iPad How would YOU design multitasking system on iPad? Restrictions: touch control only.

[Shirasaki]

Hi guys.
After the iOS 16.1 beta update, stage manager finally become somewhat usable. That got me thinking: maybe, when Apple designed stage manager, they didn’t put keyboard and mouse control in mind, instead heavily focused on touch control and perfect it before adding keyboard and mouse bits.

So, imagine stage manager doesn’t exist and you want to revolutionise how iPad multitasking works, from slide over and Split View, to something more versatile. What would you do? Touch control only.

 

[cwosigns]

Multitasking by definition requires at least two app windows to be open and accessible. For the screen size, capping that at 3-4 makes sense to me. I’d like to be able to not only resize window width but also height.

What doesn’t make sense to me is the left side option to have groups of apps held in spaces. To me it’s a needless complication.

Mouse and keyboard support is abysmal. Outlook won’t let me tap or click to select an email. Granted, iPadOS 16.1 is still in beta, but if every app has to be updated to support a basic UI element like tap to select or click to select…that’s a bad choice.

I’m disappointed that at this stage in development that the iPad is still having an identity crisis.

 

[dukebound85]

allow multi tasking only when hooked up with a keyboard and mouse all a computer. else do not allow multi tasking

 

[cupcakes2000]

allow multi tasking only when hooked up with a keyboard and mouse all a computer. else do not allow multi tasking

Terrible idea. Almost as terrible as the folks demanding macOS when an external keyboard and mouse is attached and normal iPadOS when not.

What happens if you suddenly detach the keyboard and mouse? Or they run out of batteries?

 

[chevyboy60013]

Personally the multitasking works ok for me. Basically only have 2 apps open on my iPad at one time, safari/mail, mail/messenger, safari/messenger, etc. I use the iPad along side my MacBook Air for work and so far works fine. Got the Apple Pencil for my iPad to try and keep finger prints off the screen.

 

[Polydactyl]

I’m thinking mostly of iPad with no external display:

First: Slide over should always be on (stage manager or not), and the list off applications available in slide over is configured in settings. (e.g. I would like to always have a calculator, notes, 1password, and a browser window in my slide over)

Second: Change “Add Another Window” to a dropdown list so user can select up to three other apps from a list. User can organize favorites to the top of the list.

Third: Add an option in the … menu to arrange the view depending on the number of windows so each app fills half, a third, or a fourth of the screen. User selects whether windows are stacked vertically, horizontally or in the case of 4 windows, an app in each corner. Manually resizing windows using touch is too fiddly.

Fourth: User can choose to save specific window configurations so you can invoke them anytime they are needed.

 

[gwhizkids]

Hi guys.
After the iOS 16.1 beta update, stage manager finally become somewhat usable. That got me thinking: maybe, when Apple designed stage manager, they didn’t put keyboard and mouse control in mind, instead heavily focused on touch control and perfect it before adding keyboard and mouse bits.

So, imagine stage manager doesn’t exist and you want to revolutionise how iPad multitasking works, from slide over and Split View, to something more versatile. What would you do? Touch control only.

I’d allow only up to 3 apps: 2 arranged side by side and one that can stretch the full width of the screen in the top or bottom 50% (your choice). So you’d end up with 2 apps using 25% of the screen and one that occupies 50%. (Of course, having 2 apps open side by side only would be fine also…and probably what most users would opt for 90% of the time).

I’d allow the apps to be open in non full-screen mode at any time and you could add apps simply by dragging them and snapping them to the right or left side.

If 2 apps are already open, dragging a third on to the screen would open it in the third (50%) slot, at the top or bottom depending on where you dragged it (above or below the horizontal centerline).

You could swap out apps by dragging an app from either the dock or spotlight over an already on screen app.

You could change app positions by dragging an app from its current position over the area where you want it to be and it will swap places with the app that is presently in that slot.

You can close apps by dragging them onto the dock.

I am not averse to continuing on with the little 3 dot thing at the top center of each window to provide menu options to do this also, for those who prefer that.

