At Apple’s WWDC 2025, most of the design buzz centered around a new UI material called “Liquid Glass.” It’s shiny, it refracts light, it’s very Apple. Apple’s VP of Human Interface, Alan Dye, called it the company’s “broadest design update ever,” and it’s definitely a very different look and feel across all of Apple’s devices.

The iPad, on the other hand, evolved from the iPhone. (Those old enough may recall the "It's just a big iPod touch" commentary mocking the first model.) The App Store has always been the only official way to install apps on the iPad ( EU exceptions notwithstanding). That remains so in iPadOS 26.

iPadOS 26 gives the iPad its biggest windowing redesign ever, letting users resize app windows, place them where they want, tile them, and open more windows at once than before. The new OS also features a new menu bar for the iPad, as well as a new Preview app and file navigation system.