Once you upgrade to iOS 11, your entire iPad life will revolve around the new Dock. And that’s a great thing. iOS 11 gives the iPad a Mac style dock that can be summoned from anywhere, with just a swipe. This means switching between apps and adding an app to multitasking just got a whole lot easier.
How to Add App Icons to the New iOS 11 iPad Dock
The new iOS 11 Dock can hold a lot more icons. 13 if you’re using the 10 inch iPad Pros and 15 if you’re using the 12.9 inch iPad Pro. Plus, the three icons for recent apps.
To get the most out of your Dock, you’ll first need to move the 10 or so apps that you use most often on your iPad. This will depend on your workflow but for me, it’s Mail, Safari, Photos, Notes, Twitter, Slack and so on.
These will be the apps you’ll mostly be using and switching between.
Step 1: On the Home screen, tap and hold on an app. You don’t need to wait for it to jiggle.
Step 2: Drag it over to the Dock and release your finger. This app is now in the Dock.
And because drag and drop is integral to iOS 11, you can even drag and drop apps from Spotlight Search to the Dock.
How to Launch an App with the New iOS 11 iPad Dock
From the Home screen, you can use the Dock as a normal app launcher. Tap on an app and it will open in the full-screen mode.
When you have an app open, just swipe up from the bottom of the screen to bring up the Dock. Tap on the app from the Dock and it will open directly. No need to go to the Home screen.
How to Launch Apps in Split View with the New iOS 11 iPad Dock
From the Dock, tap and hold on an app icon, drag it over to the middle of the screen and release your finger. You’re now using the app in a narrow floating window over the background app. Use the handle at the top to move it between the left and right edge. Swipe to the edge using the handle to remove the floating window from the screen.
If you want to open two apps side by side in Split View, tap and hold on an icon and drag it to the left or right edge of the screen till you see a black border. Release your finger and the app will be docked to the side.
How to Use the Control Center with the New iOS 11 iPad Dock
In iOS 10, the Dock gesture used to bring up Control Center. Now, if you want to get to the Control Center, keep swiping up all the way to the middle of the screen. You’ll find the new Control Center docked to the right of the new App Switcher.
How to Use Dock for Better App Launching
If you have an app that supports the Recent Documents pop-up, tap and hold on the icon right from the Dock to view a list of recent documents for the app. Currently, this only works for Apple’s apps like Keynote, Pages, Files and so on. But as iOS 11 rolls out and developers update their professional apps for the new OS, you’ll start seeing this feature in more apps.
How to Disable Recent Apps in Dock
If you don’t like the recent and suggested apps section at the end of the dock, you can replace it to get some space back.
Step 1: Open the Settings app and tap on General.
Step 2: Select Multitasking & Dock.
Step 3: Tap on the toggle next to Show Suggested and Recent Apps.
What’s on Your Dock?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8EGFVuU0b4
What are the apps you’ve got on the Dock? Do you have any folders in there? Share with us in the comments below.
