Stage Manager updates
Apple unveiled Stage Manager as a new way to multitask as part of iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura last year. While Apple only gave Stage Manager a passing mention during this year’s unveiling of iPadOS 17 at WWDC, it turns out the changes are actually quite well done.
The biggest change is that iPadOS 17 gives you far more freedom when arranging and resizing windows with Stage Manager. While there still isn’t as much freedom as on the Mac, it’s a far better system than what was offered in the initial version of Stage Manager. There’s considerably more flexibility and support for overlapping windows.
You can also Shift-click app icons to instantly add windows to your current workspace. Honestly, this change alone is big enough to at least make the Stage Manager experience usable for me on iPad, let alone when combined with the freedom for resizing and placing windows.
The changes to Stage Manager in iPadOS 17 are so notable and so well done that it’s now a viable way for me to multitask on the iPad. Plus, this is only iPadOS 17 beta 1. Apple has plenty of time to refine and improve the system even more before iPadOS 17 is released to everyone this fall.
I also recommend checking out the MacStories write-up on Stage Manager changes in iPadOS 17.
More flexible Home Screen widgets
Apple brought Home Screen widgets to the iPad two years ago as part of iPadOS 15. This year’s update to the iPad brings more functionality and flexibility. First and foremost, widgets are interactive. This allows you to perform tasks like playing music, completing a to-do list task, and more without opening the corresponding app for that widget.
In addition to interactive widget support, iPadOS 17 also makes a big update to Home Screen customization. In iPadOS 15 and iPadOS 16, widgets could only be placed only around app icons and next to one another. For example, you couldn’t leave blank space between widgets and apps nor could you re-create the strip of widgets on the iPad Home Screen that many people enjoyed in iPadOS 14.
In iPadOS 17, however, this has changed. iPad users can now place widgets anywhere on the Home Screen for even more customization. This includes the ability to replicate the strip of widgets alongside the side of the iPad’s Home Screen.
The combination of added customization and interactivity for widgets makes them infinitely more useful. To me, interactivity for widgets is a far more useful change on iPad than it is on iPhone.