macOS 13.0 Ventura Public Beta
Public beta testers can download the macOS 13 Ventura update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple’s beta software website.
On the Mac, Stage Manager is very different from the Mac’s traditional windowing systems, but it’s also very easy to get the hang of, which bodes well for new users coming from the iPad. And, of course, the feature is entirely optional, so anyone with whom it doesn’t click can ignore Stage Manager completely. However, as you’ll read below, I think everyone should give Stage Manager a chance because I’ve been surprised at how much I enjoy using it.
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I’ve got a beta version of at least one of Apple’s OSes running on devices year-round, and have learned from experience that with a few precautions you can avoid major disruptions to using your Mac.
Whether a backup is sufficient protection depends on how much you use iCloud. It’s safer to use a separate Apple ID account for beta testing, though doing so can be a real pain.
Stage Manager would benefit from a set of keyboard shortcuts and trackpad gestures specific to it. For example, I’d like a keyboard shortcut to invoke Stage Manager instead of having to use Control Center. I’d also like to hold down a modifier key as I open a new app as a way to open it in the current window setup instead of opening it on a new stage, then switching back to the set of apps I was using, and dragging the new app into that set.
Second, pulling an app from one set of apps in the strip into the set you’re currently working on is too difficult. That’s because only the top app in the set can be dragged onto the stage.
One of the things that struck me after I’d finished my Ventura preview and read what @viticci wrote about iPadOS is there are far more ways to combine apps on Stage Manager’s stage on an iPad than there are on the Mac. I hope was see some of that make its way to the Mac soon.
I have to admire Apple’s insistence on this topic. Over the decades it’s tried windowshades, a floating application bar, Dock minimization, single-window mode, Exposé, Spaces, Mission Control, Full Screen, and Split View, and while many of those features have been embraced by some Mac users, the company still doesn’t think that it’s cracked it.
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On one level, the Mac is approaching a level of interface-management complexity that threatens to bend in on itself and require some sort of manager for interface managers. The Dock contains running apps, but also other apps, but also minimized windows. And then there’s the Stage Manager shelf, which holds window groups. And you can group windows together in Stage Manager groups, or alternately group them in separate Spaces, or both. You can put some apps in Full Screen or Split View, which will themselves generate their own Spaces.
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And yet on another level, I think Apple might be on to something here with Stage Manager. As I used it, I didn’t really expect to like it—I am generally someone who observes Apple making these attempts to work on window management, dutifully tries them out, and then turns them all off. But I have to admit, I think Stage Manager may have rooted out a real truth about how people (or maybe how I) use a Mac.
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Stage Manager also feels a bit like an admission on Apple’s part that Full Screen mode, which strives to create an iPad-like experience on the Mac, misses the mark. I never use Full Screen mode, even on apps that would benefit from the utter takeover of my Mac’s display, because it really doesn’t work well with Finder.
He also tests Continuity Camera and finds Shared Tab Groups unreliable.
Previously:
- iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 Public Beta
- iCloud Shared Photo Library
- System Settings
- Stage Manager’s Utility
- Continuity Camera at WWDC 2022
- macOS 13.0 Ventura Announced
Update (2022-07-19): Julio Ojeda-Zapata:
That’s why I’m kind of excited about the Mac version of Stage Manager. Even though the Mac already does windowing well, I’m feeling more bullish on the macOS version of Stage Manager than the iPad version because it fits in naturally with other windowing approaches on the Mac. I’ve been using it a lot.
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Unrelated: Bye Bye Jony Ive!
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/12/technology/apple-jony-ive-end-agreement.html
You're right to be worried about iCloud for testers. I will not subject myself.
Maybe they’ll finally change the green button to be useful again? I hate that they changed it to a fullscreen button since I rarely use fullscreen. It’s not a feature that should be that prominent. I thought putting it on the right side of the window title was a good location for that button
@Max I agree, however FYI you can Option-click the green button to get the old behavior.
"[...] feels a bit like an admission on Apple’s part that Full-Screen mode, which strives to create an iPad-like experience on the Mac, misses the mark. " For me, this highly depends on the monitor size. On my 13" MacBook Pro I predominantly use full-screen mode when on the road. On my desktop with a large monitor, I stay with Spaces organized around tasks.