Software development on iPadOS 27

When I started remodeling my office things got a bit out of hand. Since I did not fancy setting up my workstation I simply connected the iPad to one of the Pro Display XDRs, pulled out the travel keyboard and trackpad and used it for a week as primary computing device. So far, so good — I already wrote about my experience using the iPad for software development last year when we got a major revamp of iPadOS.

Not much has changed (except that my desk looked like a dumpster during the time of the experiment). The experience without a dock is significantly better than with a dock. The macOS dock can be resized, which helps, but Liquid Glass still feels like it does not scale properly. All elements just feel a smudge too big to be comfortable. That said, most of my day is basically a browser and a full screen terminal window, so to me personally this is not a big deal.

iPadOS 27 seems to have improved the general performance of multi tasking a bit, which makes everything feel snappier and more immediate. The change is noticeable and welcome. Plus the app name is displayed in the status bar and it is far easier to spot which window is active. Small wins!

Something I am not sure was fixed during the iPadOS 26 time or if it is a new feature in 27 but it remembers the state of window management depending on a monitor being connected or not. I remember this being a bit annoying, but I am also not sure if I can attribute the change to 27. That said, it works now. Which is a pretty significant quality of life feature considering how often I disconnected the iPad for some reading and document annotation.

Overall not much has changed, but with this setup I did not feel a significant impact on my overall workflow. I always was skeptical of iPadOS and Apple is doing their best to make it unattractive for many people who want to do actual work on their iPad. But it is slowly getting there. If my MacBook would die today I am not sure I would actually spend money on a new one.