Thoughts on Stage Manager?

[bcortens]

Stage Manager not intuitive? Not sure about that. But the way windows jumping around, and resizing has more to do with how Apple hasn't given devs more tools to scale them properly.

Actually it’s because fundamentally Apple decided that they should auto-magically position windows to help prevent you from loosing a window. Developers shouldn’t be in charge of window position, users (via the window manager) should.

Never said they can't understand... Stage Manager is on the iPad to provide a resizing window environment, but Apple kept App Expose on the iPad due to its familiarity. App Expose is feature iPad users are familiar with... you might not like it, but plenty of iPad users do.

App Expose as you call it (multitasking switcher as I call it) is great, and my version of Mission Control is just a small rework that both helps you more easily see where you are (because the current app or Split View is slightly larger) and supports a seamless addition of resizable spaces.

If you want to see everything, then that's when App Expose comes into play. Would I like to see your concept on an iPad? Absolutely! It's dope... but I think Stage Manager is not as horrible as you make it out to be.

I can’t use stage manager because it breaks App Expose/multitasking switcher view. I like and rely on App Expose/Multitasking Switcher and the fact that Stage manager breaks it is why I hate Stage Manager so much. (I also don’t like that you can’t have separated spaces but that all ‘app groups’ are essentially part of the same stage manager area but that is minor compared to the breaking of the multitasking switcher).

 

[Ludatyk]

App Expose as you call it (multitasking switcher as I call it) is great, and my version of Mission Control is just a small rework that both helps you more easily see where you are (because the current app or Split View is slightly larger) and supports a seamless addition of resizable spaces.

I didn't coin the term... that's what Apple calls it.

I can’t use stage manager because it breaks App Expose/multitasking switcher view. I like and rely on App Expose/Multitasking Switcher and the fact that Stage manager breaks it is why I hate Stage Manager so much. (I also don’t like that you can’t have separated spaces but that all ‘app groups’ are essentially part of the same stage manager area but that is minor compared to the breaking of the multitasking switcher).

Huh? How does Stage Manager breaks App Expose? The way you explain your frustration you expose the lack of understanding toward Stage Manager.

App Expose is different from Stage Manager enabled versus disabled... you don't have the option to drag apps when using App Expose, perhaps... that's why you call it broken. But on the flip side of that... that's why "side" recent app feature exists.

If I need to drag a window onto a different stage... use the "side" recent app feature.

 

[bcortens]

I didn't coin the term... that's what Apple calls it.


Huh? How does Stage Manager breaks App Expose? The way you explain your frustration you expose the lack of understanding toward Stage Manager.

App Expose is different from Stage Manager enabled versus disabled... you don't have the option to drag apps when using App Expose, perhaps... that's why you call it broken. But on the flip side of that... that's why "side" recent app feature exists.

If I need to drag a window onto a different stage... use the "side" recent app feature.

Enable stage manager, enter the app expose/multitasking view, instead of a nicely arranged array of open apps and app groups you have groups of stacked apps where windows from the same app are stacked atop one another. This is worse than the app expose view.

This also makes it impossible to drag windows between split views - something that App Expose/multitasking view makes really really easy. Drag and drop Split View creation/destruction was the very best thing about iPad OS 15.

The recent app switcher doesn’t do everything the App Expose view does and it only shows the most recent 4 apps. It is far more limited and less useful. It is more useful to get apps into and out of the ‘stage’ than anything since that is its primary purpose.

This is why it is broken. It is not a lack of understanding. It is the fact that stage manager makes window management worse if you still like to use things in Fullscreen/Split View.

I have 7 Safari windows open right now, if I turn on stage manager they are a stack of windows that shows up as most recent even though I haven’t touched 4 of those windows today. If I am not using stage manager they are off to the left and easily accessible if I want to scroll over and grab them. Stage manager buries the least used ones at the bottom of a stack of windows I can’t access…

The idea that Stage Manager is an iPad power user feature is ignoring people like me who actually have tons of open windows and I want something like App Expose/multitasking to make sure I can visually find them when I need them. I don’t want a stack, and the limit of 4 apps/app groups on the recent list isn’t helpful either.

Without a proper window manager (as I have proposed above) stage manager is useless to me so I keep it turned off. I’ve turned it on a bunch while replying to this thread to see if it fixed any of my issues with it and it hasn’t ….

Edit: I should say that I know the OS has killed some of those safari windows, but when I go back to them they reload to the same websites I left them on. Which is why I leave them open, because I left something there that I wanted to keep open for very occasional use.

