching back to using a Mac after u", "context": "uses an iPad as sole computing device for security", "use_case": "sole computing OS for security", "switched_from": "macOS", "story": "GrapheneOS says Pixel 11 has MTE support after all"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 802735488, "item_id": 50170968, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50170968", "by": "andix", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Window management on iPadOS is a mess.", "excerpt": "Window management on iPadOS is a mess. The old way (only one app, Split View or slide over) worked well, but is mostly gone since iOS 26. With iOS 27 the new window management became a bit better. But it's still pretty unusable without a mouse/pointing device. But even with a mouse it's not intuitive. I use my iPad 99% without a keyboard and a mouse, and the window management only became worse over time. It got more ", "context": "", "use_case": "tablet window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple broke an essential presentation feature of iPads"}]}], "who": [{"by": "armadyl", "context": "uses an iPad as sole computing device for security", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49541604", "date": "2026-09-02"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["tablet os", "tablet window management", "sole computing os for security"], "compared": [{"slug": "android", "name": "Android", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "macos", "name": "macOS", "co": 1, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50165208", "title": "Apple broke an essential presentation feature of iPads", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49536384", "title": "GrapheneOS says Pixel 11 has MTE support after all", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {"warn": 1, "recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 802766320, "item_id": 50172895, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50172895", "by": "Ancapistani", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used an Android tablet for years prior to the iPad Pro releasing, and iPadOS is much better.", "excerpt": "> It is the best selling tablet brand, but that doesn't mean much when you look at the absolute garbage the rest of the industry is putting out. That\u2019s where I am. I love my iPad, because I love the tablet form factor. I used an Android tablet for years prior to the iPad Pro releasing, and iPadOS is much better. I\u2019ve played with Android tablets periodically since but they don\u2019t seem to care about the form factor at a", "context": "", "use_case": "tablet OS", "switched_from": "Android", "story": "Apple broke an essential presentation feature of iPads"}, {"id": 802735488, "item_id": 50170968, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50170968", "by": "andix", "date": "2026-10-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Window management on iPadOS is a mess.", "excerpt": "Window management on iPadOS is a mess. The old way (only one app, Split View or slide over) worked well, but is mostly gone since iOS 26. With iOS 27 the new window management became a bit better. But it's still pretty unusable without a mouse/pointing device. But even with a mouse it's not intuitive. I use my iPad 99% without a keyboard and a mouse, and the window management only became worse over time. It got more ", "context": "", "use_case": "tablet window management", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple broke an essential presentation feature of iPads"}, {"id": 792665666, "item_id": 49541604, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49541604", "by": "armadyl", "date": "2026-09-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "for all it\u2019s faults the iPad + iPadOS feels like a futuristic technology preview of macOS", "excerpt": "> What's especially stuck in my mind lately is how insecure basically all desktop OS' feel. I ended up switching away from using my Mac to using an iPad M5 + Magic Keyboard as my sole computing device for the security benefits, and it\u2019s been working pretty well and in retrospect I don\u2019t miss anything from macOS aside from a chromium-based browser. However I\u2019ve said it before that switching back to using a Mac after u", "context": "uses an iPad as sole computing device for security", "use_case": "sole computing OS for security", "switched_from": "macOS", "story": "GrapheneOS says Pixel 11 has MTE support after all"}]}