Alexis Kestler
As a long-time Apple user and self-proclaimed productivity geek, effective multitasking across my devices is vital. I’m constantly juggling multiple apps and projects simultaneously. But even for the most organized among us, traditional iPad and Mac windowing interfaces have their clumsy limitations.
That’s why I was thrilled when Apple unveiled Stage Manager – an entirely fresh advanced multitasking experience for newer iPads and Macs. After taking Stage Manager for a test drive, I’m absolutely blown away by the streamlined workflows and sheer customizability.
Stage Manager completely reinvents iPadOS and macOS multitasking with a smarter automatic organization system for your apps and windows. It also enables extensive manual controls for sophisticated power users too.
If you ever get frustrated trying to juggle multiple apps and tasks on your Apple devices, Stage Manager is an absolute game-changer. Let me walk you through exactly how this productivity powerhouse works and how to unlock its full potential.
What Exactly is Stage Manager and How Does it Work?
At a basic level, Stage Manager is a revamped multitasking interface exclusive to newer iPad and Mac models running the latest software. But there’s way more going on behind the scenes…
The “stage” metaphor sums it up nicely. Your currently active app or document window takes center stage in the spotlight, while supporting apps standby stage left ready to enter. It’s a smarter way to manage multiple workflows.
Here are the key elements of how Stage Manager operates:
Automatic Organization
- Actively used apps are intelligently grouped front and center
- Recent and related apps are conveniently staged to the left
- The dock remains easily accessible at the bottom
Manual Controls
- Apps and windows can be freely resized/overlapped like desktop OS’s
- Custom app sets tailored to specific workflows can be created
- Granular settings adjustments to optimize for your needs
This balanced combination of automatic organization and customization is what makes Stage Manager so game-changing. It handles tedious window management tasks while still letting you tweak things.
Early data also indicates that Stage Manager provides a notable performance boost thanks to more efficient memory allocation behind-the-scenes. So you get faster context switching between tasks too!
| Stage Manager Advantages | |
|---|---|
| Smarter Automated Organization | Manual Windowing Flexibility |
| Faster App Context Switching | Create Custom App Groups |
| Cleaner Interfaces | Improved Memory Efficiency |
Considering the transformative impact Stage Manager can have on productivity, I expect to see Apple expand support to more devices over time as the feature matures. But for now, let’s breakdown exactly which iPad and Mac models are compatible…
Which iPad and Mac Models Work With Stage Manager?
Since Stage Manager introduces substantial multitasking changes, Apple is limiting support to only the latest iPad and Mac models with sufficient horsepower for optimal performance – for now at least.
Here are the compatible iPad and Mac devices as of iPadOS 16.1:
iPads:
- iPad Pro 11-inch (all generations)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation and later)
- iPad Air (5th generation)
Macs:
- MacBook Air (2018 and later)
- MacBook Pro (2017 and later)
- MacBook (2017 and later)
- iMac (2017 and later)
- iMac Pro
- Mac Studio
- Mac Mini (2018 and later)
- Mac Pro (2019 and later)
Review Apple’s Full Stage Manager Compatibility Specifications Here
So if you have a supported iPad or Mac and update to the required software (iPadOS 16+/macOS Ventura), you’re all set start using Stage Manager!
Enabling it just takes a couple taps…
How to Quickly Turn On Stage Manager
The great news is that activating Stage Manager takes under 10 seconds on both iPad and Mac. Here’s how:
On iPad:
- Open Control Center
- Tap the Stage Manager icon
On Mac:
- Select Control Center in the menu bar
- Click the Stage Manager button
Alternatively, you can toggle Stage Manager on via Settings/System Preferences. But the Control Center route is fastest.
Once enabled, apps and windows will automatically start rearranging themselves on both devices:
- The current foreground app will shift center stage
- Recent background apps will populate the left sidebar
- The dock will materialize on the bottom
And presto! The Stage Manager multitasking experience is officially ready to start optimizing your workflows.
Up next, let’s dig into…
Creating Custom App Sets or Groups
In my opinion, App Sets are Stage Manager’s killer productivity feature. This allows you to manually group up to four apps tailored to specific workflows for near instant access.
Here’s an example App Set I created for writing and research:
It contains my text editor, reference material, and browser instantly accessible as a group. I probably trigger this specific app set dozens of times per day!
Follow these steps to create your own custom App Sets:
- Open the first app you want included
- Drag supporting apps into the center stage
- Once your desired app combination is open, they’ll group
- Access this app set anytime instantly from the sidebar
- Swap apps in the set as desired
App Sets enable you to resume complex workflows instantly at the tap of a button instead of having to reopen everything one by one.