 

[Ludatyk]

Enable stage manager, enter the app expose/multitasking view, instead of a nicely arranged array of open apps and app groups you have groups of stacked apps where windows from the same app are stacked atop one another. This is worse than the app expose view.

So, your issue with it... it's not nice enough for you? Not that it's broken.

The idea that Stage Manager is an iPad power user feature is ignoring people like me who actually have tons of open windows and I want something like App Expose/multitasking to make sure I can visually find them when I need them. I don’t want a stack, and the limit of 4 apps/app groups on the recent list isn’t helpful either.

I consider you more of a Mac user who wants the iPad to behave like macOS... not necessarily an iPad power user (I could be wrong). But have you tried using Stage Manager on an external display?

 

[bcortens]

So, your issue with it... it's not nice enough for you? Not that it's broken.

Broken from a usability perspective. It isn’t just not nice, it is actually impossible to use… it hides old windows such that I cannot get to old safari windows anymore. Sure if you only have 2 windows per app or app group it sort of works, even then the windows at the back of the stack are hard to hit as touch targets. Beyond 2-3 windows per app it breaks because the stacks can’t be expanded to show everything in the stack. Usability is also made worse because it doesn’t sort things by last used date of the window but by last used date of the app which means very old things are in the most prominent stacks …

I consider you more of a Mac user who wants the iPad to behave like macOS... not necessarily an iPad power user (I could be wrong). But have you tried using Stage Manager on an external display?

I use my iPad more than my Mac and am quite happy with it, I don’t actually use Stage Manager because every time I turn it on I am once again shown how they broke App Expose/multitasking. I actually would have rather they never brought resizable windows to the iPad than brought them via Stage Manager. I can’t use an external display with Stage Manager on my 2018 iPad Pro (as far as I know). There are times I would like to be able to have some app groups of more than 2 windows but the rest of my workflow is too broken by stage manager to make that an option. That is why I complain about it so much. Because I can’t use it because it is a broken implementation.

However, will an external display fix the app group stack issue? Will it sort by last used window date instead of by last used app date?

Apple tried to add stacked windows in Mission Control on macOS and it was a bad idea there too for the same reason. At least the macOS version let you expand the stacks to see more than the top most window.

Edit: To be clear, there are sometimes when I really really want to be able to use stage manager, I was writing a document in Pages with a mind node window in Split View and Stage manager makes this use case so much better because both can be in 2/3 width size class and overlapping and as I move back and forth they move to the front nicely. It was great!

The problem came when I tried to go briefly get something from twitter and I remembered that I didn’t have slideover when stage manager was turned on. Then I had to hunt for it in the app switcher, then I had to add it to my stage briefly, reorganizing my windows, and then I had to get rid of it again. All of this was easier with slideover. Just bring it in then get rid of it again. It was more than 4 apps old so it wasn’t just in the recent apps grid list either. I want an integrated system where resizing windows are integrated by having resized windows live in spaces alongside the existing Split View and fullscreen spaces with Slideover.

 

[CC88]

Thanks for sharing that! I will stick to my solution for now. No chance for overheating, and leaves the iPad open, and conveniently available.

I think it’s a great solution. With my clamshell mode sometimes I noticed the screen goes black... maybe some bug in the beta version.

 

[Ludatyk]

I can’t use an external display with Stage Manager on my 2018 iPad Pro (as far as I know).

Well, the issues you are explaining such as not seeing everything in a stage when you are in App Expose... it would help to some degree with having an external display.

That's why I mentioned... using Stage Manager on external display is much better compared to the iPad itself. And to make matters worse... you have a 11" iPad Pro?

However, will an external display fix the app group stack issue? Will it sort by last used window date instead of by last used app date?

Granted, you will get stacks... but you will be able to see your windows much better on an external display... if that's what you are asking. Not sure what you mean by last window date... but what I like about using external display is dragging windows from the iPad to the external display (and you have 8 windows at your disposal).

Federico complained about transferring stages from the iPad to an external display... well, technically there's no option for it. But if a user has Word, Safari and Notes on one stage with the iPad screen... (with no apps open on an external display) they can open Word and it will the transfer that one stage of Word, Safari and Notes.

 

[bcortens]

Well, the issues you are explaining such as not seeing everything in a stage when you are in App Expose... it would help to some degree with having an external display.

