iOS 27 Rumored to Include Split-Screen App Adaptation Feature - MacRumors
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iOS 27 Rumored to Include Split-Screen App Adaptation Feature

Apple is working on a split-screen app landscape adaptation feature for iOS 27, according to a known leaker.

iOS 27 on iPhone 17 1
In a new post on Weibo, the leaker known as "Fixed Focus Digital" said Apple is developing a "Parallel View" capability for iOS, aimed at solving the platform's longstanding weakness with large-screen and landscape layouts. Parallel View is a feature in Huawei's HarmonyOS that automatically adapts smartphone apps for wide displays at the system level, without requiring developers to redesign their apps.

Fixed Focus Digital appears to be using the term as a reference point for the type of solution Apple is pursuing, rather than suggesting Apple is directly replicating Huawei's implementation. The leaker pointed to iPadOS as Apple's own existing example of the approach, noting that Apple already handles landscape adaptation at the system level on the iPad. iOS has never had an equivalent mechanism.

The feature appears to be aimed squarely at the foldable iPhone, whose 7.8-inch inner display will expose a fundamental limitation of iOS: virtually every iPhone app is designed for a tall, narrow screen. Without a system-level solution, those apps would appear letterboxed on the larger display. Fixed Focus Digital acknowledged that iOS is "indeed excellent" while noting its large-screen adaptation has consistently fallen short.

The claim corroborates earlier reporting from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who reported in March that ‌iOS 27‌ would support two apps side-by-side on the foldable iPhone's inner display, with an iPad-like layout and left-side navigation bars in supported apps.

Apple is expected to unveil ‌iOS 27‌ at WWDC 2026 later this month, ahead of a fall release alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models and the foldable iPhone.

Related Roundups: iOS 27, iPadOS 27
Related Forum: iOS 27

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Top Rated Comments

sniffies Avatar
20 weeks ago
Better not be exclusive to iPhone Ultra.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
The Game 161 Avatar
20 weeks ago

Like on Galaxy s phones?
like on all android phones since like 2000
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
20 weeks ago

Of all the MacRumors posts that have a mockup, this is an example that would actually benefit from one.
It’s AI, but this gives you an idea-



Attachment Image
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
20 weeks ago
What is this person on about?

iOS supports the same wide layout APIs that iPadOS does, going back to when the max size phones had horizontal home screens and would show sidebar style views of apps that would show sidebars on iPadOS. (Like settings or email)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
20 weeks ago
All apps on both iOS and iPadOS (as well as all UIs in the OS itself) should be required to support both portrait and landscape orientation. People switch in and out of apps and UIs on these devices constantly. It’s very jarring and annoying seeing a sideways UI when switching between UIs that only support one or the other orientation and having to rotate each time—or worse, apps that force you to rotate the device within the app itself, like video streaming apps that have a portrait-only main UI and landscape-only video player. It’s annoying enough rotating the device when you’re holding it, but people often put these devices on stands and mounts which makes it even more of a chore taking the devices off to rotate them. It’s a terrible UX. Granted some apps are more ideal in one orientation over the other, but I have yet to see an app that would be unusable in either orientation, and it would be a far better UX than constant rotating.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
orbital~debris Avatar
20 weeks ago
Of all the MacRumors posts that have a mockup, this is an example that would actually benefit from one.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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