How will Apple redesign the iPad home screen?

Buried at the end of Mark Gurman’s high-profile Bloomberg report about future Apple product announcements is a tidbit that’s of enormous interest to anyone who loves using their iPad.

Apple’s next operating system update, iOS 13, will include… iPad-specific upgrades like a new home screen, the ability to tab through multiple versions of a single app like pages in a web browser, and improvements to file management.

That’s a lot of information distilled into a small paragraph, but what jumped out at me most is the idea that the iPad’s home screen—which has spent almost nine years using a spaced-out version of the iPhone’s design—might finally be getting a redesign that addresses the fact that the iPad isn’t the same device as the iPhone.

It’s exciting! After more than a decade using more or less the same old app-launching interface Apple introduced with the original iPhone, it takes some effort imagine how Apple could reinvent the concept of a home screen for the iPad. But reader, I’ve managed to make that effort. Here’s a look at some directions I hope Apple will go, assuming Gurman’s sources are right, when we first see this feature this summer.

A higher-density app interface

Apple

The big problem with the home screen is that it’s just a wide-spaced version of the iPhone version. There’s a lot of open space left for you to admire your wallpaper image, is what I’m saying. I’d like a new homescreen to pack information onto the iPad Pro’s 11- and 12.9-inch screens.

Yes, the home screen needs to be more than just apps—but the apps could be presented better. I’d like the option to place specific apps (or folders) on the main screen, while also having the option to view all the apps on the device in an alphabetical list. (Not every app installed on my device needs a place on my home screen.)

Still, there are limits to density. The iPad screen should be able to be uncluttered if someone wants it to be uncluttered. Density should be an option for people who want to add it—not a feature forced on everyone.

File access

One of the fundamental differences between iOS and macOS is the function of the device’s primary interface screen. On macOS, Finder is the center of the world—and it’s a file browser. On iOS, the home screen reigns supreme—and it’s an app browser. The difference matters.

Apple

But Gurman’s report mentions “improvements to file management,” and it made me think that perhaps it’s time for iOS to embrace files as well. If I’ve got a folder full of project documents, or a file server I connect to regularly, perhaps the home screen is a more appropriate place to access them than inside a separate app.