What changed in iPadOS settings
Every system in this catalogue has been tidying its first screen. iPadOS did it hardest: eleven entries out, one in.
Eleven out, one in
Between iPadOS 17.0 and 27.0, these entries left the first settings screen:
Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Messages, Maps, Music, TV, Photos, Files, Health.
Added in the same period: Camera, Multitasking & Gestures, Search and Apps. The eleven are all inside that last one now.
In rows rather than sections: 628 arrived and 477 left.
Why the iPad went further than the iPhone
The same reorganisation on iOS moved five entries. On iPadOS it moved eleven, because the iPad shipped with more Apple apps given first-screen settings in the first place — Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Maps, Music and TV all had one on the tablet.
The result is that the iPad’s first screen went from being the longest of any Apple system to roughly the same length as the iPhone’s.
What arrived that is genuinely new
Multitasking & Gestures is the one addition here that is not a reshuffle. The iPad gained Stage Manager, external display handling and window controls, and those needed somewhere to live; they got a top-level entry rather than a corner of General.
It is the clearest case in the catalogue of a first-screen entry being created because the hardware grew a capability, rather than because someone moved a folder.
Compare the releases
The full list with paths: iPadOS 17.0 vs 27.0, and six more pairs from the version comparison index. Open them in the simulator: 27.0, 18.6, 17.0.
Related: the iPadOS settings guide and what changes between versions generally.
Try it yourself, on the real menusOpen any of 43 operating systems in your browser and walk the Settings tree exactly as it appears on the device. No download, no account.Frequently asked questions
Where did Calendar and Notes settings go on iPad?
Into Settings › Apps. Eleven app entries — Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, Messages, Maps, Music, TV, Photos, Files and Health — left the first screen between iPadOS 17 and 27 and now sit inside that one group.
What is Multitasking & Gestures?
A top-level entry added in the same period, holding Stage Manager, external display behaviour and window controls. It is new surface rather than moved surface.
Is the iPad settings app smaller than it was?
The first screen is shorter. The tree is not: 628 rows arrived against 477 that left between 17.0 and 27.0, so there is more to configure overall, arranged behind fewer doors.