In the modern world, we almost every day cannot do without gadgets. They have replaced many of our usual devices, such as a calendar or organizer; as well as some applications in which we drew or made important sketches.
Now that we no longer need to carry notebooks or large drawings with us, a new question arises - how to do precise work with a finger?
After all, we don’t always get them even to the letters we need on the keyboard. And here an innovation comes to our aid, which was born along with touch phones- this is a stylus. We will tell you about what they are and whether you can make a stylus yourself in this article.
Previously, before the advent of warm-touch screens, styluses came with each phone, and their distinctive feature was a rubber tip at the end, but if you take such an old stylus in your hands and try to move it around your new gadget, then nothing will happen. Because the screens of that time were very different from those used now.
Therefore, first you need to figure out what styluses are available and which one is suitable for your favorite gadget.
In general, all styluses can be divided into 2 categories, these are:
If you've never bought a stylus, then there are a few things you need to know about this tablet control assistant. Styluses, unlike the device for which they are intended, can be pressure sensitive or non-pressure sensitive.
Apple developers did their best for iPad pro and iPad mini . They introduced the ability to interact with the stylus via Bluetooth technology.
Now the tablet will not only be able to distinguish between the sizes of the stylus pen, but the pointer itself will be able to receive information directly from your device.
Applications that support this technology are not yet available. a large number of, but let's hope that soon there will be more and more of them, after which we will be able to fully experience all the delights of Bluetooth pointers.
This parameter is perhaps the most important criterion when choosing an assistant. If you work for a long time, you will notice that the lighter the accessory, the longer you can work and your hand will not get tired.
After all, holding the pointer in the air for a long time can negatively affect the fatigue of the working hand.
You can also find an accessory with a smaller pointer, but in terms of convenience it will be inferior to its larger brothers.
This type of stylus has characteristic features. After all, to detect your touch, capacitive displays use a short circuit between two touchscreen plates.
Such a pen usually has a magnetic coil or metal filings in its tip. IN in this case the pointer will work like a clock. Fortunately or unfortunately, capacitive touchscreens are slowly but surely disappearing into oblivion; they are being replaced by heat - touchscreens.
The advantage is obvious in heat - the sensor can respond to a much larger number of touches, unlike a capacitive one, and even the slightest press on a device with a thermal sensor activates it, compared to a capacitive one, which will only work with a certain force of your pressing.
The peculiarities of such styluses are that this type of pointer can work on modern displays, and they also have a very thin tip, which will help you more accurately convey your movement and point to a point than it would on a capacitive screen with a thick-tipped stylus.
If writing text or typing a message on the virtual keyboard seems incredibly inconvenient to you, you can use a stylus designed for typing on your tablet.
The tip of such devices is traditionally made not of rubber, but of a tiny piece of plastic, which has a positive effect on the visibility of the display and also helps to type text quickly and efficiently. These devices may also have Pixelpoint technology, which is designed to more accurately position the pointer on the device display. These pointers are the most accurate on the market. There are also disadvantages.
Due to the plastic tip, the accessory is not very convenient for drawing; in particular, the assistant may slip across the surface of the tablet display. The number of applications that support pointers in this category is very limited. The power supply depends on one large AAA battery, since the device is not very energy efficient, one such battery can last you a long time.
Drawing styluses are distinguished by a huge range of settings, a wide range of pressure sensitivity, and many specialized applications support pointers in this category.
On ipad is better In total, you can choose a Wacom pointer. The assistant from this company supports Bluetooth technology, as well as up to 3000 pressure sensitivity switching positions. Assistants from this company, of course, cannot compare with the apple pencil, which is designed to interact with the products of the company of the same name, but they are not much inferior to it in terms of functionality.
Bundled with Wacom It comes with a nice carrying case, as well as a set of interchangeable nibs of varying degrees of zoom and programmable buttons for those who want to draw as much as possible.
Unlocks this top accessory called the Apple pencil. This is a special device for iPad control. Apple pencil stylus expands the tablet's capabilities for working with graphics, animation and other content.
Its undoubted advantages include the fact that apple pencil can be charged directly from the device via Lightning adapter. Also apple pencil has a large number of modes and settings for convenient operation.
A universal stylus is perfect for you if you are just plunging into the world of electronic pointers, and you have neither the energy nor the time to understand their features.
