AppliedMicro
macrumors 68040
I would say it is. That is why Apple won‘t have users of older iPads have it 😉
(though I could imagine that the non M-series are limited in external display resolution).
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iOS 16 iPad - Stage Manager
- Thread starter miamialley
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(though I could imagine that the non M-series are limited in external display resolution).
I think so. The only thing Stage Manager is useful for me is now apps that only shows on portrait mode can now be viewed in landscape orientation when stage manager is activated. Nowadays, those apps are pretty rare but I still have 2-3 of them on my iPad.
I wish there was a keyboard shortcut to switch between the Stages. Maybe like Globe-1, Globe-2, Globe-3 ... [ EDIT. Globe left right arrow key works! ]
Why does the stage manager on the left keep disappearing randomly on some Stages? Sometimes its there, sometimes is there but clipped behind a window(which is fine), sometimes it disappears and its quite hard to get back.
I turned off the Dock to get more vertical space. I really like having overlapping mostly full sized windows, but I wish it was clear how to always show Stage Manager
Why does the stage manager on the left keep disappearing randomly on some Stages? Sometimes its there, sometimes is there but clipped behind a window(which is fine), sometimes it disappears and its quite hard to get back.
I turned off the Dock to get more vertical space. I really like having overlapping mostly full sized windows, but I wish it was clear how to always show Stage Manager
there is a setting to turn it on or off...
but it will auto hide depending on the size of the windows in each stage.
so, if you want to see it always there, make your windows slightly smaller and move then a touch further to the right.
I still get new tabs when I open another browser window, so how did you get 4 open at the same time?
But how is this better than just split screen? You could have all the same windows showings except even slightly bigger for each.
PBG4 Dude
macrumors 603
The only time I’ve used it is when I need to quickly copy something between apps. Stage Manager makes it easy to switch from single to multi window to do the quick multi-app activity, then disable to get back to single app mode.
iPadOS 16 finally allows one to close split screen windows, but I find stage manager is easier for a quick in out.
chriscl
macrumors 6502a
Well I updated my iPad Pro yesterday to 16.1 and enabled Stage Manager, and had a play with it.
And…yeah. I just don‘t get it. Yes, it enables me to quickly flip between apps, but I can do that anyway, by swiping along the bottom of the screen? I also found that some apps that were dependent on a swipe from the left edge of the screen to go „back“ were broken, because a swipe from the left-edge now brings up Stage Manager (by design, of course).
But … I don‘t get it? What is the benefit here, other than being able to quickly switch between the last four apps? Is that it? Seeing apps floating in a window, well, it‘s cool and all, but I am then wasting a big chunk of screen space? Why do I then still need the dock?
I don‘t have, or use, an external monitor with my iPad, and it is unlikely I ever will? Is there no real compelling use case for Stage Manager for me? My typical usage on my 11“ Pro usually means I switch from one full screen app to another; only rarely have I used a split-view with two apps (maybe that is just me, but…)
I cannot help but feel, all the fuss around this „feature“, and - for me - I just cannot justify a use for it?
I have now disabled it again, because, well, its a bit useless?
Am I missing something massive, here?
And…yeah. I just don‘t get it. Yes, it enables me to quickly flip between apps, but I can do that anyway, by swiping along the bottom of the screen? I also found that some apps that were dependent on a swipe from the left edge of the screen to go „back“ were broken, because a swipe from the left-edge now brings up Stage Manager (by design, of course).
But … I don‘t get it? What is the benefit here, other than being able to quickly switch between the last four apps? Is that it? Seeing apps floating in a window, well, it‘s cool and all, but I am then wasting a big chunk of screen space? Why do I then still need the dock?
I don‘t have, or use, an external monitor with my iPad, and it is unlikely I ever will? Is there no real compelling use case for Stage Manager for me? My typical usage on my 11“ Pro usually means I switch from one full screen app to another; only rarely have I used a split-view with two apps (maybe that is just me, but…)
I cannot help but feel, all the fuss around this „feature“, and - for me - I just cannot justify a use for it?
I have now disabled it again, because, well, its a bit useless?
Am I missing something massive, here?
Yeah, I have a 2018 11" iPad and a 12.9" coming tomorrow, so I'll play with it more then, but yeah - I don't get it. Maybe it's good for external display, but outside of that, I just don't understand what I'm not getting about its use case. Do I want iPhone-sized windows of apps on my iPad? Does it help me somehow to have a window on top of another window? Don't get it.
achappy
macrumors 6502
A simple use case that can't be done in Split Screen: Safari, a PiP Window and a Messenger window all in the same screen without overlapping with an Instagram window in that stage as well. And these aren't all iPhone sized apps as I also have "More Space" selected. Having messenger there allows me to see messages and glance to see if it's worth replying. No need to "swipe over" to use slide out. Instagram feed is updating in the back as well. I can quickly switch between then either by a click or if I have them overlap a little with the keyboard. Much better than Slide Over/Split Screen.
Also, people either don't know or haven't taken the time to learn but you can remove the recently used apps and doc from SM to get access to the full screen. This allows more spacing to put apps.