That's why I mentioned... using Stage Manager on external display is much better compared to the iPad itself. And to make matters worse... you have a 11" iPad Pro?


Granted, you will get stacks... but you will be able to see your windows much better on an external display... if that's what you are asking. Not sure what you mean by last window date... but what I like about using external display is dragging windows from the iPad to the external display (and you have 8 windows at your disposal).

Federico complained about transferring stages from the iPad to an external display... well, technically there's no option for it. But if a user has Word, Safari and Notes on one stage with the iPad screen... (with no apps open on an external display) they can open Word and it will the transfer that one stage of Word, Safari and Notes.

I have a 2018 11” Pro which I love yes.
Stage manager, again, shouldn’t rely on external displays to be useful. There is no reason they had to compromise it this way except that they are just green-lighting new things for the sake of them being new.

So right now, stage manager off, in App Expose/Multitasking Switcher I see a list of windows organized by date, since I have 7 safari windows open the most recent 1 is the first one, then I have mail, then pages and mind node in a Split View, then the other safari window, and somewhere off to the right the other safari windows exist. If I want those windows I have two options.

1. Swipe to see my older windows
2. Open any safari window and tap the three dots window manager and they all appear
3. Long press on the app icon and select “See all windows”

Stage manager takes away options 1 and 2, which I use regularly leaving only option 3.

I probably will end up getting an M series iPad Pro, my heart says I should get the 12“ but my head (and wallet say 11”). I want to connect to an external display and use it more effectively, not just a blown up version of my 11” screen on my 27” 5K display. I’ll probably just toggle stage manager on when connected and off again when I’m finished (unless they finally let me take full advantage of the external display with stage manager off). This will skew the statistics and give apple the impression that I like stage manger, when I don’t.

Like, here’s the thing, I like the resizing window ability, but I think the overall design and window management in Stage Manager is bad. They broke too much, they got rid of too many useful features of the existing system and bifurcated the iPad experience. They even acknowledge how the existing system and the new one don’t work together by letting us put a toggle in control centre to quickly turn it on and off. Instead of spending more time thinking how they could make a unified windowing system that scaled from fullscreen all the way to resizable (which I demonstrated is possible) they just kind of tacked on a whole new paradigm that lives in a new mode.
(Minimizing is bad, too but I just never even touch that button because it is buggy)

 

[Ludatyk]

Like, here’s the thing, I like the resizing window ability, but I think the overall design and window management in Stage Manager is bad. They broke too much, they got rid of too many useful features of the existing system and bifurcated the iPad experience. They even acknowledge how the existing system and the new one don’t work together by letting us put a toggle in control centre to quickly turn it on and off. Instead of spending more time thinking how they could make a unified windowing system that scaled from fullscreen all the way to resizable (which I demonstrated is possible) they just kind of tacked on a whole new paradigm that lives in a new mode.
(Minimizing is bad, too but I just never even touch that button because it is buggy)

We just going to have to agree to disagree here.

I don't think Stage Manager is bad... I use it daily on both the iPad and external display, I understand it's not perfect and I welcome any changes going forward. I've gone so far as to stop using SplitView and SlideOver... because I prefer to use Stage Manager.

But choices are wonderful... if you are not a fan Stage Manager, pre-existing multitasking is still available.

 

[bcortens]

We just going to have to agree to disagree here.

I don't think Stage Manager is bad... I use it daily on both the iPad and external display, I understand it's not perfect and I welcome any changes going forward. I've gone so far as to stop using SplitView and SlideOver... because I prefer to use Stage Manager.

But choices are wonderful... if you are not a fan Stage Manager, pre-existing multitasking is still available.

Sort of, I will keep complaining about it because I think it’s needed. The thread is title ‘thoughts on stage manager’ after all. Stage manager does make me choose though, if they had brought external display support that just used the existing split-view/slide-over existing multitasking system I would already have bought a new iPad to use it. The fact that stage manager is required to get external monitor support is annoying and doesn’t leave us a choice on whether or not we use it.

 

[thenahon]

As a Mac user who is really ADD, I often forget how much junk I have going on. I like that stage manager keeps my most recently used windows up and in view, however I feel like 5 (or even 6) would have been better than 4. On the 14" M1 MacBook Pro you get 4 window groups on the left and that's it.

Do those with the 16" get more than 4 groups?

 

[MegaBlue]

I barely use it. Not because I think it’s bad or anything, it just doesn’t help me in any way. I don’t use floating windows on top of each other on my Mac either, so I just prefer the way the iPad does multitasking normally. I’m far more productive with that style, even on Mac/PC.