It will allow you to draw in most graphics applications, and will also fit comfortably in your hand without causing discomfort. The thickness of the tips of such indicators is around 6 millimeters, this value is optimal for work. These assistants will help you sketch, sketch, and also control your device.
A personal pointer for each person who uses a tablet is a more humane solution in terms of hygiene.
In order not to stain the screen with your fingers and to interact perfectly with graphics, drawings, and also so that designers can work much more efficiently, you can create this accessory at home.
There are two types of homemade signs: disposable and durable.
To make a one-time input device you will need:
Twist the foil into a tube shape, then insert it into the handle so that the tip of the foil protrudes slightly from the paste hole, then tamp the foil down a little.
Then you will need to cut the hygiene stick in half and insert it into a foil tube so that the cotton wool on the tip of the stick can come into contact with the foil, or you can tightly wrap a piece of foil with a cloth. After these steps, tightly wrap the base of the handle with foil, all elements of the assistant should be connected under pressure, and also be in close contact with each other. You can also create a homemade case if you want to give it an elegant look. To activate the device, you need to slightly moisten the tip of the foil in a salt-water solution. Now the device is truly ready for use.
To make a durable input device, you will still need the same non-writing gel or ballpoint pen, as well as pliers and a piece of polyethylene foam material for preserving electrical radio components. The instructions are still the same, but instead of foil moistened with water, polyethylene foam is used . That's all homemade stylus ready to use, it will serve you as long as the effort you put into creating it.
Personal experience after 48 hours of use.
What we have been waiting for for so long has come true. Apple released iPad Pro, we wrote, and two weeks later the guys from Onlyphones.ru offered to plunge into the world of fine art and test all the capabilities of the Apple Pencil stylus.
What is the iPencil capable of, is it worth the trouble, and how does the owner of an iPad Pro who has an Apple Pencil get their hands on life? Let's talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the stylus.
For people who use the computer as a professional tool, the greatest enemy of all time remains delay. The sound engineer struggles to minimize the time it takes to convert sound from analog to digital; designer - wins back precious milliseconds by making the next stroke on graphics tablet. Apple Pencil has no such shortcomings.
As soon as you touch the iPad Pro's huge screen with the tip of the stylus, it instantly responds to your touch. The lines turn out clear and even, and the artist has the feeling that they are drawing on a slate board or a piece of parchment. Response speed This accessory has the highest praise, and the signal reading frequency reaches 240 times per second.
Despite its small size, comparable to the size of a regular ballpoint pen, the Apple Pencil is stuffed with all sorts of sensors that ensure its harmonious and trouble-free operation. The stylus distinguishes not only pressing force(up to 2048 degrees), but also the angle of inclination.
By setting a slight tilt, you can quickly shade a fragment of the drawing, as when working with a regular pencil.
Inside the Apple Pencil there is a miniature battery, the capacity of which is only 80 mAh. Despite such a small size, after a full charge the stylus is ready for use. 12 o'clock continuous operation.
Moreover, universal Charger for Apple Pencil at your fingertips. The gadget is equipped with a traditional Lightning port, and a simple connection to the corresponding port of the iPad Pro for just 15 seconds will give the stylus 30 minutes of work. Full charging time is about 50 minutes.
For charging via a regular network, a miniature adapter is provided: an Apple Pencil is inserted on one side, and a Lightning cable on the other.
Even an experienced artist knows the consequences of touching a drawing with the palm of his hand to a drawing he has just drawn with a slate or charcoal pencil. This is the case when the hands that created the drawing can ruin it. Apple has provided for this too.
Despite the fact that, according to all the “laws of the genre” of capacitive screen technology, it must respond to the touch of a human hand, when working with the Apple Pencil, you can touch the screen with the edge of your palm, leaning on the tablet screen as if on a regular sheet of paper. The tablet will not go berserk from this action, and the clarity of the stylus will not deteriorate at all.
One more thing I'm curious about Apple features Pencil is worth considering the ability to work through a sheet of paper. Let's assume that you want to copy as accurately as possible a fragment of an original drawing printed on paper.
To do this, just attach the sheet to iPad screen Pro and trace all the required contours. The tablet counts all the touches of the stylus, despite the fact that between the screen and the tip of the pen there is an impromptu obstacle - a sheet of paper.
