Below is a rough collection of thoughts I’ve had on Apple’s new Stage Manager. Take into consideration that State Manager is in early beta and that I haven’t tried it out yet so these opinions and reckons are likely to change.
Names
Names are important for two reasons:
- They demand and enforce a paradigm, because names suggest relationships. These relationships make computers easier to use. For example: “Apps” can live in the “Dock”.
- They are necessary for basic communication.
Where is the stage?
I understand “desktop manager” is generic, but “stage” is a term already Apple uses. “Stage” in “Center Stage” refers to the space that is in view of the camera outside the computer, but “stage” in “Stage Manager” refers to windows inside the computer.
What am I toggling between?
Are these collection of windows “sets”, “tasks”, “workspaces”, or something else? If I were backseat driving, how would I tell the person at the computer where that Safari window is?
Does the lefthand dingus even have a name?
So there’s a new dingus on the left hand side. What’s it called? If it can be separately hidden or disabled, then how is that functionality labelled?
Complexity
One problem Apple is trying to solve with Stage Manager is the complexity caused by too many windows and applications being opened at once. Microsoft’s solution to this problem is tiling, which go hand-in-hand with their implementation of multiple desktops. Stage Manager seems like an added alternative “mode” that is entirely incongruous with Apple’s existing window management tools. In my experience, adding mechanisms in lieu of replacing, integrating with, or evolving existing ones either stems from laziness or cowardice (or both.)
Why are we adding another dingus?
Both macOS and iPadOS have docks. I get that those docks “don’t work that way”, but they shouldn’t be hallowed ground. There is an opportunity to replace them with something way better.
I mean really, how does this work with Spaces and fullscreen apps?
Spaces is Apple’s branding for multiple desktops. I would argue that fullscreen and splitview apps in both macOS and iPadOS, are effectively spaces that are dedicated to one or two apps. Stage Manager seems like a competing alternative to that paradigm.
Is there a keyboard shortcut for switching between whatever these things are called?
Does Stage Manager even have keyboard shortcuts? If so, how does it work with existing tab and ` switching?
Window Management
A long time ago, I heard or saw the comment that Microsoft’s naming convention circa Windows XP was misguided because it used the word “my” when it should use the word “your”. In their mind “my” meant the computer so “My Documents” read to this person as “the computer’s documents”. Whereas this Window’s issue was limited to labeling, I worry that Stage Manager will actually take ownership of your windows.
Will I be allowed to be messy?
People are messy. User interfaces with overlapping windows lean into that nature by letting the desktop be messy. It looks awful, but it works surprisingly well. People can put windows exactly where they need them to be and the act of arranging windows makes it easier for people to find them later. Stage Manager seems to want to arrange windows for you. While will certainly looks cleaner, I worry that it will ultimately be less useful.
Final Thoughts
I am happy to see iPadOS get some form of windowing, but I would argue what iPadOS really needs is a holistic paradigm. It’s the first beta and I am sure there will be improvements, but at the moment Stage Manager seems like a concept more than anything else. I don’t see how this concept becomes the paradigm iPadOS needs, let alone coexist with the nearly 40-year-old desktop paradigm found in macOS.