Apple is set to release iPadOS 16 to the public this month, yet users continue to face several issues with the new Stage Manager feature.
In the latest iPadOS 16 beta seeded earlier this week, developer Steve Troughton-Smith and MacStories editor-in-chief Federico Viticci highlighted various user interface issues they continue to face from time to time while using Stage Manager, including the dock disappearing when rotating the iPad, content failing to scale properly when a window is resized, keyboard input failing to register in certain apps, and more.
In August, Viticci criticized Apple for its "fundamentally misguided" approach to Stage Manager. The feature has improved in the weeks since, but it's clear from the latest beta that several issues persist even as iPadOS 16 nears release.
A tour of the latest Stage Manager beta for iPadOS 16: - Rotated my iPad and the dock was gone
- Black borders around windows
- The keyboard freezes in apps like Mail and @theSpringApp after opening new windows
- I resized a window and it blew up in my face So there's that. pic.twitter.com/Twi5K3SeSH — Federico Viticci (@viticci) October 4, 2022
We’ve come to the end of the dev cycle, and Stage Manager is still forwarding events to apps that should be gobbled by the system — e.g. dragging a titlebar to move a window is still sending that drag event into the app itself too. It also conflicts with swipe to go back pic.twitter.com/TX0uUFkCAV — Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) October 4, 2022
Apple recently expanded Stage Manager to older iPad Pro models with A12X and A12Z chips released in 2018 and 2020, albeit without external display support, which limits the feature to four apps on the built-in display on these models. Apple also delayed external display support for iPad models with the M1 chip until later this year.
Stage Manager allows users to have up to four apps open in overlapping windows on an iPad's display for an improved multitasking experience. A modified version of Stage Manager is also available on macOS Ventura for keeping windows front and center.
Apple says iPadOS 16 will be released in October, but it not did confirm a specific day. The software update will be labeled iPadOS 16.1, and it will likely be released alongside iOS 16.1 for the iPhone, as the updates share the same build number.
