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Ludatyk

macrumors 603
May 27, 2012
5,399
4,370
Texas
I can’t imagine it’s better on an iPad than a Mac, and it’s awful on a Mac
Stage Manager serves two different functions on each platform. On iPadOS, Stage Manager provides users the ability to have resizable windows whereas on macOS it allows for a more simplified workflow.

Federighi discussed a scenario on macOS where a family member had so many windows on the desktop and they were all scattered while some was pushed aside.
 

h00ligan

macrumors 68040
Apr 10, 2003
3,028
136
London
Stage Manager serves two different functions on each platform. On iPadOS, Stage Manager provides users the ability to have resizable windows whereas on macOS it allows for a more simplified workflow.

Federighi discussed a scenario on macOS where a family member had so many windows on the desktop and they were all scattered while some was pushed aside.
Maybe they’ll give us tabbed finder and a way to switch tabs with a keyboard in any app that supports them.

On OS X it felt extremely limiting, even on a 16”mbp it felt like I was saying - let’s just use half of my screen )m(it’s not half, but it is confining)

I wonder if they created less gap if it would be more useful for me personally - perhaps the 12.9” iPad makes it better.

Sadly as a 4th gen air owner living in a place that gets completely shafted on iPad prices (not apple Brazil bad, but bad vs USA) - I can’t see picking up an iPad Pro for so much money, and therefore can’t experience it on iPad. Maybe next air or so.
 

darngooddesign

macrumors P6
Jul 4, 2007
18,009
9,604
Atlanta, GA
Sadly as a 4th gen air owner living in a place that gets completely shafted on iPad prices (not apple Brazil bad, but bad vs USA) - I can’t see picking up an iPad Pro for so much money, and therefore can’t experience it on iPad. Maybe next air or so.
SM is on the iPad Air (5th Gen) which also has an M1 with 8GB RAM.
 

jt.syrja

macrumors member
Apr 21, 2013
33
31
Finland
I like it a lot on my iPad Pro 12,9”. I see only benefits, if I have all apps fulscreen then I wont even notice its on, but I always have an option to drag from the corner to adjust app size and slide another app onto the screen. Few apps like F1 TV works normally only on landscape (and only fullscreen) but with stage manager I can use iPad on portrait and have upper half of the screen for F1 and lower half for another app (or even two small windows side by side).

Only thing I dont understand is why there is no way to open app library when in stage manager? Or is there? It would be nice to have an option to add whatever app on the screen beside another app without going to the home screen, then find the app and open it, and then slide in the app you previously were in from the sidebar.. i have very minimalistic home screen and dock and usually open apps via the on screen find function. Can I have the app library on the dock somehow?

edit. I am stupid, I had app library disabled from the dock in settings. Enabled that and now I have the possibility to add whatever app I need straight from there. I previously had dock disabled from the stage manager, but now I enabled it too.
 

darngooddesign

macrumors P6
Jul 4, 2007
18,009
9,604
Atlanta, GA
It seems like the general vibe i get is that people try it, then decide to never use it again. Except for external monitor stuff. Anybody have it on and just…leave it on? And like it? I’m experimenting with leaving it on for a couple days and see if it drives me nuts
After getting my M1 iPP, I haven't turned it off. I like it a lot. StageManager is particularly good in portrait where Split-screen looks ridiculous.
 
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Username-already-in-use

macrumors 6502a
May 18, 2021
555
1,027
It's really great when I have it plugged into a monitor. I only use it without a monitor when I want to play a YouTube video in the background when I am browsing the web.
 

El_Capitan

macrumors member
Aug 16, 2015
41
11
I gave it a chance once it was available and although I’ve been using it for about a month - it just wouldn’t work for me. I kept switching between the regular view and the SM depending on what app I was using. I finally gave up on it and left it for good but…

I felt like I was missing the point there and I really liked the idea of using it as it did make my iPad work more like a desktop machine. I learned how to switch easily between the full screen mode and windowed mode when needed and now SM is what I use exclusively.

Main positives are that it makes my iPad work better when multitasking even without the external display. Another big one is that windowed apps just work better and get properly orientated even in the landscape orientation. Think of Instagram app, calculator etc.

There’s still room for improvement left but so far it has made my iPad a more work friendly device.
 

goldpin

macrumors member
Sep 6, 2021
45
78
I've used it exclusively on my 12.9 iPP since it came out and it definitely got better with iPadOS 17. Whether an external monitor is attached or not, it's my preferred interface. Haven't used it on macOS, though.
 

spiderman0616

Suspended
Aug 1, 2010
5,670
7,491
I can tell that Stage Manager has taken over my workflows because when my Mac crashed a couple weeks ago and had to be restarted from scratch, it was the first thing I looked to turn on in my settings. I'm just used to working that way now.

