Do You Use It? Stage Manager on the Mac

Community Pages
61

Never even heard of it!

62

Before stage manager I used multiple desktops to organize my open apps. It’s great to have the thumbnails where I can easily use them.

64

Honestly, I’m always busy, and every time there’s a new paradigm for managing my desktop, launching apps, etc., I tend to ignore it because I don’t want to slow down to learn something new, especially if it may or may not be discontinued in subsequent versions of Mac OS. This is probably why I’ve never even touched Mission Control, used Spaces or tried Stage Manager. This poll piqued my curiosity enough to turn on Stage Manager for the first time and give it a spin.

1 Like
65

I tried it after reading Howard Oakley’s helpful articles, and I really wanted to like it. But I gave up after a couple of months. I think you can only use it his way if you have a very large display, and are extremely organized.

2 Likes
66

I do use Stage Manager on Macbook (M1 14" Pro), but only when a large monitor is attached. I also uses Spaces, which I prefer because it is more convenient (Ctrl-arrow) and can also be used on the 14" screen of the macbook. In general, most of the time I’ll using two, sometimes 3 windows (apps) which I find cumbersome to use with Stage Manager.

67

I haven’t used it, but from the descriptions I’ve heard, it sounds like it solves a problem I don’t have. On the Mac and on the iPad, Command-Tab is really all I need.

68

I access my apps by: 1. keeping frequently used ones in the dock, and 2. keeping the Applications folder in the dock. From the latter, with one click and hold, I can slide up to the app I want in alphabetical order. This is much faster for me than having to visually pick through separate icons.

1 Like
69

I’ve been trying to use it, but I have two displays and it just gets in my way by hiding things I want to see and making it impossible to maintain my workspace as I like it

70

What’s Stage Manager? *

  • NOTICE: Do not answer that. I’m quite content. If I change my mind and want to know, I have a Mac Pro with Firefox installed. My comment above is simply to explain why I do no use the feature or application.
71

Ditto from me

72

I tried it but it’s just not complete. Feels like a work in progress to me. Not well suited to ultra wide monitors. Acceptable on a laptop screen. I would prefer a tiling window manager feature that is built-in to macOS. Yabai comes very close but not a fan of partially disabling SIP so Yabai can control the macOS Window Manager with the additional privileges. SIP is a very important security tool. It’s best to not disable it.

73

Command+Tab is my switcher of choice.

2 Likes
74

For those of you who say your screens are too small to use Stage Manager, you can still fill your screen with a window but when you move the cursor all the way to the left of the screen, Stage Manager will pop up.

At least, that’s the way it works in Sonoma beta.

75

For those of you who say your screens are too small to use Stage Manager, you can still fill your screen with a window but when you move the cursor all the way to the left of the screen, Stage Manager will pop up.

Yes – I don’t use Stage Manager but was tempted to do so after watching this MacMost video, which mentions moving the left-side list out of the way in the section “Left Side List Optional,” starting at 2:34:

The Comprehensive Guide To Mac Stage Manager
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbndfDB6EEA

David

1 Like
77

I never use Launch Pad, but I absolutely love Stage Manager. I keep a lot of windows open to remind me of various tasks and web rabbit holes I’ve explored, and Stage Manager has managed to keep my desktop visible while my active apps are just a click away, including 2 or 3 apps side-by-side on a 31" screen.