For example, research shows that most knowledge workers switch tasks every 3 minutes on average, so App Sets significantly speed up these context switches. Every second adds up!
While Stage Manager automatically groups your most recently used windows together, I highly advice taking a few minutes to create 2-4 custom App Sets tailored specifically to your core daily workflows for maximum efficiency.
Now let’s pivot over to manually arranging your desktop…
Resizing and Layering Apps Like Desktop Operating Systems
Beyond intelligent auto-organization of your live apps and windows, Stage Manager enables extensive direct manipulations as well just like traditional desktop OS’s.
You can freely:
- Resize app windows by dragging any edge or corner
- Overlap windows atop each other
- Rapidly shuffle apps side-to-side
- Drag apps/windows between displays
This unrestricted control over arranging your workspace is a boon for productivity flexibility!
No longer must iPad and Mac users be constrained to rigid side-by-side app layouts. Stage Manager effectively lifts this limitation, bringing the versatility and capability gap closer to Windows and macOS desktops.
In particular, being able to run several apps simultaneously while easily resizing their relative screen real estate is invaluable for certain workflows like research and writing.
I’m currently testing out Stage Manager on the new M2 iPad Pro connected to an external 4K monitor. The ability to flow apps and groups between displays while independently controlling window sizes is game changing!
This brings a whole new level of desktop-class versatility and convenience to iPadOS. And naturally, the windowing perks apply to Macs too now with Stage Manager!
While Apple‘s Continuity already empowered basic window sharing between devices, the manual resizing/layering flexibility takes it to the next level.
If you frequently multitask across multiple displays and operating systems, Stage Manager brings sorely needed consistency and control.
But balancing extensive manual manipulation capabilities with an ever-evolving automatic organization system requires finesse. So controlling clutter is key…
Keeping Stage Manager Clutter-Free
As someone perpetually working on 100 different projects with a messy desktop to match, keeping Stage Manager clean is critical for me.
When you have 20+ browser tabs open across 4 virtual desktops while bouncing between several docs/apps, things deteriorate rapidly!
Here are my 3 tips for avoiding Stage Manager chaos:
1. Close Inactive Apps
Force quit apps you’re no longer using so they free up RAM and eliminate visual noise.
2. Minimize Peripheral Windows
Apps that are helpful but not in frequent use can be quickly minimized to the sidebar via their … menu. Getting them fully out of view keeps the center stage clean for active tasks.
3. Par the App Open Count Down
I made it a rule to close an old app every time I open a new one. The goal is to reach an equilibrium ~8 open at once maximum. This prevents system slowdowns while reducing clutter.
A bit of Stage Manager hygiene goes a long way. I noticed performance improvements after a more aggressive culling of background apps across both iPad and Mac.
Finally, don’t forget customizing options for better alignments to your workflows…
Optimizing Stage Manager Settings For Your Needs
While Apple‘s designers have done an admirable job intelligently auto-arranging apps/windows in Stage Manager, tweaking preferences to suit your unique needs is wise.
Every brain works differently, so the optimizations that work wonders for me may hinder your efficiency. Fortunately, Apple built in all sorts of customization toggles.
On iPad:
- Hide Dock/Recent App sections
- Adjust Display Zoom level
- Landscape orientation fits more content
On Mac:
- Group By App instead of document windows
- Show cross-Spaces windows together
- App spacing/sizing adjustments
- Auto-Centering preferences
Visit Apple’s guides for customizing iPad and [Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/customize-stage-manager-mchl doll What Stage Manager ultimately enables is far smarter context switching between tasks.
Instead of the endless mental tax of remembering various app layouts/positions across numerous virtual Spaces as I shuffle workloads, it handles the tedious window organizing automatically.
I simply think of the task I need next, and Stage Manager instantly snaps the required apps/windows center stage ready to roll! It‘s gotten so seamless that I‘ve noticed my mental context switching fatigue is way down.
And by leveraging custom App Sets tailored to my core workflows, I can batch resume 4 perfectly configured apps simultaneously to transition projects even quicker now!
Frankly, Apple may have just radically reinvigorated my iPad Pro‘s practicality quotient too thanks to Stage Manager. Paired with a secondary display, its multitasking chops start rivaling my MacBook now due to Stage Manager‘s desktop-class windowing versatility. Tablet productivity ceiling shattered!
Ultimately, Stage Manager signifies a bold leap toward the best of both worlds: automated organization intelligence plus expansive manual environment control if desired. It may well revolutionize future personal computing UX paradigms.
Kudos Apple on this game-changing productivity feature! My devices have never run better.
Let me know if you have any other Stage Manager questions. I‘m happy to help fellow productivity geeks optimize workflows!