I also never plug my iPad into a monitor so I never use it there either.

 

[Ludatyk]

Sort of, I will keep complaining about it because I think it’s needed. The thread is title ‘thoughts on stage manager’ after all. Stage manager does make me choose though, if they had brought external display support that just used the existing split-view/slide-over existing multitasking system I would already have bought a new iPad to use it. The fact that stage manager is required to get external monitor support is annoying and doesn’t leave us a choice on whether or not we use it.

But that's the thing. You'll keep complaining until Stage Manager adopts Mission Control and I highly doubt that will happen.

I barely use it. Not because I think it’s bad or anything, it just doesn’t help me in any way. I don’t use floating windows on top of each other on my Mac either, so I just prefer the way the iPad does multitasking normally. I’m far more productive with that style, even on Mac/PC.

I also never plug my iPad into a monitor so I never use it there either.

Thank you for this!

 

[Jedimindtrick]

Mission Control is more of a window management system, whereas App Exposé is more of an app switcher. Hence the name.

Which is why I think Mission Control would be perfect to add to Stage Manager on iPadOS. If you have open windows - like with Stage Manager - a Mission Control UI would work really well with that.

 

[bcortens]

But that's the thing. You'll keep complaining until Stage Manager adopts Mission Control and I highly doubt that will happen.


Thank you for this!

Of course, I will keep complaining till they address the issues, but that doesn’t mean they need to adopt Mission Control:

1. Inability to drag and drop apps into ’stages’ from the multitasking switcher
2. Inability to (even optionally) show windows based organized by group and date rather than stacks in the multitasking view
3. Inability to quickly create and destroy split-view groups from the multitasking switcher
4. Inability to tap on three dots to see all windows for an app in a nice list
5. Inability to use “stages” with slideover
6. Inability to easily see apps hidden behind other apps in a stage
7. When one app is white and the other black the status bar can’t figure out which colour it should use for the date and battery indicators

Note: I know SlideOver and Split-View are technically disabled when Stage Manager is enabled but Fullscreen and Split View still mostly work (you just have to make sure you don’t touch the resize button).

Of these, 1,2, and 3 are related and are the most important issues. I would actually be able to use it in my own workflow if those were fixed.

That’s the worst part, these are actually fixable and it baffles me that they didn’t think of a fix with all of their full time designers on staff!

The biggest issues are fixable with two changes:

1. Group by stage instead of group by app
   1. You have some sort of setting so that when in the multitasking switcher you see the apps grouped by “stage” ordered by last used date instead of showing them grouped by app.
2. Drag and drop between stages
   1. After implementing 1, then just allow me to drag apps from stage to stage while in multitasking view and boom that fixes most of my issues and stage manager is better for me, still not great but much much better.

To make it great lets add a few more features:

1. App size options in window management list:
   1. Tap on the three dots to see options to place the app at 1/3, 2/3, or 1/2 width and at which side of the screen you want it.
   2. Make sure the OS remembers the size and side chosen for later (so that if I move it from stage to stage it preserves the size of the windows)
2. Give me back the show all app windows when tapping the three dots, the functionality is there since you can long press the app icon, just put the option back into the menu as well.

The rest of Stage Manager could stay like it is and I would be okay with that. My preferred option is more like Mission Control but I would be much much happier if they did the above. Slide-over isn’t a deal breaker and I could easily live without it.

Edit: As an aside the animations when you drag along the home indicator to switch apps when Stage Manager is enabled are so much cooler than the default ones when it is off…

Edit 2: Grammar fixes

Edit 3: I find arguing about things like this helps me distill my own understanding. Through this back and forth I was better able to articulate my issues (the numbered issues above) and better able to think of solutions that don’t involve throwing the whole thing out and starting over.

So thank you for engaging, want you to know how much I appreciate having someone who is willing to go back and forth on this.

Edit 4: Added a 6 and 7 to my list of issues - not sure how to fix 6 without some sort of within stage expose option but I wanted to keep my list all in one place rather than adding more as a reply.

 

[Ludatyk]

Mission Control is more of a window management system, whereas App Exposé is more of an app switcher. Hence the name.

Which is why I think Mission Control would be perfect to add to Stage Manager on iPadOS. If you have open windows - like with Stage Manager - a Mission Control UI would work really well with that.

But you can manage windows under App Expose when Stage Manager is disabled... hence why @bcortens favors it over Stage Manager.

