Software Engineer, System UI / Windowing
Work
Flexible Windowing on iPadOS 26
Systems Engineering
Building the system layer behind flexible windowing on iPad.
iPadOS 26 introduces a redesigned windowing system that gives users more power and flexibility in how they open, resize, arrange, and switch between windows. My work focused on the system side of that experience: keeping app presentation responsive, making windowed interactions feel reliable, and shaping behaviors that hold up across CPU, GPU, and memory constraints. It sat at the intersection of product feel and low-level performance, where small decisions can have visible consequences for millions of users.
Highlights
- Worked on the system behaviors behind iPadOS flexible windowing.
- Focused on responsiveness and reliability under real hardware limits such as CPU, GPU, and memory pressure.
- Helped translate a complex system feature into interactions that feel simple and predictable to users.
- Contributed in an area where product design, framework behavior, and system performance are tightly coupled.
Story
Making windowing feel natural
Apple describes iPadOS 26 as introducing a redesigned windowing system with new ways to open more windows at once and arrange them freely. The engineering challenge is making that flexibility feel obvious instead of overwhelming. My work centered on reducing friction in those moments so interactions stayed fluid rather than fragile.
Designing for constraints, not just features
A good system experience is not only about what it can do, but how it behaves when the device is under load. I worked on heuristics that balanced responsiveness and stability against CPU, GPU, and memory limitations. That meant making careful tradeoffs so the system preserved the feeling of direct manipulation even in demanding situations.
Supporting new window behaviors at OS scale
Apple highlights several parts of the new model, including window tiling, familiar window controls, Expose, and the menu bar. Work in this layer has to make all of those behaviors feel coherent together rather than like separate features. I enjoy this kind of systems work because users feel the quality immediately, even if they never see the complexity underneath.