When Apple announced iPadOS 15 and iOS 15 at WWDC in June, they introduced many new features and expanded capabilities. As my 12.9 inch iPad Pro is my primary platform, I was thrilled with the updates to the multitasking capabilities of iPadOS. While multitasking doesn’t seem to be the same as an OS like macOS, switching between different windows for the same app required more effort in iPadOS 14.
To have additional full-screen apps in iPadOS 14, it was often necessary to open the app in split-view and hide the app you wanted in a second full-screen view.
With iPadOS 15, we now have the app shelf. When launching a second instance of the same application, the app shelf appears, allowing you to select the currently running instance of the application or launch a second copy.
Activating the app shelf requires at least one running copy of the application. Touching the same application icon again displays the app and the app shelf. A long press displays the context menu.
The shelf remains visible until you start interacting with the application. We can then see both copies in the App Switcher by swiping up from the bottom of the display.
