iPhone to get ‘Parallel’ landscape apps in iOS 27, report claims

Apple’s iOS 27 reveal is close: this year’s big iPhone software update will be announced and demonstrated during the WWDC26 keynote on Monday. And the latest report suggests it will include an intriguing and somewhat unexpected new feature.

According to the prolific Weibo leaker known as Fixed Focus Digital, the iOS 27 update will introduce a new view for apps viewed in landscape orientation: “Apple is working on Parallel View for the iOS version to solve the landscape adaptation issue,” the leaker writes (via Google Translate). “Objectively speaking, iOS is indeed excellent, but its large-screen adaptation has always been relatively weak.”

As is often the case with this leaker, there’s not much detail to go on. But it sounds like Apple is planning to bring something akin to Split View mode from iPadOS to the iPhone. This handy feature lets you run two apps on the same screen at the same time, side by side. It’s particularly useful if you need to frequently paste text or images from one app to another, or have a source or research tool open (in Safari or News, perhaps) while writing in Pages or Notes. We discussed the feature and some related modes in an article about iPad multitasking.

However, the feature may instead focus on a single app displaying two windows, such as the main view and a menu, side by side. It’s also possible that Apple is simply introducing dynamic app scaling, as pointed out by AppleLeaker on X, to “accomodate for the weird 3:4 aspect ratio of the iPhone Ultra.”

If you’re wondering why Fixed Focus refers to the mode as Parallel View rather than Split View, there’s a reason for that. As MacRumors points out, Parallel View already exists and has done for several years. It’s one name for the split-screen mode in Huawei’s HarmonyOS, a mode which, crucially, doesn’t require any additional design work from app developers and automatically adapts apps for the widescreen view. (The mode is also branded as App Multiplier.)

It’s unlikely that Apple will use the same name, of course, but this gives an idea of the concept it’s allegedly working on.

The iPad is a lot better at multitasking than it used to be, while remaining less versatile in this regard than the Mac. The iPhone, meanwhile, is a long way behind, and the arrival of Parallel View/Split View would be a boon for those with larger handsets such as the iPhone 17 Pro Max. On the folding iPhone Ultra, it would be essential.

We should stress, however, that while Fixed Focus puts out a great deal of Apple rumor content, it’s debatable whether this is a function of the quality of their sources or the pressures of social media algorithms. The account is also quite new to the scene, and therefore doesn’t have much of a track record we can use to evaluate its accuracy.

WWDC 2026 will be a golden opportunity to establish whether or not this is a leaker worth following, but for now it may be best to regard their pronouncements as speculative until we get corroboration from other sources.

For all the latest news and rumors about new iPhone features, check our regularly updated iOS 27 superguide. Join us on Monday June 8, from 10am PT, as we report and analyse all the announcements from WWDC 2026.