So thank you for engaging, want you to know how much I appreciate having someone who is willing to go back and forth on this.

No problem, I hope the issues you raise gets addressed. But as it stands... I use it (fully aware there are issues), this is version one and will get better with future updates.

 

[Jedimindtrick]

But you can manage windows under App Expose when Stage Manager is disabled...

When Stage Manager is disabled, there aren’t any “windows” per se. There’s really only full screen apps, or 2 apps in a split screen format.

My point is that Mission Control is useful when there’s a ton of windows piled all over each other on your screen. Up until Stage Manager on iPadOS, that was never really a concern on iPad. Now that it is, their solution has been to move the windows around for you.

You can have 20 applications running on your Mac, Mission Control only manages the apps that have windows open. Whereas App Expose is different. It displays every app that you have open.

I get it, a lot of that is just the nature of iPadOS, and how we don’t really “Quit” programs the same way we do on MacOS.

For me, it doesn’t really have to be an exact duplicate of Mission Control to have a better experience with Stage Manager. I think that’s the option that makes the most sense, because it’s been perfected over a decade and it can run natively on the M1. Just anything that gives you an overview of the apps running in the Stage, making it easier bring forward the app you need, is what I’d like to see. My frustration is, that is like basic window management 101 at this point. Every single windowed OS has something that resembles Mission Control. I find it head-scratching to introduce windowed apps for the first time on iPad, but keep App Expose the same.

App Expose was designed for full screen app switching. Asking it to replace a real window management system isn’t really fair.

 

[martens]

I have not tried external display support (waiting for the official release), but I am finding uses for Stage Manager.

My iPad Pro 12.9" (why can't it be iPad Pro Max or something that's not tied to 'inches'?) typically is in its Magic Keyboard case in landscape. It's too wide to read web articles that spread across the full width of the screen, or for reading apps (without using 2-column mode, which I don't like). The lines of text are too long to parse comfortably.

With Stage Manager, I can hide doc and recent apps, and resize the window to reduce the width (to either 2/3 or 1/2), making it much more comfortable to read. The desktop is blurred and in the background, and improves focus on the text in the centered window.

I used to use Split View to achieve something like this effect, but it meant putting something else on the other side of the split, along with its distractions. It strikes me that they could improve Split View for all iPads by adding an option to have one app, centered and resizable to 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 as desired (the normal Split View options), with blurred background.

I would like a keyboard shortcut to toggle Stage Manager on and off, and one to Maximize and Restore app window size.

 

[Zelda Chestnut]

Alright everyone, now that external display is available to the public, how have your thoughts changed?! Does anyone like it a lot better with external display? My opinion: I initially was disappointed, but after using it more I think I really like it! I still think there’s some tweaks and improvements that could be made, but all in all this is a big step in the right direction for iPad. I am writing this message from my iPad Air 5th using external display right now

Three things that need to be addressed in my opinion:
1. Some sort of exposé feature for apps within one “stage.” Especially with four apps open, it’s easy for the fourth to be completely hidden, which is a bit silly.
2. To be able to select sound output. This is a glaring miss for me. If I am playing music from my iPad, even if it’s already connected to another bluetooth speaker, the sound will then play from the speakers of the monitor when I connect to it. Fortunately with Spotify I can change back to the Bluetooth speaker because I don’t see that there’s a way to do so in settings. If I am missing something, please someone let me know.
3. More robust apps, aka desktop class apps. A lot of the Apple apps are already (or mostly) there, but it seems that some third party apps are still hanging on to the “mobile” architecture. There’s one app that’s important to me where this is the case, and I really hope more companies adopt a more desktop-like feature and functionality set. I also really like the look of Mac apps with the translucent menus, and it would be nice to have that on iPad apps as well. If my Intel Mac can handle it, my M1 iPad Air can

So what do you all think??

 

[Woodcrest64]

I would love to see an option where you could use the iPad as a trackpad when attached to an external monitor that could also toggle a virtual on screen keyboard in case its ever needed. I am enjoying stage manager but I do find it drains the battery quicker vs not using it. I assume this due to more apps running at the same time of course.

