iPadOS external display support is bewildering

[walterpaisley]

I gave external display support a try with my iPad and a Studio Display, and oh boy is it confusing. First of all, you need to have Stage Manager turned on so you can resize windows (obvious, but worth mentioning). You can’t simply drag apps or windows from your iPad to your external display – a new display icon appears in whatever the three-dots menu is called at the top of a window. You click on that, and the selected window appears full-screen on the external display. You then need to manually resize it.

Stage Manager only launches apps in full-screen mode, even if you're launching it on an external display. Which, I guess, is consistent with how the iPad works, but coming from using an external display with a laptop, it's discombulating and kind of a pain.

(Resizing windows on an external display is super, super janky. Lots of redrawing and stretching problems. And text sizing is off, too – not sure what's going on there.)

I know it's still very early days, but I am curious if most people, used to using an external display with their laptop, is going to find this too strange.

I'm very interested to hear other people's experiences with external displays.

 

[Macalway]

I haven't tried it yet, but it doesn't surprise me. Apple should just dual boot. Problem solved.

But it's better than nothing if you need to use an iPad. Also, some people are really going to get off on it, as it's a pretty big step for IpadOS.

Commenting here not having tried it, I sort of know that it's going to be frustrating, so.....

 

[DoctorFedora]

Craig Federighi said in an interview that Stage Manager is currently incomplete from a UI implementation standpoint, and mentioned that a lot of the complaints on the internet about it are, like, "hold on, we're getting to that," so I'm curious how much it winds up changing between this first developer beta and the final September release

 

[stocklen]

I gave external display support a try with my iPad and a Studio Display, and oh boy is it confusing. First of all, you need to have Stage Manager turned on so you can resize windows (obvious, but worth mentioning). You can’t simply drag apps or windows from your iPad to your external display – a new display icon appears in whatever the three-dots menu is called at the top of a window. You click on that, and the selected window appears full-screen on the external display. You then need to manually resize it.

Stage Manager only launches apps in full-screen mode, even if you're launching it on an external display. Which, I guess, is consistent with how the iPad works, but coming from using an external display with a laptop, it's discombulating and kind of a pain.

(Resizing windows on an external display is super, super janky. Lots of redrawing and stretching problems. And text sizing is off, too – not sure what's going on there.)

I know it's still very early days, but I am curious if most people, used to using an external display with their laptop, is going to find this too strange.

I'm very interested to hear other people's experiences with external displays.

With the greatest of respect... you are critiquing DEVELOPER BETA 1.

Worth reminding everyone of that.

What you are using now, may bear little resemblance to what is actually released as part of iOS16 in September.

The point of the developer betas, especially the early ones, is to allow developers time to ensure app compatibility.

The public Beta starts in August I believe.. by which time some remedial issues will be fixed and some usability issues might well be addressed too.

So, dont assume what you are using now.. if seemingly convoluted, will make it into the public release.

With genuine feedback like yours... then you must feedback to Apple - its why they provided the developer beta in the first place.

 

[MajorFubar]

(Resizing windows on an external display is super, super janky. Lots of redrawing and stretching problems. And text sizing is off, too – not sure what's going on there.)

It's a beta. This isn't an early full release for those who know the secret password to the backdoor.
Just thought it was worth putting your findings into context.

 

[DNichter]

Provide feedback to Apple, best thing you can do.

 

[tastesliketailpipe]

Jeez, Beta 1… come back and write another review at the end of September.

 

[Shirasaki]

Unsurprising from Apple. Yes, this is a development beta 1, but no, 3 months is not enough for them to change a lot of implementations, especially if some aspects are locked in the design phase, unless those features are on their way (beta 6 or 7 for example).

We will see how it goes in a week or two when beta 2 drops Ahead of July 4.

 

[tomtad]

Unsurprising from Apple. Yes, this is a development beta 1, but no, 3 months is not enough for them to change a lot of implementations, especially if some aspects are locked in the design phase, unless those features are on their way (beta 6 or 7 for example).

We will see how it goes in a week or two when beta 2 drops Ahead of July 4.

It's widely expected beta 2 will drop next week 21 June based on previous development cycles

 

[tomtad]

I gave external display support a try with my iPad and a Studio Display, and oh boy is it confusing. First of all, you need to have Stage Manager turned on so you can resize windows (obvious, but worth mentioning). You can’t simply drag apps or windows from your iPad to your external display – a new display icon appears in whatever the three-dots menu is called at the top of a window. You click on that, and the selected window appears full-screen on the external display. You then need to manually resize it.

