TexStage First Release: Initial Impressions and Insights

Hello everyone,

I’m excited to introduce TexStage, a project I developed in SwiftUI to simplify the process of presenting LaTeX Beamer slideshows. This app was inspired by challenges I personally faced during my research presentations, where I needed a streamlined, no-fuss way to display Beamer slides on an external monitor without navigating complex setups.

TexStage has been designed with a single goal: simplicity. You open a file, click once, and you’re presenting on an external display. That’s it. I wanted to make this process as straightforward as possible, avoiding any unnecessary steps or configurations. To ensure TexStage was accessible to researchers worldwide, I used OpenAI’s tools to translate the app, and it’s currently available in sixteen languages.

Creating an app for such a specific niche has been a bit of a leap of faith. It’s tough to know if others will find this workflow as valuable as I did. Changing how people present, even in small ways, can be challenging, especially when it comes to researchers who often have established routines. This isn’t an app with mass appeal, but hopefully, TexStage can make a difference for those of us who rely on LaTeX and Beamer for presentations.

The only way TexStage can reach more users is if those who try it share it with colleagues in their universities or labs. If you find TexStage useful, I’d appreciate it if you could help spread the word. It’s really a community effort to let others in the academic and research world know about new tools that could ease our work.

Thank you for your support, and I look forward to hearing feedback from those who give TexStage a try!

Best,
Jeremy

Here are my first impressions with TexStage. Note that I have not yet used it in my work environment. (1) It seems to be a polished app, both on Macos and ipados. (2) I use the French version and the translation is fine. (3) The commands and capabilities are well thought out. (4) I appreciate the fact that I can add notes, the other pdf slide viewers for ipad I use don’t allow adding notes directly, if at all.

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Thank you very much for the feedback!!