iPadOS 17 gets improved Stage Manager and interactive widgets

The improvements to Stage Manager and widgets will be available on iPadOS 17, which will be available for download sometime later this year.

iPadOS 17 | iPadOS 17 stage manager | iPadOS 17 interactive widgets

iPadOS 17 was announced at WWDC 2023 and is currently in beta. (Image Source: Apple)

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At the Worldwide Developer Conference 2023 (WWDC 2023), Apple announced new updates for several devices powered by iOS, macOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS and more.

While the main highlight of the event was Apple’s Mixed Reality headset Vision Pro, the tech giant is also working on bringing improvements to ‘Stage Manager’ and widgets with its upcoming version of the operating system for tablets – iPadOS 17.

Originally introduced with iPadOS 16, Stage Manager helps users focus on tasks at hand and helps them enhance productivity by enabling seamless multitasking. It works by automatically organizing apps and windows so users can see everything from a single screen.

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While the feature was welcomed by users, the initial version of Stage Manager wasn’t that powerful. But with iPadOS 17, Apple seems to have introduced support for overlapping windows and the ability to shift-click app icons to add them to your current workspace. The developers also seem to have optimised the app resizing and window placement experience.

Coming to widgets, iPadOS 17 now lets users interact with widgets. This means users can now perform actions like control music playback, complete a to-do list and more without having to open the app. The update also lets users place widgets anywhere on the home screen with users now able to recreate the strip of widgets on the side of the iPad home screen.

iPadOS 17 will be released sometime this fall, so you might have to wait a while before it is available on your device.