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Pages Creator studio and Pages installed at the same time?

H

HMWausau

macrumors member
Original poster
This is somewhat interesting. I wanted to set up collaboration for a pages doc, and it said I needed to update. (actually, it said I needed a 'newer mac' as the error, not just an updated version. Sneaky Apple!!) Fine, I went to the app store, but no updates were there. I searched and found pages. It showed the icon for not installed on the machine, so I downloaded and installed it.

Interestingly, it kept the old version on the machine. Both show in the applications folder with the name 'Pages'. If I check the box in the finder to show filename extensions, they both show pages.app. Now, if you get info on each, the old one says Pages and the new ones says Pages Creator Studio.

What kind of chaos is this? The file name for the app in get info is different than what is being displayed in Finder??

Screenshot 2026-04-03 at 6.35.02 PM.png
 
I had the same issue a couple weeks ago, and what really bothered me was the "new" Pages, when I opened an established folder, had all my docs but they were all marked "Blank" in the doc title, and I panicked a bit. After a few days, all my old docs showed up in the "new" Pages, titles intact. So, give it a couple days before you get rid of the "old" Pages (I haven't, but I have removed its icon from my dock).
I haven't upgraded to the subscription dogpoop and have no intention of doing so, the AI features are of no interest to me. We'll see how long that will last...
 
Pages for Mac and Pages for iOS were two different entries in the App Store. Apple decided to add a Mac version to the iOS App Store entry and dismiss the old App Store Mac entry.
 
galad said:
Pages for Mac and Pages for iOS were two different entries in the App Store. Apple decided to add a Mac version to the iOS App Store entry and dismiss the old App Store Mac entry.
Click to expand...
That's not the issue. Nor is changing to a subscription model. The issue is that there are now 2 seemingly identically named applications showing in the finder. From a logical standpoint, that goes against what should be allowed in the system. The filename of the application is NOT what's showing in the finder.
 
The name is not the same at the file system level, it's just Finder showing a different display name.

Anyway, what I wrote above is exactly the reason of your issue. Even Apple can't merge two different apps in the App Store, and the iOS and macOS version were different entries for historical reasons. Neither Apple can remove an app with a different ID when installing another.
 
HMWausau said:
That's not the issue. Nor is changing to a subscription model. The issue is that there are now 2 seemingly identically named applications showing in the finder. From a logical standpoint, that goes against what should be allowed in the system. The filename of the application is NOT what's showing in the finder.
Click to expand...
That's EXACTLY the issue. The app was changed to a Universal app, which means it's a separate download from the App Store. This is a one-time thing; you can delete the old one.
 
HMWausau said:
The issue is that there are now 2 seemingly identically named applications showing in the finder. From a logical standpoint, that goes against what should be allowed in the system. The filename of the application is NOT what's showing in the finder.
Click to expand...
There are numerous place where Finder (and Spotlight) show a sanitised view of the file system. So nothing new really. But it is disconcerting for the not-so-beginner. If Finder's behaviour bother you, here is another reason to look for an alternative which doesn't obscure the underlying file system. Personally, I am just amused by these little quirks.
 
FreakinEurekan said:
The app was changed to a Universal app, which means it's a separate download from the App Store.
Click to expand...
They are both Universal apps. It is more that they are different major versions (14 and 15) and Apple is letting them co-exist in macOS.

Just to confuse matters, the Mac App Store calls v15 "Pages: Create Documents".
FreakinEurekan said:
This is a one-time thing; you can delete the old one.
Click to expand...
You certainly can (and probably should) delete the old one.
 
HMWausau said:
That's not the issue. Nor is changing to a subscription model. The issue is that there are now 2 seemingly identically named applications showing in the finder. From a logical standpoint, that goes against what should be allowed in the system. The filename of the application is NOT what's showing in the finder.
Click to expand...
They're piggybacking off the translation feature. The name displayed in Finder can be overridden by tagging a new name with the local language. For example, in English-speaking countries Mail.app shows up simply as Mail, but in Japan it shows as メール despite still being named Mail.app in the file system.

In this particular case, Pages Creator Studio.app has "Pages" configured as its English name.
 
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There's no reason to keep both sets of apps on your machine. You could archive the old apps, if you like. (They'll also be in your TM backup.)

Perhaps Apple didn't handle the change optimally; though upheaval is often impossible to avoid when things are changed.
 
gilby101 said:
Ok. Different meaning of universal, though I am sure the app download from the Mac App Store is specific to macOS.
Click to expand...
Don't be sure, with SwiftUI you can run an iPhone, iPad, and mac app from the exact same codebase and the UI will dynamically shift depending on the platform. The more correct term is a catalyst app but only developers call it that. My app which I originally designed only for iPad in 2015 now looks like a mac app on macOS and an iPhone app on iOS, pretty amazing stuff.

- iOS and mac dev for 10+ years.
 
HM wrote in reply 5 above:
"The issue is that there are now 2 seemingly identically named applications showing in the finder."

Why not just...
- open the Applications folder in the finder
- rename the "old" Pages app to "Pages 14.x"
- rename the "new" Pages app to "Pages 15.x"
... and carry on?

I've renamed app names in the finder now and then. Never seems to bother things.

Alternate:
Rename old Pages. Either something like "Pages 14" or "Pages (old)".
Leave NEW Pages "as it is". This might help with updates.
 
gilby101 said:
Ok. Different meaning of universal, though I am sure the app download from the Mac App Store is specific to macOS.
Click to expand...
Of course, it's not the same app, it's just that now the same entry in the App Store database can be used for both macOS and iOS.
 
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