Apple is reportedly working on new multitasking features in iOS 27 that would automatically adapt any iPhone app for landscape and split-screen layouts.
With the rumored folding iPhone on the horizon, a lack of multitasking would translate to a waste of screen real estate. But this rumored capability could mean your entire app collection would work instantly, without Apple waiting for developers to redesign their apps.
How iPhone multitasking might work in iOS 27
iPhone apps have been explicitly designed for tall, narrow screens. But that wouldn’t work out so great if the folding iPhone’s rumored design arrives. The foldable reportedly will feature a short outer screen (measuring 5.3 to 5.5 inches) for use when closed. Then, it would open, booklike, to provide the user with a screen akin to an iPad mini held in landscape mode (7.6 to 7.8 inches).
Apple will clearly need to tweak iOS 27 to accommodate such a radical new design.
The latest iPhone multitasking rumor comes from Weibo tipster Fixed Focus Digital, who wrote over the weekend that Apple is working on what some are comparing to “Parallel View” on Huawei’s HarmonyOS.
While details remain hazy, the concept sounds pretty straightforward. Apple is reportedly developing a system that learns how to scale apps wider, rearrange layouts and even let apps run in split-screen mode.
Catching up with Android (and maybe surpassing it)
Android began offering split-screen support years ago, but the difference is that Apple won’t require developers to rework their apps.
Since the folding iPhone remains unannounced, the new multitasking approach for iOS 27 might not get much time at the WWDC26 keynote next Monday. However, the feature might change the way you use an iPhone with an almost iPad mini-size internal screen.
iOS has been ignoring multitasking for a while now
The rumors also include Apple supposedly bringing an iPad-style navigation and two-column layouts for foldables. With iOS 27, Apple might be considering changing how apps need to expand beyond portrait.
Multitasking on iOS has been ignored for years, while the iPad fixed it years ago. And with most Android devices now offering split-screen and multitasking for years, it’s time Apple brings it to the iPhone.
The first folding iPhone, possibly called the “iPhone Ultra,” could change everything, as Apple knows it can’t ship a phone with apps that don’t know what to do with the extra screen real estate.
With less than a week to go before WWDC26, we might not have to wait a long time to see if Apple actually cracked the formula or just patched it like Android did.
Anurag Chawake is a tech-focused writer specializing in smartphones, apps and consumer technology. His interest in computers began during the Windows 98 era, eventually leading him to explore everything from operating systems to mobile devices and PC hardware. Anurag previously contributed to The Indian Express, covering Apple, Android, gaming and the broader technology landscape.
