iPadOS 26: Orientation locking broken under cordova‑ios 8.x due to UIScene windowing model

[Craigjpr]

On iPadOS 26, apps rebuilt with cordova-ios 8.x no longer respect landscape-only orientation. The reason is that 8.x forces the app into Apple’s modern UIScene windowing model, and iPadOS 26 does not honour orientation locking for any window-capable app. This also breaks gameplay that relies on deviceorientation (e.g., tilt-based gravity), because the OS can rotate the app window at any time and instantly change the deviceorientation coordinate frame. Reverting to cordova-ios 7.1.1, which still uses the older AppDelegate-only lifecycle, restores classic full-screen behaviour where iPadOS 26 continues to enforce landscape locking and stable tilt physics. Users must also enable Settings → Multitasking & Gestures → Full-Screen Apps, otherwise the OS forces windowed mode and orientation locking is ignored even for 7.x apps.

[dpogue]

See my comment here: apache/cordova-ios#1620 (comment)