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The Apple Pencil Gestures Foreshadow the Future

Posted on November 2, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple released a new version of the Apple Pencil and its gestures foreshadow the future of wearables.

The first Apple Pencil was kind of clumsy. You could plug it into an iPad’s Lightning port, but if you wanted to put it into a wall outlet, you had to use a tiny adapter that was easy to lose. Apple’s new Apple Pencil is different because it charges wirelessly, connects magnetically to the side of the iPad Pro so you can’t lose it as easily, and recognizes taps to give commands to switching menu options.

That last feature is the most interesting because by tapping the side of the Apple Pencil, you can convert it from a drawing tool to an eraser tool (and vice versa). Now take this tape gesture control interface and apply it to wearable computers such as smart glasses. Tap the side of the smart glasses frame and you’ll be able to control it. Slide your finger along the smart glasses frame and you should have another way to control it. Tap with two fingers compared to one finger and you have yet another way to control smart glasses.

Tap gestures in the Apple Pencil 2 foreshadow the use of tap gestures in smart glasses. Touch gestures such as sliding your finger along a smart glasses frame offers another way to control the device. With wearable computers, you can’t control it through traditional mouse and graphical user interface, so you’ll have to use touch gestures instead.

What we see in the Apple Pencil 2 is just a precursor of the future. The Apple Pencil is a useful tool for people who need drawing capabilities, but not necessarily useful for people who simply write or view content on an iPad. What is important is the user interface of the Apple Pencil 2. Watch the Apple Pencil evolve and notice how tap gestures evolve too, because when Apple introduces smart glasses, you can be sure those same tap gestures that control an Apple Pencil will be used to control smart glasses as well.

To learn more about the Apple Pencil 2, click here.

Artist Switches to iPad and Apple Pencil

Posted on May 14, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware, Software, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Professional artist Mark Ulriksen had switched to an iPad and the Apple Pencil.

For many people, the iPad can’t replace a laptop because it lacks a physical keyboard. While the addition of an external keyboard can remedy this problem, many people still prefer laptops. Yet the lack of a keyboard can actually be a benefit for people who don’t want or need a keyboard in the first place.

That’s why professional artist, Mark Ulrisken has been excited about his recent conversion to an iPad and the Apple Pencil. As a professional artist who has drawn covers for magazines such as The New Yorker, Mark doesn’t need a physical keyboard so much as he needs a versatile drawing surface that he can take wherever he goes. The iPad and the Apple Pencil meets his needs perfectly because the iPads acts like a portable canvas that he can store multiple pictures on and edit them as his convenience. That’s not nearly as simple to do with a pad of paper with drawings that might get damaged if you spill liquids on the pages.

“I’m technologically illiterate and I’m still trying to learn how to paint,” Mark said. “But I really wanted to eventually work digitally because it seems like that’s what the art buying public is looking for in the world of illustration these days, and I like the speed of it.”

What used to take him days to accomplish using traditional paper methods now takes him hours. That makes him more productive as well as giving him a canvas to let his creativity run wild. While most people may not be artists, you can se that the iPad’s form factor attracts a different audience than laptop users.

If you absolutely can’t live without a keyboard, you can either get a laptop or an external keyboard. For those who don’t care about a keyboard, the iPad is perfect without one. Even for those who do need a keyboard, the external keyboard can be a handy accessory if you’re constantly on the go and need something light and easy to carry.

The iPad is simply defining a new computing experience. Not everyone will need it just like not everyone needs a laptop, but for those who do, the iPad is simply irreplaceable.

Self Portraits Captured Using an iPad and Apple Pencil

Posted on April 23, 2018 by admin Posted in Hardware, Software, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: To celebrate Turkey’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, children are crating art using an iPad and Apple Pencil.

The Apple Pencil paired with an iPad can be an artist’s tool much like a word processor has become a writer’s tool. To celebrate Turkey’s National Sovereignty and Children’s Day, Apple has created a video highlighting art that children have created using an iPad and Apple Pencil. While these children are obviously talented and likely spent many hours practicing drawing and painting with an iPad, it still shows how the Apple Pencil and an iPad can help people create art.

