GoKawiilGood news for iPad owners: The latest iPadOS update comes with a major multitasking upgrade.
Released last September, iPadOS 26 included a few updates to Stage Manager, the iPad's productivity feature. iPadOS 26 initially brought apps you're working with front and center, while others remain in the background but are still open. You could switch between them, as well as move, group and resize them.
Now, a few iterations later, iPadOS 26.4 has a new feature to help you keep track of the dozens of open windows that may be hiding: the hidden windows feature.
You'll still have all the same window functions from iPadOS 26, but if you have multiple windows open for one app, you can hold down the app icon and select Show All Windows from the pop-up menu. And if you have several windows for the same app open, but they're hidden, you'll see a button at the bottom of the screen that says X Hidden Windows (X would be the number of hidden windows you have), which you can press to display those windows you have open from the app.
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I tested the Hidden Windows feature, and it's not a game changer
I tried opening several windows of my calendar and messages on my sixth-gen iPad Mini, and this feature works as intended, but there's a trick: The window must be fully hidden for the button to appear.
I opened the Messages app and displayed it full-screen. Then I saw the button. The same was true when I opened my calendar. I wouldn't say this makes multitasking a game changer when I use my iPad, but it's nice to know that other windows are open in case I forgot to finish a task, like scheduling my son's playdate or responding to a separate message.
Here are the iPads that are compatible with iPadOS 26.4:
iPad Mini (5th and 6th gen)
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