I have no problem with people who really try out SM and find it doesn't work for them. Just don't lump your lack of use into everyone else's.
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The background is supposed to blur when you are in a stage. The actual bleed-through color will depend on the color of your wallpaper.
mdelrossi
macrumors regular
One thing that's not often talked about - Stage Manager is not just about running multiple floating windows. Those windows (or apps) keep running even if they're not the one in front (leaving aside video call apps that still blank out when you switch to another app/window, and leaving aside that only one media can play at a time).
So if you have, say, an ssh session in one window, and then switch to the browser, and they're both in the same group of apps (stage?), then the ssh session will not timeout even if you spend 20 minutes reading some help page. So while it's not the same level of multitasking as on a regular general-purpose computer, it's a bit closer and that does help tremendously in some situations.
Have you actually tested for this? If I am, say in a MS Teams video call, will the video feed cut off when I navigate away to another app and leave Teams in the background?
I've tested it using Discord, and that behavior has not changed yet. If the videocalling (or even any videorecording?) is not in foreground, it will blank out the video feed from the camera. Oh yeah in Facetime as well. So this is unchanged from previous iPadOS versions..
Interesting. I believe the apps have to be updated for iOS 16 for the video feed not to cut out. Although you would think FaceTime at least would work. Bummer.
Jedimindtrick
Suspended
No, you're not missing anything. Stage Manager isn't good.
However, the external monitor support available in the beta that launched today (for M1 iPads only) does show some promise. It’s still unnecessarily complicated in a lot of ways, but I find it a much more useful addition than Stage Manager on the iPad’s screen.
Short experience with Stage Manager until now, on a 2018 11-inch iPad Pro (with Cellular).
I have the 64 GB model, highly controversial capacity, but Stage Manager keeps dumping every single app that is not in focus out of memory. Switching from one app to another reloads everything.
That's on top of Stage Manager not being polished as it should be, with weird auto layout stuff happening.
Apple Execs were somewhat right, the experience is terrible due to hardware limitations. We asked for it, we got it.
Having it is a pure bonus, considering it's still a "Pro" device, with sufficient raw power, leaving aside the RAM and Swap stuff.
I have the 64 GB model, highly controversial capacity, but Stage Manager keeps dumping every single app that is not in focus out of memory. Switching from one app to another reloads everything.
That's on top of Stage Manager not being polished as it should be, with weird auto layout stuff happening.
Apple Execs were somewhat right, the experience is terrible due to hardware limitations. We asked for it, we got it.
Having it is a pure bonus, considering it's still a "Pro" device, with sufficient raw power, leaving aside the RAM and Swap stuff.
chfilm
macrumors 68040
I like being able to listen to a youtube audio stream while working on another window in the foreground.. but other than that, it has huuuuuuuge issues. I agree with Macstories‘ Federico on most of the issues right now.
How on earth is it possible they didn‘t implement an exposé like option to just explode all the apps currently open in one workspace? Do they really expect me to manually move all the windows around to reveal the fourth window that‘s burried behind some of the others!?
How on earth is it possible they didn‘t implement an exposé like option to just explode all the apps currently open in one workspace? Do they really expect me to manually move all the windows around to reveal the fourth window that‘s burried behind some of the others!?
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Jedimindtrick
Suspended
My thoughts exactly. I can't understand not implementing any of the proven multitask features that have worked for years with MacOS - like Mission Control, Exposè, etc.
Simply putting an icon in the dock to show me which apps I have open for example. If we're going to have a dock on the iPad, at least add some function to it!
You can make the apps‘ ”windows” smaller in Stage Manager than in Split View or Slideover. Which can enable you to view more “content” simultaneously (by making each app‘s window only as large as it needs to be to display whatever you need from the app).
But mainly, Workspaces in Stage Manager (ie, collections of up to four apps) are as useful as Spaces on macOS (ie, multiple desktops). Meaning not very much because they only work well if there is no overlap in app usage between different (Work)Spaces. If you have a set of apps you only ever use together, than putting them in one Space in macOS or one Workspace in iPadOS makes it easy to switch in one fell swoop to that set of apps.
jclardy
macrumors 601
I’d say it is way more useful in that case. But even on my 11” I find I sometimes enable stage manager just for normal tasks. The main advantage to me is if you have a use for all of the ”stages”. If you just need 4 apps, split view is way better because you don’t lose any screen space, and you can just swipe left/right to switch back and forth.
Stage manager works better when you have a few groups of apps you want to use, then switching with the left hand switcher is way faster. IE for me my last setup was: safari/twitter, slack, obsidian, calendar/reminders. I can do those in split view with the app switcher, but switching between all four is way less context switching using stage manager vs the multitasking window or multiple swipes.
It could certainly be better, but I’m pretty happy with it and will continue to use it when I’m in a more “focused” work session on the iPad.
Has anyone found any shortcuts related to stage manager though? It seems like something ripe for automation as switching modes always feels like I end up having to do a lot of setup work again.
It’s basically trying to mimic having multiple desktops. I’m not sure SM is better though.