For people who don’t care about drawing or painting, then an Apple Pencil may not be for you. For artists, an Apple Pencil can help you turn the iPad into an endless canvas that you can experiment with no matter where you go (just as long as your iPad has enough battery power).

In the old days, artists used to draw on paper using pen, pencil, or various implements like chalk. This is equivalent to writers using pen or pencil with paper notebooks. It’s possible but slow and less forgiving. A word processor gives writers the freedom to create and edit. Likewise, an iPad with an Apple Pencil gives artists the freedom to create and edit art. The Apple Pencil shows how versatile the iPad can be, changing in form from a browser to a newspaper or book to a typewriter or a painting canvas.

The reason the iPad helped kill netbooks is because the iPad is far more versatile. Paired with the Apple Pencil, the iPad is even more flexible for whatever you want to do. While sales of iPads have slowed recently, the table category is never going to go away. The iPad has defined a new computing category and the Apple Pencil works because it’s an accessory, not a necessity.

In the old days, mobile devices like Palm Pilots required a stylus to choose commands. With the iPad, all commands can be given through touch alone. The Apple Pencil simply makes tasks more convenient, but you can get by perfectly well without an Apple Pencil. That’s the key to designing products well.

The Apple Pencil Coming to the iPhone

Posted on October 13, 2017 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: The Apple Pencil may finally work on upcoming iPhones.

Steve Jobs famously said that a stylus was worthless because it was easy to lose and everyone had fingers that could replace a stylus. Then Apple introduced the Apple Pencil in 2015, but was designed to work only for the iPad Pro. Yet the Apple Pencil is a stylus but the main difference is that earlier smartphones and tablets required a stylus for the suer to interact with the device while the Apple Pencil is an optional supplement. People can use an iPad Pro just fine without an Apple Pencil but with the Appel Pencil, they can suddenly draw and write more naturally.

Compare this to early Palm and Microsoft Windows CE devices that absolutely required that you use a stylus. Lose the stylus and you had a hard time using the device. For those earlier devices, a stylus was a necessity, which is why Steve Jobs railed against them as inadequate.

Since the Apple Pencil is an optional user interface device and only limited to the iPad Pro, it’s only natural to expect Apple to allow the Apple Pencil to work with the iPhone eventually. As the iPhone has gotten larger, the limitations of using the Apple Pencil on a smaller screen are fading. The iPad Pro has a huge surface to work on, which m makes the Apple Pencil ideal for writing or drawing. The iPhone screen has now grown to a large enough size that it may soon be comfortable to draw or jot down notes on an iPhone.

This will make the Apple Pencil far more useful because you will then be able to use it for both your iPad and iPhone. The Apple Pencil will still be an optional item, unlike the so-called optional keyboard for the Microsoft Surface tablet. Many people will have no use for the Apple Pencil with their iPhone, but many more will. The Apple Pencil will simply make some tasks easier for some people while remaining completely useless for other tasks that most people won’t need an Apple Pencil to do, such as interacting with the touch screen.

The Apple Pencil will always be an optional device and that’s what makes it superior to old fashion styluses of earlier smartphones and tablets. The Apple Pencil may not be a must-have product for most people, but for those who need it, it will prove indispensable.

The Coming Apple Pencil Revolution

Posted on August 24, 2017 by admin Posted in Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Apple recently filed patents hinting that the Apple Pencil will soon work on the iPhone.

When Apple introduced the Apple Pencil, it only worked on the iPad Pro. Part of the reason for this was because Apple Pencil support required the latest hardware but if the Apple Pencil could work on an iPad Pro running iOS, why couldn’t it also work on the latest iPhone?

Now Apple’s latest patent filings suggest that the Apple Pencil is coming to the iPhone as well. That should be an easy transition since iOS already supports the Apple Pencil. Initially the Apple Pencil was designed for drawing and handwriting, so it makes sense to port those features over to the iPhone as well.

Expect the latest version of iOS to allow writing and drawing on the iPhone with the Apple Pencil. Also expect more iPad and iPhone cases to include a holder for the Apple Pencil as well. For many people, the Apple Pencil is unnecessary because they don’t need to draw and they don’t care to write text directly on the screen. However, for a small minority, the Apple Pencil is crucial for drawing and handy for note taking.