Stage Manager only launches apps in full-screen mode, even if you're launching it on an external display. Which, I guess, is consistent with how the iPad works, but coming from using an external display with a laptop, it's discombulating and kind of a pain.

(Resizing windows on an external display is super, super janky. Lots of redrawing and stretching problems. And text sizing is off, too – not sure what's going on there.)

I know it's still very early days, but I am curious if most people, used to using an external display with their laptop, is going to find this too strange.

I'm very interested to hear other people's experiences with external displays.

Many of these behaviours are not how Stage Manager is intended to work and will be fixed as development continues.

You should be able to drag a window from your iPad to an external display and back again. Apps on the external display shouldn't open full screen and should appear windowed with your last recent app shrinking to the left panel.

Resizing will always be a bit different given how the OS draws windows, it will click through different sizes rather then be freely resizable on a Mac, so this won't change much but there will no doubt be a bit of polish put on this experience.

 

[chrism_scotland]

Its pretty clear its far from the finished article, I will say though one thing that does concern me a little is that its the first time (External Screen Support) that Apple have really had to think about the interface and interaction with a non-touch display - even when KB & Mouse support was added its remained the case that some things just work better with touch.

For me its whether we get the finished article in iPad OS 16 or whether it takes a few iPadOS releases to get this fully "right"

 

[walterpaisley]

To be clear (if this wasn't obvious) this isn't a review. I'm very clear this is still in development and there's still a lot of iterations to come. That said, the general interaction model isn't going to dramatically change. I've been using Stage Manager for a while, and so far it's firmly in the UI uncanny valley: at first, it seems *close* to the real thing (here being a window manager), but it's different enough that it totally throws off your expectations.

I am totally rooting for Apple to get this right, and who knows, they may still make major changes (ala the iOS 15 Safari uni-tab bar design). The thing is, everyone already knows how to use windows from years of desktop operating systems, so I hope Apple keeps this in mind as they improve things.

 

[stocklen]

To be clear (if this wasn't obvious) this isn't a review. I'm very clear this is still in development and there's still a lot of iterations to come. That said, the general interaction model isn't going to dramatically change. I've been using Stage Manager for a while, and so far it's firmly in the UI uncanny valley: at first, it seems *close* to the real thing (here being a window manager), but it's different enough that it totally throws off your expectations.

I am totally rooting for Apple to get this right, and who knows, they may still make major changes (ala the iOS 15 Safari uni-tab bar design). The thing is, everyone already knows how to use windows from years of desktop operating systems, so I hope Apple keeps this in mind as they improve things.

Craig has already gone on the record to express a bit of frustration (reading between the lines) that non developers are getting their hands on the software through illegitimate means, and are already criticising Stage Manager... where, as he says, this is only the first stab and they will get round to refining the experience as the Betas progress.

Im not suggesting you aren't a developer and that your installation of iPadOS16 isnt a legitimate one... as Ive no idea who you are!.... (people in here tend to get a bit tetchy when you make the observation that beta 1 isnt for them).

But as many (and Craig!) have said its just too soon...

Your observations are highly relevant though and you would be doing Apple a favour by feeding your experience back to them to enable them to sort out the early shortcomings which im sure they will before it hits release.

 

[Macalway]

Right. The usual hating doesn't really add up here.

So haters please Just try to hate to yourselves for just a little while. Maybe beta 4?

Delayed hate can be rewarding.

 

[reycat]

Does anybody know if it's possible to just mirror the screen when connecting a M1 iPad to a external display using USB-C to HDMI?

I get the Stage Manager thing, but that's not what I want.

 

[walterpaisley]

Does anybody know if it's possible to just mirror the screen when connecting a M1 iPad to a external display using USB-C to HDMI?

I get the Stage Manager thing, but that's not what I want.

Yes - if you go into the Orientation options once you've connected your display there's a toggle to turn mirroring on there.

 

[Macintosh101]

Yes - if you go into the Orientation options once you've connected your display there's a toggle to turn mirroring on there.

It should be noted though that if you turn on mirroring, you get the black bars back on either side of the external display.

 

[Ludatyk]

Craig has already gone on the record to express a bit of frustration (reading between the lines) that non developers are getting their hands on the software through illegitimate means, and are already criticising Stage Manager... where, as he says, this is only the first stab and they will get round to refining the experience as the Betas progress.

I'm curious. Where did you get this particular information?

