iPadOS 18’s new floating menu is the best thing to happen to the iPad in years

Among the new features of iPadOS 18, there is one that particularly catches our attention, the new floating menus that will be customizable and will give us more space on the iPad screen

This is a reality that The iPad has had to make a big change since the announcement of iPadOS. Apple’s response was direct and forceful, it will not be like macOS but as a complement. In addition to this, they launched the first iPads with the M1 chip and currently the iPad Pro is the most powerful in the iPad and Mac range with the M4 chip. With the arrival of iPadOS 18, it seems like there is nothing beyond Apple Intelligencewhich is a big new feature shared with iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. There is, however, one very valuable detail that deserves to be highlighted.. The move from side menus to fully floating menus in some apps like Apple TV and Apple Music.

More space for apps that need it with iPadOS 18 floating menus

This has been observed in apps like Apple TV and Apple Music, although when looking at it directly, It seems they took inspiration from tvOS’s Apple Music menu. The reality is that it is a very successful and necessary change since more space is needed when searching for certain content on the iPad. If we take the smallest size of iPad as a reference, which would be the 8.3-inch iPad mini, this is beneficial.

It’s somewhat strange that this change comes after several versions of iPadOS. In addition to having more space to view content from Apple Music and Apple TV, the menus can be customized to our tastes. In Apple Music you will see the classic Home, New and Search tabs and you can add others according to our preferences.

If you have one or more playlists that you listen to immediately at the start of the day or specific activity, These lists can now be located in this floating menu to access them with a single click.. Just long press on the floating menu, then add the supported sections which will appear on the left of the screen. The same thing happens with Apple TV, you can add the channels that you have incorporated into the application such as RTVE Play, atresplayer, Netflix, Max, etc.

The App Store and Apple Books have also been redesigned in this regard, by default, The App Store is not editable regarding its floating menu. It is worth noting that this type of floating menu will appear when the iPad is in landscape or portrait mode.

Apple to open support for improving developer apps via API

According to the documentation available on the Apple Developer site, a preview of how the new floating menus will work is offered to developers interested in implementing them through their applications. It will be via an API to create a floating menu and assign an “array of objects”.

iPadOS 18 introduces a new navigation system that gives users the option to choose between using a tab bar or a sidebar. The newly redesigned tab bar offers more space for content and other features. Learn how to use SwiftUL and UlKit to enable customization features, such as adding, removing, and rearranging tabs, to give your app a more personal touch.

At WWDC 2024, there was a session dedicated to this topic. If you are a developer and want to integrate these new menus into your apps, check out the session published on the Apple Developer channel.

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