11/18/25, 5:28 PM Multitasking | Apple Developer Documentation
Design Overview What’s New Get Started Guidelines Resources
Multitasking
Supported platforms
Multitasking lets people switch quickly from one app to
another, performing tasks in each.
Multitasking
Best practices
Platform considerations
Resources
Change log
People expect to use multitasking on their devices, and they may think something is wrong if
your app doesn’t allow it. With rare exceptions — such as some games, and Apple Vision Pro
apps running in a Full Space — every app needs to work well with multitasking.
In addition to app switching, multitasking can present different experiences on different devices;
see Platform considerations.
Best practices
A great multitasking experience helps people accomplish tasks in multiple apps by managing
content in a variety of simultaneous contexts. Because you don’t know when people will initiate
multitasking, your app or game always needs to be prepared to save and restore their context.
Pause activities that require people’s attention or active participation when they switch
away. If your app is a game or a media-viewing app, for example, make sure people don’t miss
anything when they switch to another app. When they switch back, let them continue as if they
never left.
Respond smoothly to audio interruptions. Occasionally, audio from another app or the system
itself may interrupt your app’s audio. For example, an incoming phone call or a music playlist
initiated by Siri might interrupt your app’s audio. When situations like these occur, people expect
your app to respond in the following ways:
Pause audio indefinitely for primary audio interruptions, such as playing music, podcasts, or
audiobooks.
Temporarily lower the volume or pause the audio for shorter interruptions, such as GPS
directional notifications, and resume the original volume or playback when the interruption
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ends.
For guidance, see Playing audio.
Finish user-initiated tasks in the background. When someone starts a task like downloading
assets or processing a video file, they expect it to finish even if they switch away from your app.
If your app is in the middle of performing a task that doesn’t need additional input, complete it in
the background before suspending.
Use notifications sparingly. Your app can send notifications when it’s suspended or running in
the background. If people start an important or time-sensitive task in your app, and then switch
away from it, they might appreciate receiving a notification when the task completes so they can
switch back to your app and take the next step. In contrast, people don’t generally need to know
the moment a routine or secondary task completes. In this scenario, avoid sending an
unnecessary notification; instead, let people check on the task when they return to your app. For
guidance, see Managing notifications.
Platform considerations
Not supported in watchOS.
iOS
On iPhone, multitasking lets people use FaceTime or watch a video in Picture in Picture while
they also use a different app.
The app switcher displays all currently open apps. A current FaceTime call can continue while people use
another app.
iPadOS
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On iPad, people can view and interact with the windows of several different apps at the same
time. An individual app can also support multiple open windows, which lets people view and
interact with more than one window in the same app at one time.
People can use iPad with either full-screen or windowed apps. When full screen, apps occupy
the full screen, and people can switch between individual app windows using the app switcher.
When using windowed apps, app windows are resizable, and people can arrange them to suit
their needs with behavior similar to macOS. The system provides window controls for common
tiling configurations, entering full screen, minimizing, and closing windows. The system identifies
the frontmost window by coloring its window controls and casting a drop shadow on windows
behind it. For guidance, see Windows > iPadOS.
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Additionally, videos and FaceTime calls can also play in a Picture in Picture overlay above other
content regardless of whether apps are full screen or windowed.
Note
Apps don’t control multitasking configurations or receive any indication of the ones that
people choose.
To help your app respond correctly when people open it while windowed, make sure it adapts
gracefully to different screen sizes. For guidance, see Layout and Windows; for developer
guidance, see Multitasking on iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro. To learn more about how people
use iPad multitasking features, see Use multitasking on your iPad.
macOS
On Mac, multitasking is the default experience because people typically run more than one app
at a time, switching between windows and tasks as they work. When multiple app windows are
open, macOS applies drop shadows that make the windows appear layered on the desktop, and
applies other visual effects to help people distinguish different window states; for guidance, see
macOS window states.
tvOS
On Apple TV, people can play or browse content while also playing movies or TV shows in
Picture in Picture (where supported).
visionOS
On Apple Vision Pro, people can run multiple apps at the same time in the Shared Space,
viewing and switching between windows and volumes throughout the space.
Only one window is active at a time in the Shared Space. When people look from one window to
another, the window they’re currently looking at becomes active while the previous window
becomes more translucent and appears to recede along the z-axis. Closing an app window in
the Shared Space transitions the app to the background without quitting it.
Note
When an app is the Now Playing app, closing its window automatically pauses audio
playback; if people want to resume playback, they can do so in Control Center without
opening the window.
Avoid interfering with the system-provided multitasking behavior. When people look from one
window to another, visionOS applies a feathered mask to the window they look away from to
clarify its changed state. To avoid interfering with this visual feedback, don’t change the
appearance of a window’s edges.
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Play
Don’t pause a window’s video playback when people look away from it. In visionOS, as in
macOS, people expect the playback they start in one window to continue while they view or
perform a task in another window.
Be prepared for situations where your audio can duck. Unless an app is currently the Now
Playing app, its audio can duck when people look away from it to another app.
Resources
Related
Layout
Windows
Playing video
Developer documentation
Responding to the launch of your app — UIKit
Multitasking on iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro — UIKit
Videos
Elevate the design of your Make your UIKit app more
iPad app flexible
Change log
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Date Changes
Reorganized guidance in platform considerations, and
June 9, 2025 added guidance for multitasking with multiple win‐
dows in iPadOS.
Added artwork for primary and auxiliary windows in
December 5, 2023
iPadOS.
June 21, 2023 Updated to include guidance for visionOS.
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