The main purpose of the Apple Pencil is drawing. However, the stylus is compatible with almost all actions that you usually perform when touching the tablet with your fingers.
Open links, launch apps, scroll, interact with menu items, print (supports third-party and keyboard-enabled keyboards). handwriting) – Apple Pencil can do it all. The limitations of the accessory include the inability to open the Notification Center, Control Center, or switch to Slide Over or Split View mode. Most likely, this limitation is purely software in nature, but “Apple decided so.”
For implementation indeed good product The ingenuity of engineers and the bright vision of a designer are not enough. Need software support. The number of apps compatible with the Apple Pencil is growing exponentially.
Already today the following are compatible with the Apple stylus: Pixelmator, Adobe Comp CC, Paper, Adobe Phoroshop Mix, Adobe Photoshop Fix, AutoCAD 360, Autodesk SketchBook, Evernote, Adobe Illustrator Draw, Canva and a number of other applications. The inclusion of stylus support by developers allows not only to optimize the interaction of the accessory with the interface, but also to enable support for iOS functions such as Split View.
Ask any marketer and he will confidently answer that the “ideal product” does not exist. The Apple Pencil was no exception, and the list of shortcomings of the “Apple pencil” looks something like this:
A skeptical user will probably classify Apple’s latest development as “expensive and unnecessary toys.” A professional designer or artist, being a creative person, will think about purchasing an Apple Pencil, because the desire to experiment is the main engine of creativity. A fan of Apple products and a user who has been waiting for a “big iPad” will take the stylus without a doubt.
Where to buy Apple Pencil? We suggest stopping at the online store Onlyphones.ru. Firstly, it is available today; secondly, among the impressive range of accessories for Apple devices, you will definitely want to buy “something else”.
Many of us enjoy drawing, taking notes and sketching on our tablets and phones. And although some are comfortable working with their fingers, let’s be honest: a good stylus makes work much more enjoyable. Which stylus should you choose?
We've spent a lot of time researching styluses in a variety of shapes, sizes, and designs, and now we're excited to bring you the best tools for taking notes, sketching, and electronically drawing on your touchscreen.
If you have never had a stylus, then before choosing an assistant, you should know the following.
The iPad is not pressure sensitive, but there are pressure sensitive styluses. Of course, your iPad is no match for a Wacom tablet; its screen doesn't recognize how hard you press it, and it can't tell the difference between a thick stylus tip and a thin one.
The creators of the iPad tried to correct this drawback using Bluetooth low-energy technology: now the stylus can not only simply “imitate” a finger, but will interact (transmit and receive information from the tablet) with the application via Bluetooth.
Now it's up to application developers - while Bluetooth styluses do not work in all programs. But every day there are more and more such applications, which means that everyone can take advantage of all their advantages: pressure sensitivity, the function of preventing accidental activation of the touch panel when touched by the palm (palm rejection), a thin tip and others.
In order to use this stylus, you need to be the owner of an iPad or iPhone with Bluetooth 4.0 support, that is, have an iPad mini of the first or second generation, iPad 3 (or newer), iPhone 5 (or newer).
Any artist will tell you how important the weight of a drawing tool is. Same as tip size. The weight of the stylus and how it fits in your hand are especially important for applications that don't have a feature to prevent the touchpad from accidentally triggering—those applications require you to keep your hand balanced at all times.
The tip of the average stylus ($10–$40) is made of rubber or other conductive material and measures 6–9 mm in size. In short, this tip is designed as a replacement for a finger. There are styluses without Bluetooth support, whose tips are slightly smaller or have a different texture. But they usually have disadvantages: either you have to press harder on the screen, or the tip slides too much on the screen.
Bluetooth styluses come with a large selection of different tips: rubber tips, transparent tips, plastic tips, tips as thin as a ballpoint pen.
What to choose? It depends on why you need the stylus. Rubber, grips with protective glass display more than other materials: this helps to draw smoother, straighter lines, but is annoying if you need to write something quickly. Tips made of other materials can also slow down movement on the screen a little, and sometimes they are too soft and sponge-like, which affects the accuracy of the pressure intensity (with the stylus supporting the Pressure Sensitivity function). Plastic, on the other hand, does not physically adhere to the display, but can knock unpleasantly on its surface. Our selection includes styluses with a wide variety of tips. It’s up to you to decide which one is better.