 

[bondr006]

Alright everyone, now that external display is available to the public, how have your thoughts changed?! Does anyone like it a lot better with external display? My opinion: I initially was disappointed, but after using it more I think I really like it! I still think there’s some tweaks and improvements that could be made, but all in all this is a big step in the right direction for iPad. I am writing this message from my iPad Air 5th using external display right now

Three things that need to be addressed in my opinion:
1. Some sort of exposé feature for apps within one “stage.” Especially with four apps open, it’s easy for the fourth to be completely hidden, which is a bit silly.
2. To be able to select sound output. This is a glaring miss for me. If I am playing music from my iPad, even if it’s already connected to another bluetooth speaker, the sound will then play from the speakers of the monitor when I connect to it. Fortunately with Spotify I can change back to the Bluetooth speaker because I don’t see that there’s a way to do so in settings. If I am missing something, please someone let me know.
3. More robust apps, aka desktop class apps. A lot of the Apple apps are already (or mostly) there, but it seems that some third party apps are still hanging on to the “mobile” architecture. There’s one app that’s important to me where this is the case, and I really hope more companies adopt a more desktop-like feature and functionality set. I also really like the look of Mac apps with the translucent menus, and it would be nice to have that on iPad apps as well. If my Intel Mac can handle it, my M1 iPad Air can

So what do you all think??

This has been my main gripe with Stage Manager. There needs to be some sound settings for sure. I don't know why the sound doesn't just default to the iPad speakers. That would be the most simple solution. I guess too simple, even for Apple. Anyway, thank god there are a few workarounds. I hope Apple gives us some sound settings soon.

After waiting all the years for full external monitor support, I am pretty happy with Stage Manager. It will mature and get better over time, just like any software. iPadOS itself has come a long way, to the point I can use my iPad as a laptop, and also now as a desktop alternative for my real estate business. I would like to see developers up their game on pro apps that can really take advantage of the new processors. Other than that, I am good with iPadOS as it keeps getting better with time. What might be neat now that we have external monitor support is a virtual software like Parallels Desktop that lets us boot in to MacOS or Windows. Don't know if that will ever happen, but one can dream.

 

[madat42]

I’ve been going back and forth between an 11” and 12.9” IPP using Stage Manager and it definitely feels right at home on the bigger screen. Would have Safari, Mail and Messages sharing the stage. Whereas on the small screen I find myself just using the apps in full screen mode most of the time. If I use More Space it works but my eyes get pretty tired fast with the small print. Pretty cool where it’s all headed though.

 

[bcortens]

I’ve been going back and forth between an 11” and 12.9” IPP using Stage Manager and it definitely feels right at home on the bigger screen. Would have Safari, Mail and Messages sharing the stage. Whereas on the small screen I find myself just using the apps in full screen mode most of the time. If I use More Space it works but my eyes get pretty tired fast with the small print. Pretty cool where it’s all headed though.

Having tried stage manager a bit more recently I think that the 11" screen works just fine. Being able to have two apps in 2/3 width in the same stage is a great experience.

I maintain that the biggest issue with stage manager that makes me unable to use it is the stacking of apps and inconsistent use of stages in multitasking switcher. I have 8 safari windows open right now and most of them are each in their own stage, this leads them to being stacked in an inaccessible manner. I literally cannot get to just the window I want from the multitasking switcher. Additionally, removing the show all windows option from the window menu (three dots) makes it much more annoying to show all windows (especially for apps that aren't in the dock).

If apps were shown only grouped by stage in the multitasking switcher (and tiled such that you can tap on any app within a stage) that would fix my biggest obstacle to using stage manager.
The second biggest obstacle would remain - not being able to drag windows from stage to stage within the multitasking switcher.

I believe it was iPad OS 14 -> iPad OS 15 that changed this with split view multitasking. You can finally drag windows between split views, in and out of fullscreen, and into the slide-over stack all from the multitasking switcher. Apple made all this progress and then just threw it out the window when building stage manager. Stacking windows doesn't work because if you have more than 2 windows it becomes increasingly difficult to get to the windows you want.

 

[madat42]

I maintain that the biggest issue with stage manager that makes me unable to use it is the stacking of apps and inconsistent use of stages in multitasking switcher. I have 8 safari windows open right now and most of them are each in their own stage, this leads them to being stacked in an inaccessible manner. I literally cannot get to just the window I want from the multitasking switcher. Additionally, removing the show all windows option from the window menu (three dots) makes it much more annoying to show all windows (especially for apps that aren't in the dock).

Not sure if this helps you but if you use the 🌐⬇️ keystroke (if you’ve got an Apple kb) it will show you just your window set for the currently focused app. Unclear from your description above if this will be useful.

 

[bcortens]

Very cool and useful when a keyboard is connected. Thank you for the tip!