iPadOS 19 Is Rumored to Bring Design Changes
Here are a few of the changes I would like to see.
Rumors are circulating that this year will bring some major design changes for iOS, iPadOS and macOS. Some UI elements are rumored to be more translucent, in some ways mirroring the visual style that we see in visionOS, drawing loose inspiration from visionOS. Some enthusiasts claim Apple will change the rounded square app icons we see on the Home Screen (also called squircles) to circular icons. As of yet there are no direct leaks or rumors from anyone inside Apple that indicate we’ll see circle app icons, so this rumored change is very up in the air, and is widely disputed. And since Gurman said the design changes draw “loose inspiration” from visionOS, I wouldn’t assume an app icon shape change.
But much has been made of circle app icons and translucent UI elements in the current discussion of iOS 19 and the design changes likely to come. What I’d like to do here is focus on some of the design changes and feature improvements I would love to see in iPadOS 19. Since Gurman says the changes are intended to streamline and simplify using Apple’s devices and transitioning between them, and are focused on practical changes rather than merely a paint job, I think it’s fitting to discuss a couple of the practical design changes I would like to see in Apple’s new software versions.
Pin Files, Folders, Notes, Playlists, Etc. To The Home Screen
Early rumors suggest that iPadOS 19 will incorporate a system-wide method for pinning files, folders, notes and other things to the Home Screen. Pinning such things to the iPadOS Home Screen is technically already possible, but requires first creating a Siri Shortcut to do so. The Home Screen and macOS Desktop paradigms have increasingly converged in recent years, with the Mac gaining Home Screen design elements like app widgets, and the Home Screen gaining more Desktop-like freeform positioning options (still on a grid) for app icons and widgets. A system-wide option for sharing a file or folder to the Home Screen (similar to the way Safari can pin web pages to the Home Screen via the Share Sheet) would make it easier to quickly access files or notes for projects, or just to quickly access a playlist you want to listen to. Some rumors suggest this will be a feature of iPadOS 19, and I think it makes a lot of sense.
Perhaps iPadOS 19 and macOS 16 could see the Home Screen and Desktop experiences converge in other ways as well. What if the Desktop on macOS 16 gained multiple scrollable pages like the Home Screen on iPadOS?
For those who want to pin folders and files to their Home Screen now, I’ve provided some resources in a GitHub repository, including icons to match the ones found in the Files app for various file types. You can check those out here (insert link) if you’re interested.
A Customizable App Library
The App Library is now the primary way I open apps on my iPad. In fact, I even decided to hide apps from my Home Screen, so now my Home Screen is mostly used for widgets and folders. I also do have a folder of web apps that I’ve stored on another page in my Home Screen, but otherwise, it’s mostly widgets and folders I’ve pinned for quick access. I prefer this setup, it allows me to use my Home Screen for quick information at a glance and access to important folders, while the App Library can curate the 100+ apps that I use on my iPad.
But the one shortcoming I’ve experienced with the App Library interface is both its strength and occasionally its weakness. And that’s the App Library’s auto-categorization feature. Often it’s helpful because it automatically sorts apps into categories that make it easier to find them. But sometimes it makes it harder to find apps because it sorts them into an unexpected category. For example, sometimes apps that I would expect would be sorted into Productivity & Finance are sorted into Developer Tools, or vice versa. And some apps seem to hop between Photo & Video and Creativity.
Auto categorization works most of the time, but sometimes it would be nice to be able to create my own folders in the App Library interface for categorizing apps, or manually assign apps to a certain category. I’d love to see iPadOS 19 incorporate some options for customizing the App Library with custom folders and the ability to manually sort apps into custom categories in the interface. And perhaps allow users to manually set the App Library to open to the List View that the search option provides as the default view when opening the App Library. More customization options for the App Library could make it more useful. And perhaps macOS could also gain the App Library in place of Launchpad.
Window Tiling In Stage Manager
Among the features introduced in 2024 for macOS Sequoia are options for tiling app windows. These window tiling options include a number of presets that allow users to more conveniently and cleanly arrange their app windows on a grid. It provides options for window arrangements up to a 4 way split screen, housing four app windows in quarter sections of the display. Every time I use these windowing options on my Mac Mini, I feel like they would fit in naturally on iPadOS.
App windows in Stage Manager already move on a kind of invisible snap-grid, which is one of the aspects of Stage Manager’s implementation on iPadOS which I actually prefer over macOS, because I think it lends itself more naturally to keeping my workspace cleaner and more aligned. Window tiling would be another layer on top of that which would help make things look even cleaner. Additional features for keeping window layouts clean and structured seem like a fairly safe bet for iPadOS 19.
Conclusion
It looks like some major changes could be on the way for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. Maybe a couple of these changes could come in the next major versions of Apple’s software…
Are there UI changes you would like to see in iPadOS 19 and macOS 16? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.