All iPads Anybody here actually leave stage manager on? And like it?

[Populus]

But it's the way you phrased it... "forces me to activate it." As if you have no control on whether or not its shown. And I'm confused... would you rather have the pillarbox style external monitor experience mirrored to the iPad?

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.

 

[frqunzfltr]

I tried it out for a couple of weeks. But now I've moved my dock to the left side of the screen, so that's a better solution for me.

Edit:
I'm talking Mac not iPad, excuse me.

 

[teh_hunterer]

I leave it on with my 11". It doesn't really cause any issues, just full screen the apps you want to be full screen (which will be 95% of them on an 11" iPad) and adjust the others how you want to. You forget it's on.

 

[goldpin]

12.9” M2 iPP with 16GB RAM. I leave stage manager on all the time. I find I tend to work with pairs of apps and the ability to quickly switch between app pairs is nice. As my vision gets generally worse, I prefer larger and overlapping windows instead of smaller side by side windows.

 

[sananda]

Yes, I have it on all the time on my work 12.9“ iPad. I recently added a portable monitor to the set up so I‘ll most certainly continue with Stage Manager.

 

[rappr]

Just recently started keeping it enabled on my 13 inch Pro. It certainly encourages landscape use, but has overall been enjoyable. And as someone else mentioned, I just full screen a window if I want to focus on a particular app/task.

 

[Ludatyk]

Currently using Stage Manager on iPadOS 17… stumbled upon a discovery where I can press shift+app anywhere among the recent windows area, dock and App Library it will load the app onto the current Stage.

Yes, I have it on all the time on my work 12.9“ iPad. I recently added a portable monitor to the set up so I‘ll most certainly continue with Stage Manager.

Me too! I have my portable monitor placed over top the iPad… that idea came from the NexPad.

 

[solq]

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 have the bigger iPad Pro M1 and the screen is just not big enough to lose real estate for this feature.

I'd use it on a 27" monitor, but for an iPad, nah.

 

[Isengardtom]

I’ve seen some first looks at iPadOS 17 and it looks like you definitely have more window freedom now so I might give it another go when it’s released.

 

[spiderman0616]

I don't have an iPad that can run it, but I actually love it on Mac. I leave it on 24/7 on both my work and personal Mac.

 

[NastyMatt]

Currently using Stage Manager on iPadOS 17… stumbled upon a discovery where I can press shift+app anywhere among the recent windows area, dock and App Library it will load the app onto the current Stage.


Me too! I have my portable monitor placed over top the iPad… that idea came from the NexPad.

This is a great find - on iPadOS 16.4 if you use Shift+app in recent list it adds it into current group (doesn't work on apps in the dock tho), cmd+m takes it out of the current group (and back into recent list).

Looked at the Apple documentation and couldn't find any mention of this for iPads (a bit on this for Macs).

 

[Mahasamatman]

I'm using it on the iPad iOS 17 which is better and I'm not sure what the differences are, they're very subtle, but it does seem to just work a little bit better than I did in 16. This on the 12.9 inch iPad Pro latest version.

 

[Slartibart]

it might be me, but the iPadOS 17 beta actually seems to offer only reduced functionality on non-M-iPPs. E.g. on 2020 11" iPPs StageManager shows only one app window at a time - you open another app the current one is minimised to the side. 🥳

 

[The Game 161]

glad with IOS 17 it seems the window can be sized to anything

 

[iOS Geek]

I use it quite a bit when my iPad is docked.

Granted, I still keep most of my apps fullscreen (even 12.9” is too small). However, I find Stage Manager very handy for those apps that force you to use portrait mode.

Also, whenever I need to keep stuff running in the background, Stage Manager seems to handle keeping both active better. With split view, the out of focus window sometimes goes to a different state when I switch back to it.

This right here is one of my favorite parts about it.

 

[darngooddesign]

it might be me, but the iPadOS 17 beta actually seems to offer only reduced functionality on non-M-iPPs. E.g. on 2020 11" iPPs StageManager shows only one app window at a time - you open another app the current one is minimised to the side. 🥳

I may be misunderstanding you, but new apps, which aren't currently open, always open in a new window on my M1 iPP with OS16. That's how SM has always worked for me.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I actually loaded the new iPadOS just to see the improvements. They weren't enough for me. More freedom still means weird arbitrary sizes that differ by app, they don't stay exactly where you put them. You can't lock one in place to always ensure it has full visibility and stays (think Apple Music). The recent apps on the side take up way too much room.

It's not close to ready if you want to use it like a desktop at all.

 

[Ludatyk]

This right here is one of my favorite parts about it.

Agreed! And the ability to run iPhone apps as well.

You can't lock one in place to always ensure it has full visibility and stays (think Apple Music).

I use an app called FloatingPlayer where it acts as a PiP and it stays visible… that way I can control media playback.

The recent apps on the side take up way too much room.

You do know this can be hidden.. right?

 

[eltoslightfoot]

You do know this can be hidden.. right?

That led to even stranger behavior with individual apps--both foreground and background.

Which, admittedly, could be due to the nature of it being a beta.

 

[Ludatyk]

That led to even stranger behavior with individual apps--both foreground and background.

Which, admittedly, could be due to the nature of it being a beta.

Well, yeah.. it’s a beta. But what strange behavior are you referring to… by opting to remove the recent windows area? Because I personally haven’t experienced it.

Issues I have faced thus far when using Stage Manager is animation freeze up when using App Exposé (multitasking switcher) and it tends to crash when I use the three dots on an external monitor.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

Well, yeah.. it’s a beta. But what strange behavior are you referring to… by opting to remove the recent windows area? Because I personally haven’t experienced it.

Issues I have faced thus far when using Stage Manager is animation freeze up when using App Exposé (multitasking switcher) and it tends to crash when I use the three dots on an external monitor.

Yes, it caused the apps to disappear if they were in the background.

 

[Devyn89]

I’ve been playing around with it on my 12.9” iPad today, I downloaded the developer beta (against my better jusdgement) and i’ve found it works great when attached to the magic keyboard. I had more space turned on in the display settings, I recently switched that back to normal and am finding it better. I think I just gotta accept my eyes aren’t what they used to be lol.

 

[rillrill]

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.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

are there any shortcuts to resize windows? I find that the thing about stsage manager is the lack of shortcuts.

 

[h00ligan]

I can’t imagine it’s better on an iPad than a Mac, and it’s awful on a Mac