You’re staring at your iPad Pro, the one you spent a small fortune on, and honestly? Everything looks tiny. The icons are like postage stamps. The text in your favorite news app requires a squint that would make a detective proud. It’s frustrating because the screen is massive, but the software feels like it’s hiding in the corners.
Basically, the default iPadOS setup prioritizes "information density" over "actually being able to see stuff." If you want to know how to make ipad apps bigger, you've probably realized that there isn't just one "big button" to fix it. Apple buries these settings in three or four different places.
I’ve spent way too much time digging through iPadOS 19 and the latest 2026 updates to figure out the perfect combo. It’s not just about zooming in; it’s about making the interface scale properly so you don't lose the edges of your windows.
💡 You might also like: How Much is Windows 10 OS Explained (Simply)
The Display Zoom Secret (The Real "Big" Button)
Most people go straight to text size, but that’s a mistake. If you want the actual app interface—the buttons, the sidebars, the toolbars—to grow, you need Display Zoom.
This feature essentially tells the iPad to render the UI as if it’s on a slightly smaller screen, which forces everything to scale up. It's the closest thing to a "global resize" we have.
- Open Settings.
- Tap Display & Brightness.
- Scroll all the way to the bottom. Look for Display Zoom.
- Tap View and select Larger Text.
Here’s the kicker: your iPad will literally restart. Don’t panic. It needs a second to re-render the entire SpringBoard. Once it kicks back on, you’ll notice the Dock icons are beefier and the gaps between apps have shrunk. It feels less like a vast wasteland of pixels and more like a tool you can actually use.
Fix Those Tiny App Icons
Even with Display Zoom, the home screen can still feel sparse. Apple updated the customization engine recently, and it’s kinda hidden behind a long-press.
Go to your Home Screen. Find a patch of empty grass (metaphorically) and hold your finger down until the icons start doing that little jiggle dance. In the top left corner, tap Edit, then Customize.
A menu will pop up at the bottom. You’ll see two main options: Small and Large. Tap Large.
🔗 Read more: Roger Penrose and the Road to Reality: Why Physics is Still This Hard
What happens next is interesting. The iPad removes the text labels under the apps. It seems counter-intuitive—removing text to make things "clearer"—but by ditching the labels, the icons themselves can expand by about 20%. If you know your apps by their logos, this is a total game-changer for visibility.
When One App Is the Problem: Per-App Settings
Sometimes the system looks fine, but one specific app—looking at you, Instagram or some old legacy tool—refers to a font size meant for ants.
You don't have to ruin your whole iPad's look just to fix one bad app. You can use Per-App Settings. This is one of those "expert" features that most users never touch.
- Navigate to Settings > Accessibility.
- Find Per-App Settings at the very bottom.
- Tap Add App and pick the troublemaker.
- Tap the app name once it's added.
Now you can crank up the Larger Text or Bold Text just for that specific application. It’s a surgical strike for your eyeballs. I use this for my banking app because for some reason, they think "Account Balance" should be written in 8-point font.
Using the Accessibility Zoom (The "Magnifier" Approach)
If you're still struggling with how to make ipad apps bigger, especially for fine details like photo editing or reading tiny footnotes, you need the actual Zoom tool. This isn't a scaling setting; it's a virtual magnifying glass.
👉 See also: Real Life Transformer Car: What Most People Get Wrong
Honestly, it’s a bit clunky at first. You turn it on in Settings > Accessibility > Zoom.
Once it’s on, you double-tap with three fingers to zoom in. You move around the screen by dragging those same three fingers. It’s powerful, but it can be disorienting. If you get "stuck" in a zoomed-in view, just remember that three-finger double-tap. It's your escape hatch.
Expert Tip: In the Zoom settings, change the Zoom Region to "Window Zoom" instead of "Full Screen Zoom." This gives you a moveable magnifying lens that floats over your apps, so you don't lose your sense of place on the screen.
Stage Manager and the Windowing Problem
In 2026, many of us are using Stage Manager to multitask. The problem? When you pull an app into a window, it often defaults to a "compact" phone-like view.
To make these windows bigger, grab the curved handle at the bottom corner of the app window. Drag it outward.
But wait—sometimes the app just adds more white space instead of making the content bigger. If that happens, you have to go back to the Display & Brightness settings and ensure you aren't using the "More Space" resolution setting. "More Space" is the enemy of "Bigger Apps." It’s designed for people who want to fit four spreadsheets on one screen. If you want things big, stay away from it.
The Actionable Fixes
If you want your iPad to feel "large" again, do these three things in order:
- Set Display Zoom to Larger Text: This is the foundation. It scales the OS itself.
- Toggle Large Icons: Long-press the home screen > Edit > Customize > Large.
- Enable Bold Text: Go to Settings > Display & Brightness and toggle Bold Text. It makes every thin line of text much more substantial without actually increasing the height of the letters.
Start with the Display Zoom. It’s the most dramatic change and usually the one that makes people stop squinting at their iPads. If an app still feels too small after that, use the Per-App Settings to force it into submission. There's no reason to let a $1,000 piece of glass win a fight against your vision.