Final 12 months, Apple launched Stage Supervisor, which is how the corporate has tried to please iPad customers who’ve at all times wished an expertise just like a desktop working system with a number of home windows. And whereas Stage Supervisor gives this, it does so in a fairly restricted method. Issues have gotten quite a bit higher with iPadOS 17, however there are nonetheless some issues that I miss.
iPad and Stage Supervisor
To recap, Stage Supervisor lets iPad customers handle their apps as in the event that they’re floating home windows on the display. These home windows could be resized and rearranged, just like what you are able to do in macOS and Home windows. In one other first, Stage Supervisor additionally permits customers to attach their iPad to an exterior show to make use of it as a secondary monitor, not simply to reflect no matter is on the iPad display.
However Stage Supervisor 1.0, launched with iPadOS 16, has numerous limitations. As an example, the resizing choices are restricted, as are the choices for transferring home windows across the display. Stage Supervisor additionally solely means that you can open a most of 4 apps on the iPad and as much as eight apps whereas linked to an exterior show.
This may increasingly appear to be sufficient for most individuals, however a system like macOS lets you might have as many open home windows as you need. And customers can’t flip off the iPad’s display to make use of it completely with an exterior show, even when they’ve an exterior keyboard and mouse linked.
What’s new with iPadOS 17
As reported by my colleague Likelihood Miller, iPadOS 17 significantly enhances the Stage Supervisor expertise. Customers can transfer home windows across the display extra freely, and there’s extra flexibility when resizing apps. It’s nonetheless not as versatile as in macOS, but it surely’s a begin.
Apple can also be letting customers Shift-click app icons so as to add new home windows to the workspace, identical to on the Mac.
You can even Shift-click app icons to immediately add home windows to your present workspace. Truthfully, this transformation alone is large enough to at the least make the Stage Supervisor expertise usable for me on iPad, not to mention when mixed with the liberty for resizing and inserting home windows.
Throughout WWDC 2023, Apple additionally detailed that iPadOS 17 works with USB webcams or microphones linked by way of the USB-C port. Builders will be capable of reap the benefits of these equipment of their apps with a brand new API out there within the iPadOS 17 SDK.
All these enhancements mixed lead to a greater multitasking expertise when utilizing the iPad. However there are two issues I miss from macOS that also hassle me after I’m utilizing my iPad with Stage Supervisor.
Options I miss in Stage Supervisor
For me, one of many largest flaws of Stage Supervisor is that it lacks clamshell mode. With an everyday laptop computer, you possibly can plug it into an exterior show, keyboard, and mouse after which shut the lid to make use of it as a desktop. However on the iPad, even with these equipment, you should hold the built-in display turned on on a regular basis.
My colleague Fernando Silva was capable of get clamshell mode enabled on his iPad working iPadOS 17 beta 1, however I couldn’t get it to work right here. We don’t know if it is a bug, however I actually hope that clamshell mode turns into a factor in iPadOS.
One other annoying limitation is that Stage Supervisor forces you to make use of the linked exterior show as your iPad’s audio supply. This implies you possibly can’t select to make use of your iPad’s built-in audio system when linked to a show, which is unhealthy when your show’s audio system aren’t good or if it simply doesn’t have built-in audio system.
Talking of which, the iPad interface could possibly be barely up to date to reap the benefits of the exterior shows mixed with a keyboard and mouse. The audio output menu at all times takes up the entire display, blurring each different app behind it.
Wrap-up
Apple has been slowly updating iPadOS to reap the benefits of every thing that the iPad {hardware} has to supply. And whereas iPad remains to be removed from providing the identical capabilities as a Mac when it comes to software program, iPadOS 17 appears like a step in the proper path.
The primary beta of iPadOS 17 is now out there to builders. Apple says a public beta shall be out there this summer time, whereas the official launch is anticipated this fall. Extra particulars on how you can set up the beta replace could be discovered on the Apple Developer web site.
For extra particulars on what’s new in Stage Supervisor with iPadOS 17, I like to recommend studying the MacStories article by Federico Viticci detailing his expertise with the replace.
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