iPadOS 26.4 is expected to launch in the coming weeks, packing lots of new iPad features—four of which are highlighted below.
#1: Compact Tab Bar in Safari
Depending on your iPad size and window setup, screen real estate can be at a premium in iPadOS. Yet in iPadOS 26, Apple removed a space-saving Safari feature that was previously available: the Compact Tab Bar.
Fortunately, iPadOS 26.4 brings the Compact Tab Bar view back.
Available inside Settings ⇾ Apps ⇾ Safari, you can choose ‘Compact Tab Bar’ to free up space at the top of your screen. It essentially condenses tabs, buttons, and the address bar into a single row.
‘Compact’ won’t be the preferred view for everyone, so Apple is leaving the ‘Separate Tab Bar’ option intact. But if you enjoy having more space to see the webpage, this new-old feature should help.
iPadOS 26 brought a major overhaul to the iPad’s multitasking and windowing capabilities. But one side effect of getting to open more windows is that it can be easy to lose track of windows that are open.
iPadOS 26.4 has a new enhancement that’s intended to help: a ‘Hidden Windows’ popup.
When you open an app that has several windows running, you’ll now see a popup at the bottom that says ‘X Hidden Windows.’ The popup also serves as a button you can tap to show all windows.
If you regularly have multiple windows open for certain apps, the new popup ensures you can keep track of those windows, and close any that you no longer need—thus preserving computing power.
#3: Apple Music’s Playlist Playground
There’s a new AI feature coming to the Music app in iPadOS 26.4, along with several other Apple Music upgrades.
Playlist Playground lets you create new Apple Music playlists using AI—all you need is a text prompt.
The Music app will suggest prompts you can use, but you can also type any custom instructions, and Apple Intelligence will create a playlist for you.
After the playlist is formed, you can provide further instructions to have it refined, or manually add and remove songs to your liking.
#4: Freeform adds Creator Studio features
Freeform is available across iPhone, Mac, and Vision Pro, but it has always felt like an app designed primarily for iPad.
And in iPadOS 26.4, Freeform adds a variety of new features for Apple Creator Studio subscribers.
New features include:
- Create new images with OpenAI
- Content Hub with premium images
- AI-generated crop suggestions
- AI upscaling for low-resolution images
If you’re a regular Freeform user, these iPadOS 26.4 updates should expand the app’s usefulness in several ways.
Which new iPadOS 26.4 features are you most excited about? Let us know in the comments.
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