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                Do You Use It? Stage Manager Sees Weak Adoption

   Adam Engst

   In '[1]Introducing 'Do You Use It?' Polls' (28 July 2023), we asked
   about Stage Manager, the window management system Apple introduced last
   year with macOS 13 Ventura and iPadOS 16 (see '[2]First Impressions:
   Stage Manager on the iPad and Mac,' 18 July 2022).

   When it came out, I was cautiously optimistic that [3]Stage Manager for
   the iPad would prove helpful for those who do real work on the iPad,
   but since I don't have enough uses for an iPad to replace my
   unsupported 10.5-inch iPad Pro, it wasn't an option for me. (Stage
   Manager requires a fifth-generation iPad Air, 11-inch iPad Pro, or at
   least a third-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro.) I could use [4]Stage
   Manager for the Mac, but I have deeply ingrained working patterns on my
   2020 iMac with its secondary 27-inch Thunderbolt Display and my M1
   MacBook Air, which I use either by itself or attached to another
   27-inch Thunderbolt Display. So while I did turn on Stage Manager to
   see how it worked, I quickly turned it off again and returned to my
   preferred techniques.

   So my pre-poll bet was that Stage Manager hadn't seen much adoption
   among TidBITS readers. I was right, although my belief that Mac users
   would be less likely to use it than iPad users was slightly off. On the
   Mac side, [5]12% of respondents said they used it, whereas only [6]8%
   of iPad-using respondents said they did.
   I presume some sort of rounding explains why the numbers add up to 99%.

   Two thoughts. First, Stage Manager may have been less popular among
   iPad users because of its steep system requirements. Second, I was
   intrigued that the iPad poll received so many fewer votes. The most
   obvious explanation is that many TidBITS readers may have Macs but not
   iPads'if you don't even own an iPad, it wouldn't make sense to
   participate in the poll.

   Both polls generated lots of comments, with the most frequent response
   being puzzlement'people either didn't quite understand what Apple was
   trying to achieve with Stage Manager or hadn't found it compelling.
   Another common theme was that Stage Manager wasn't appropriate for
   smaller screens. Those working on Mac laptops or iPads other than the
   12.9-inch iPad Pro often said that they avoided Stage Manager to
   maximize the usable screen real estate.

   In the Mac poll, a few readers said they preferred desktop spaces in
   [7]Mission Control, whereas others said they had switched to Stage
   Manager because they found Mission Control confusing. Several people
   recommended the virtual desktop manager [8]TotalSpaces instead.

   While I'm happy for those who find Stage Manager useful, having a major
   feature adopted by only about 10% of our audience doesn't feel like a
   win for Apple. Perhaps those who are newer to Apple's platforms are
   more likely to see Stage Manager as the default way of working. Or
   maybe we should look at Stage Manager as though it were a third-party
   utility'any developer would be ecstatic to attract 10% of Apple users.

   Moving on, [9]Do You Use It? Launchpad on the Mac remains open, and
   don't miss our next poll: '[10]Do You Use It? Spotlight on the Mac' (7
   August 2023).

References

   Visible links
   1. https://tidbits.com/2023/07/28/introducing-do-you-use-it-polls/
   2. https://tidbits.com/2022/07/18/first-impressions-stage-manager-on-the-ipad-and-mac/
   3. https://support.apple.com/guide/ipad/move-resize-and-organize-windows-ipad1240f36f/ipados
   4. https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-stage-manager-mchl534ba392/mac
   5. https://talk.tidbits.com/t/do-you-use-it-stage-manager-on-the-mac/22698?u=ace
   6. https://talk.tidbits.com/t/do-you-use-it-stage-manager-on-the-ipad/22699?u=ace
   7. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204100
   8. https://totalspaces.binaryage.com/
   9. https://talk.tidbits.com/t/do-you-use-it-launchpad-on-the-mac/22721?u=ace
  10. https://tidbits.com/2023/08/07/do-you-use-it-spotlight-on-the-mac/

   Hidden links:
  11. https://tidbits.com/wp/../uploads/2023/08/DYUI-Stage-Manager.png

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