 

[stocklen]

I'm curious. Where did you get this particular information?

some of it is towards the end of this article

Craig Federighi promises iPad Stage Management improvements coming | AppleInsider

Apple's Craig Federighi says Apple is aware of criticisms of Stage Manager on iPad, and fixes were already planned for forthcoming beta releases.

appleinsider.com

 

[Shirasaki]

Craig has already gone on the record to express a bit of frustration (reading between the lines) that non developers are getting their hands on the software through illegitimate means, and are already criticising Stage Manager... where, as he says, this is only the first stab and they will get round to refining the experience as the Betas progress.

The thing is, not a whole lot can be changed in terms of the design unless they are already in the pipeline. also it’s been a full month yet we receive no dev beta 2 before July, which is a bit concerning.

We will see which version They decide to seed as beta 2 soon.

 

[stocklen]

The thing is, not a whole lot can be changed in terms of the design unless they are already in the pipeline. also it’s been a full month yet we receive no dev beta 2 before July, which is a bit concerning.

We will see which version They decide to seed as beta 2 soon.

you'd be surprised. im sure they can make significant changes if they were so compelled... thats their choice though of course.
Ive not heard anything about Developer Beta 2 but to be honest I dont really care at the moment as im not a developer and therefore I dont have access to the developer betas..

Usually there are a ton of betas - its only the beginning of the process right now - this is why "reviews" of new features are too soon - maybe when the first public beta is released things would be a bite more settled - ive no idea.
Remember, stage manager aside... sometimes they have removed announced features from betas as time goes on and then those features dont end up getting released to the public in September. In fact, more often than not some big features get dropped for september only to make it to release months later.

 

[EastHillWill]

You can’t simply drag apps or windows from your iPad to your external display – a new display icon appears in whatever the three-dots menu is called at the top of a window. You click on that, and the selected window appears full-screen on the external display. You then need to manually resize it.

Stage Manager only launches apps in full-screen mode, even if you're launching it on an external display. Which, I guess, is consistent with how the iPad works, but coming from using an external display with a laptop, it's discombulating and kind of a pain.

You can absolutely drag apps from the iPad to the external display–I’m doing it as I type this. Doesn’t appear as though you can drag windows, though. Dragging apps works with Stage Manager on or off.

I’m not seeing Stage Manager launch apps full screen. My apps never launch full screen on my external display, regardless of Stage Manager status. They’re always in a window with the three-dot option.

Sounds like you either have some pretty big bugs (which would make sense, it’s dev beta 1) or our external displays are causing different behavior. I’m not sure if monitor details changes external display behavior.

 

[Ludatyk]

some of it is towards the end of this article

Craig Federighi promises iPad Stage Management improvements coming | AppleInsider

Apple's Craig Federighi says Apple is aware of criticisms of Stage Manager on iPad, and fixes were already planned for forthcoming beta releases.

appleinsider.com

No offense, I think your reaching… that doesn’t address concerns with non-developers getting their hands on it early. I think he was more so explaining that there’s more revisions coming in future betas, nothing more… nothing less.

you'd be surprised. im sure they can make significant changes if they were so compelled... thats their choice though of course.

Definitely agree with you here. Safari, of last year… was a significant change. The fact that Apple reverse course with Safari shows that Apple is willing to make significant changes if compelled so.

 

[walterpaisley]

You can absolutely drag apps from the iPad to the external display–I’m doing it as I type this. Doesn’t appear as though you can drag windows, though. Dragging apps works with Stage Manager on or off.

I’m not seeing Stage Manager launch apps full screen. My apps never launch full screen on my external display, regardless of Stage Manager status. They’re always in a window with the three-dot option.

Sounds like you either have some pretty big bugs (which would make sense, it’s dev beta 1) or our external displays are causing different behavior. I’m not sure if monitor details changes external display behavior.

You're correct about dragging apps. The windows part is what I find confusing. I know I need to recalibrate my expectations because iPadOS is not macOS. What I'm noting is the basic experience of using an external display is so familiar because of macOS, but the way iPadOS manages windows is so different that it breaks muscle memory.

One other issue I've run into is there's not much in the way of text size control, so text is often too small on a large external monitor with no way to change this except globally.

I've filed a bunch of feedback reports to Apple, but wanted to note this publicly. The only reason Apple changed Safari's UI is because it was discussed at length during the beta phase.

 

[reycat]

Yes - if you go into the Orientation options once you've connected your display there's a toggle to turn mirroring on there.

Thanks!