Preview of the “Stage Manager"

From the series of practical new features from Apple: This blog post is about the "Stage Manager". This feature was introduced at WWDC22 as a preview for Apple's new operating systems coming in the fall.

What Is the Stage Manager? 

The Stage Manager will appear in the upcoming versions of macOS 13 Ventura and iPadOS 16 and is a new solution to manage multiple open apps and their windows. This is primarily important for the iPad, but it also works on the Mac as the two operating systems converge.

Stages, i.e. a collection of individual or many programs and their windows, are grouped together in the Stage Manager and stored as a stack on the left-hand side. If a stage is activated by a mouse click, the previous stage is placed on the left again in the collection of all stages.

Stage Manager Under iPadOS

First the bad news: only iPads with M1 processors can use Stage Manager.

Apple's goal with Stage Manager is to make multitasking on the iPad even easier and better. And although the Stage Manager will also find its way into macOS, it will especially please iPad owners. Because it takes the iPad one step closer to being a full-fledged work device - especially when an external monitor is connected to the iPad! Then you get the complete space on the monitor and the "mourning edge" on the left and right is finally history. The only important thing is that a mouse or trackpad is connected to the iPad. Then you will immediately have the full screen space on the external monitor.

Stage Manager Under macOS

The functionality from Stage Manager under macOS will remodel the Mac to work in a different, somewhat concentrated way. For example, if the function is active, you will no longer see dropped icons on the desktop. 

Should you be one of those users who like to drop icons on the desktop and use drag-and-drop, Stage Manager could possibly be a hindrance for you. 

To see the icons on the desktop, you have to click on the desktop or turn Stage Manager off and on again as needed.

Nevertheless, Stage Manager has its uses here as well. Especially if you switch between Mac and iPad often.

Merlin Project Support

Merlin Project will support a variety of the exciting new features unveiled by Apple at WWDC 2022 this fall. Stage Manager will be one of them. So you can look forward to a productive fall with Merlin Project and Stage Manager. Here's a first image of Merlin Project on an external monitor.

With Stage Manager, windows on the iPad work similarly to macOS, they can be arranged and moved. Working with multiple apps will no longer be so cumbersome.
We're really excited to see how you incorporate this new feature into your work with Merlin Project.