What makes the Apple Pencil different from the stylus used in Windows Mobile devices is that the Apple Pencil is an optional accessory while the stylus in Windows Mobile was necessary for manipulating the user interface. Lose your stylus with a Windows Mobile device and you couldn’t easily use Windows Mobile because the stylus made it easy to poke tiny buttons on the screen. With iOS, you don’t need an Apple Pencil because you can easily use the touch screen interface to do everything including drawing or handwriting text.

The Apple Pencil simply makes drawing and handwriting easier. That’s why the Apple Pencil is and will always be an optional accessory.

The touch screen interface of iOS represents a simple user interface and that’s why it’s been so influential in spawning similar operating systems like Android, which was initially modeled after BlackberryOS. Chances are good you’ll never need an Apple Pencil in the same way that you don’t really need a car since you can get around by bus if you wish. However, once you experience the convenience of a car, you’ll likely never want to take a bus again. Similarly, once you get used to relying on the Apple Pencil for specific tasks like drawing or handwriting, you’ll probably never want to go back to relying on your fingers again.

Artists and heavy note takers will depend on the Apple Pencil. For everyone else, the Apple Pencil isn’t necessary. That’s the definition of an accessory, unlike the external keyboard that’s required to get the most out of a Microsoft Surface tablet.

To learn more about Apple’s latest patent filings that suggest support for the Apple Pencil will come to the iPhone, click here.

What to do with the Apple Pencil?

Posted on March 2, 2017 by admin Posted in Hardware, Software, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: The Apple Pencil is a drawing tool for the iPad, but Apple may have plans to use the Apple Pencil for the iPhone as well.

For artists, the Apple Pencil is indispensable for making it easy to draw without using your fingertip although that’s possible as well. While initially designed for the iPad, the Apple Pencil may eventually be used for the iPhone too.

First, Apple recently patented a loop holder for holding the Apple Pencil. Currently you have to find a way to store the Apple Pencil separate from your iPad, which increases the chance you’ll either lose the Apple Pencil or not be able to find it easily when you want it. Providing a simple Apple Pencil holder to an spade or iPhone case makes it easy to store the Apple Pencil when you need to keep it with your iOS device.

Why Apple didn’t think of this earlier is a mystery, but hopefully the next generation of iPad and iPhone covers will include a loop for holding the Apple Pencil. Beyond simply carrying an Apple Pencil, the next question is adding Apple Pencil support to the iPhone.

For the Apple Pencil to remain an iPad only accessory doesn’t make much sense given that the iPad and iPhone both use iOS. So adding support for the Apple Pencil on the iPhone makes sense. The big question is how will that support work?

Right now, the iPhone works best for quick interactions and there’s nothing faster than pointing at something on the screen than your own fingers. The Apple Pencil excels as a drawing tool on the iPad and would likely work as a drawing tool for the iPhone too, but it also makes sense for Apple to position the Apple Pencil as an iPad/iPhone accessory as well for people who may not want to draw.

In Chinese and other Asian languages, you can draw characters on the screen with your finger, but it might be easier to use an Apple Pencil instead. For non-Asian language use, the Apple Pencil could be handy for jotting down notes on the screen with advanced handwriting recognition.

Right now, typing ideas on a virtual keyboard is fine, but somewhat clumsy. Would writing with an Apple Pencil be easier? For some people, the answer would be yes, and handwriting recognition would be a feature that would appeal to a wide variety of people, not just artists who want a drawing tool.

Instead of typing on the small screen of the iPhone, it would likely feel more more natural and be faster to write with the Apple Pencil instead. So if Apple plans to add Apple Pencil support for the iPhone, handwriting recognition looks like the most useful and obvious feature to make the Apple Pencil useful for everyone.

With advanced handwriting recognition features on iOS, every iPad and iPhone could become an electronic notepad for drawing and writing. You could still write and draw with your finger if you want, but an Apple Pencil could make this task far simpler, and that would make the Apple Pencil an appealing accessory for many iPad/iPhone users.

So expect Apple to announce handwriting recognition this summer at their annual Worldwide Developer’s Conference. Without handwriting recognition, the Apple Pencil serves little purpose beyond appealing to artists. With handwriting recognition, the Apple Pencil suddenly becomes a vastly more useful tool that almost everyone will want if they draw or write often on their iOS device.