I have still never had an iPad yet that supported Stage Manager and the latest iPadOS update seems to have killed video out functionality completely on my mini 6 for some reason, but I imagine over the next few years when I upgrade it, my next one will have Stage Manager and I'm hoping by then it's up to par with the macOS implementation.
 

WB2Colorado

macrumors demi-god
Aug 1, 2008
369
610
Durango, Colorado
I would like it better if Stage Manager was replaced with a UI more like Samsung’s Dex. Press a button and get a macOS-like desktop UI on your iPad, plug in a keyboard and mouse and off you go. That’s one of the features I’ve always liked about Samsung’s phones and tablets. I know Apple will probably never do it but I can dream.
 

sananda

macrumors 68030
May 24, 2007
2,808
965
I‘m still using Stage Manager all through the working day on my iPad.

There are some irritations. Teams doesn‘t work reliably: the screen often goes blank or I see myself in portrait orientation when in a video call but the person at the other end sees me in landscape orientation. Turning off Stage Manager gets Teams working properly again for a while. Notes is troublesome too. After looking an individual note and then using another window (in another app on an external monitor), the note scrolls up without there being any interaction and I lose my place in the note.

Generally I find it cumbersome to open further windows of an app I‘m using.
 

xxFoxtail

macrumors 6502
Nov 8, 2015
491
682
NY
It's a nice feature to have on the iPad - not too sure about the Mac, never bothered trying it there. As someone who's a single-tasker, it's still a bit useless to me. I'd rather just have one app open at a time no matter what device I'm using.
 

Reverend Benny

macrumors 6502a
Apr 28, 2017
712
478
Europe
Stage manager is getting better for every iPadOS update. Using it with my M1 11" iPad pro and its works great.
Hopefully more apps will support it so that I can run fullscreen video on streaming services and so on.

I can absolutely see this being applied to future iPhones too.
 
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Isengardtom

macrumors 65816
Feb 14, 2009
1,010
1,516
I use it a bit more than before iPadOS17 but still less then 5% of the time. I'm more comfortable with Split View and slide over. I would use it with an external monitor though

Thing for me is, the smaller the screen, the less use I find in multitasking on a single screen.
Same thing applies to laptops. Multi windowing on a screen that's less than 16 inches is just not efficient for me

Which is also why I disagree with a lot of the debate around iPadOS multitasking vs MacOS multitasking. I don't think MacOS is much better on a small laptop than iPadOS is on an iPad
 
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vigilant

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2007
703
281
Nashville, TN
It seems like the general vibe i get is that people try it, then decide to never use it again. Except for external monitor stuff. Anybody have it on and just…leave it on? And like it? I’m experimenting with leaving it on for a couple days and see if it drives me nuts
I’ve got an 11 and 12.9 iPad Pro, and 16 MacBook Pro.

I have Stage Manager on my iPads all the time, and like 90% of the time on my MacBook Pro.

It simplifies windows management and is largely consistent from iPad Pro to Mac.
 

vigilant

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2007
703
281
Nashville, TN
Maybe I worded it weirdly because I wrote that a bit fast and I’m not a native English speaker, but that was two days ago and I don’t remember what I was doing while typing.

What I wanted to say is that, indeed, I don’t enjoy using it, I don’t like it, and unless Apple forces me to enable it when using an external display, for me is like it doesn’t exist. Just saying it to support/answer the OP questions regarding the topic.

As for how a system like iPadOS could implement a better multitask on an external monitor, honestly, it’s not me who has to provide a solution for this problem. A multi-billion company like Apple has. I’m just saying that at the current stage of the feature, I prefer not to use Stage Manager on a Mac or iPad, I much prefer the Mission Control / Exposé feature that macs have had for more than 10 years now.

We’ll see how Stage Manager evolves in future iterations.

And by the way, I’m glad you or other people enjoy using the feature, but it is not the case for me.
Totally respect your perspective. Consistent window management, and simplicity of the implementation is what got me.
 

vigilant

macrumors 6502a
Aug 7, 2007
703
281
Nashville, TN
I just use it on an external monitor. It mostly works for my use cases. iPadOS 17 makes it a lot more familiar to a desktop. We just need a power files app like Finder. Case closed.
I’m curious, what is the use case where Files doesn’t meet your needs?

Not trying to be an apologist, but between having all of the different views, and Cloud storage being supported I personally don’t find a need for much else
 

mark1024

macrumors newbie
Apr 12, 2024
1
0
I was googling to find out if anyone found the 'stage manager' useful as I've been trying it for a few weeks on my MacBook 16" but switched it off today.

Specifically - it stops me from dragging files from Finder into an upload box in a web browser. Overall I found using it very much like not having it at all, except it hides apps you're not currently interacting with and presents them for you again when you want to use them with a flourish, making drag & drop between applications impossible.

I wonder - have I missed the point? It just seems to be eye candy that just stops me from doing some things I used to be able to do. I've not discovered anything new that it offers.
 
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