Given the simplicity and obviousness of this scheme, makes you wonder if existing patents block this on the iPad.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

The only implementation that’s worked intuitively and reliably was, iirc, swiping in from the right side to bring up the vertical scrolling list of ALL your apps, & tapping on one opened it alongside your main app, with a draggable divider between them, done. No nonsense, even my grandma could understand it the first time she saw me do it.

The only remaining thing they needed to fix from there was video in portrait mode. If I’m watching a wide rectangular movie in portrait, it’s because I want to multitask. So don’t split the display into two uselessly skinny vertical Windows and letterbox one down to a tiny video frame, it makes both sides useless. Instead scale the video to the full width and nest it at the top or bottom, so you’ve got some decent real estate left to work with yet. Try it on an iPad mini, and it immediately becomes an obvious problem and solution.

It boggles the mind how every multitasking implementation since iOS12 or whatever it was has actually managed to get progressively worse. It really gives the impression that no one at apple actually uses an iPad.

 

[dukebound85]

Terrible idea. Almost as terrible as the folks demanding macOS when an external keyboard and mouse is attached and normal iPadOS when not.

What happens if you suddenly detach the keyboard and mouse? Or they run out of batteries?

it changes the operating behavior. not hard

 

[Digitalguy]

I would do exactly what Samsung OneUI does (not Dex, which is more similar to stage manager), which is similar in part to what someone said above.
- Top and bottom split screen, that's my most requested feature.
- 3 apps split screen (1 half of the screen, eg. on the left, and 2 on the other half, e.g top and bottom on the right)
All the splits infitetely resizable, not set positions.
A 4th app in slide over, totally resizable.
This (and more) is what OneUI does, it would really surpercharge iPadOS

 

[cupcakes2000]

it changes the operating behavior. not hard

And what happens to your work when the keyboard detaches suddenly? Your os disappears? Your windows and multitasking apps just go?
It would be a massive limitation- I can only imagine the uproar on here, which I’m sure commentators in this vein would be leading the charge.

 

[Abazigal]

I feel that App Library was the missing ingredient to making multitasking on the iPad work. Previously, you needed to have the app in the dock (which result in some gymnastics where people would shove all your apps into a single folder in the dock), or have great finger dexterity with drag and drop.

So right now, when I want to have two apps on the screen, I simply open App Library, locate the desired app, and drag it out to my home screen. I think the 3 dots on top are superfluous (and I seem to trigger them accidentally more often than I would like). I still haven't had the opportunity to play around with stage manager, but I feel that most people don't really need that many overlapping displays on an iPad anyways, much less the smaller ones.

 

[dukebound85]

And what happens to your work when the keyboard detaches suddenly? Your os disappears? Your windows and multitasking apps just go?
It would be a massive limitation- I can only imagine the uproar on here, which I’m sure commentators in this vein would be leading the charge.

you are focusing too much on the details and not the concept....which is what this thread is about.

obviously, thought as to handling those issues would be addressed....

Regardless, this isn't the way Apple is going so you can stop worrying about it

 

[Zest28]

Just allow apps to be Windowed like on Mac and it automatically resizes based on where you place it.

And only restrict this feature to the 12.9+ model because else people will complain how useless this feature is on their tiny displays.

 

[Isengardtom]

It’s still prettig useless on the larger display too to be honest. I tried it for a few days in the beta but switched back to the old way

Personally I think the current way of multitasking is versatile enough with maybe the exception of adding a horizontal split.

Sure it would be nice to have the splits not be limited in the way you resize them or have 3 apps like One UI does, but ultimately it would not really enhance my user experience in a meaningful way.

Real multitasking for me is working with multiple displays, not adding more windows to one display. That’s the added value of stage manager for me, and that’s why I find Universal Control for example a much more useful feature than the addition of the windowing part of stage manager.

 

[rui no onna]

It’s still prettig useless on the larger display too to be honest. I tried it for a few days in the beta but switched back to the old way

I actually found a use for Stage Manager.

I use some apps that force portrait mode on the iPad—an orientation I’ve never liked using on 10”+ tablets (unless marking up PDF). With Stage Manager, I can now use these apps in window mode while in landscape (with the SmartFolio folded in a triangle acting as stand).

One of the reasons I bought an iPad mini is for these portrait mode only apps. With this change, there’s a good chance I might ditch the mini and go back to just 11” and 12.9”.