[Edited by Moderator]
Original Title: IOS 26 on IPad. The onscreen keypad is taking up two thirds or more of the screen. The buttons are huge, expect space bar which is only about two keys wide. Is it a bug or a PICNIC
iPad Pro, iPadOS 26
Re: "IOS 26 on IPad. The onscreen keypad is taking up two thirds or more of the screen.
The buttons are huge, expect space bar which is only about two keys wide."
Seems you can easily switch between the full-sized keyboard and the smaller keyboard:
Apple support's online article for iPadOS 26: Type with the onscreen keyboard on iPad - Apple Support
Eg says:
"Enter text using the onscreen keyboard
In any app that allows text editing, open the onscreen keyboard by tapping a text field.
You can pinch closed to shrink the keyboard, then tap individual keys to type, or use QuickPath to type by sliding from one letter to the next without lifting your finger (not available for all languages).
To end a word, lift your finger. (If you tap 
after sliding to type a word, it deletes the whole word.)
You can drag the smaller keyboard from the bottom of the screen to move it wherever you want for easy one-handed typing.
To return to the full-size keyboard, pinch open. On the full-size keyboard, you tap keys to type."
NB: There are many more keyboard tips in the above linked article.
Re: "IOS 26 on IPad. The onscreen keypad is taking up two thirds or more of the screen.
The buttons are huge, expect space bar which is only about two keys wide."
Seems you can easily switch between the full-sized keyboard and the smaller keyboard:
Apple support's online article for iPadOS 26: Type with the onscreen keyboard on iPad - Apple Support
Eg says:
"Enter text using the onscreen keyboard
In any app that allows text editing, open the onscreen keyboard by tapping a text field.
You can pinch closed to shrink the keyboard, then tap individual keys to type, or use QuickPath to type by sliding from one letter to the next without lifting your finger (not available for all languages).
To end a word, lift your finger. (If you tap after sliding to type a word, it deletes the whole word.)
You can drag the smaller keyboard from the bottom of the screen to move it wherever you want for easy one-handed typing.
To return to the full-size keyboard, pinch open. On the full-size keyboard, you tap keys to type."
NB: There are many more keyboard tips in the above linked article.
Thank you for joining the discussion, and for your info. and screenshot
We are all Apple users, like yourself, in the community. If you want to see changes, you can send feedback to reach those who work on the software behind-the-scenes at Apple. You could include a link to this discussion if you wish.
They will likely not reply, yet your feedback will be carefully read and logged, and if others also have the same issue, we will likely see an update that addresses it. The more info they receive about which iPad models and software versions are affected, and the more feedback they receive on an issue, the more likely we will see an update. Web-form for feedback: Feedback - iPad - Apple
Same issue. Choice is the huge keyboard that takes up 2/3 of the screen or pinching which makes it a tiny floating keyboard. There is no in between.
And the space bar is not sized correctly. The spacebar should not be smaller than the number key next to it.
In some cases, the app does not respect the sizing of the keyboard so that the keyboard covers the input field.
Enlarged onscreen keyboard in iPadOS 26 on iPad