If you don't like taking notes using virtual keyboard, you will definitely enjoy using a precision stylus for this. For example, Jot Script from Adonit. Thanks to Pixelpoint™ technology, it allows you to write clearly and quickly.
Instead of a rubber tip, it has a tiny piece of plastic on the end, which allows you to see the screen better and improves your writing accuracy. Of course, the Jot Script stylus isn't perfect. The plastic tip glides perfectly across the screen, but at the same time, the stylus works flawlessly in only one application - Penultimate (although no, he seems to draw quite well in Paper too). In other applications it is more difficult to use the stylus.
The quality and construction of this stylus is excellent. Built-in Bluetooth works great - just turn on the stylus and get started. The stylus runs on a standard little finger battery, but due to its low energy consumption, it won’t have to be replaced often.
Our choice: Jot Script with 2 mm thick plastic tip;
Advantages: Built-in Bluetooth, great for quick writing, stylus with the most precise pressure;
Flaws: slides across the screen, does not work in all applications, is not pressure sensitive.
Bamboo Stylus Duo, with rubber tip - 5 mm. Without Bluetooth® support;
Advantages: writes well and “cleanly”, can be used both as a stylus and as a regular pen;
Flaws: The tip wears out over time (but can be replaced with a new one).
When you're just venturing into the world of styluses and electronic sketching, it's important to find a tool that fits well in your hand and allows you to draw whatever you want in the app of your choice. The Wacom Bamboo Stylus is a great stylus with a 6mm thick round tip that's a pleasure to swipe across the screen. This stylus fits perfectly in your hand, allowing you to draw, sketch, and control your device.
Bamboo– not a perfect stylus, it has the same shortcomings as other rubber-tipped styluses (for example, not the highest line accuracy, due to the rather massive tip, which does not allow you to clearly see what is happening under it). That said, the stylus is well built, easy to carry, and we haven't yet found another universal stylus that works this well.
If you don't mind spending more money and getting a stylus with Bluetooth® and pressure sensitivity, then check out the Pogo Connect from Ten One Design.
This stylus offers four different tips that work great. Hundreds of sensitivity levels may be too much for a beginner, but for those who want to create electronic masterpieces, this is really what they need.
The only drawback of the accessory (at the time of writing) is that it does not work well on the latest iPad tablets. The developers are trying to solve this problem, but perhaps you shouldn't rush and buy it if you own iPad Air(the stylus, with the exception of the R1 tip, works flawlessly only on the iPad mini).
Our choice: Bamboo Stylus, 5mm rubber tip;
Advantages: Great for sketching and drawing;
Flaws: sometimes it is difficult to see the details behind the tip, the tip wears out, but it can be replaced.
Bluetooth option: Pogo Connect, rubber tip - 7.3 mm;
Advantages: several tip options (purchased separately), hundreds of levels of pressure sensitivity, support for blocking the screen against unwanted touches (Palm Rejection) in some applications;
Flaws: too complex for those who need a regular stylus, the touchpad anti-accident feature and pressure sensitivity don't work in all apps. The stylus also does not work on the iPad Air.
More democratic version: Cosmonaut, rubber tip - 8 mm;
Advantages: The stylus is quite weighty, it is very comfortable to hold in the hand, it is equally suitable for both children and adults, the accuracy of pressing is surprisingly high, despite the thick tip;
Flaws: It's not very convenient to write with the stylus, plus the rubber tip quickly becomes overgrown with small dust particles.
Give serious artists a Wacom! Of course, there is nothing better than Cintiq, Intuos, Bamboo, and even better than Cintiq Companion. But if you create on an iPad, then you should buy the Wacom Intuos Creative 2 stylus. 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity! Lots of compatible apps! This Bluetooth® stylus lets you draw whatever your heart desires. The Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus comes with a wonderful carrying case and a set of spare nibs, which are very useful for those who plan to draw a LOT.
Finding flaws in this stylus is not so easy. The tip touches the screen lightly, allowing you to draw fine details. However, it is worth saying that the tip sometimes seems too soft. Also, the programmable buttons on the stylus handle are easy to accidentally press while working.
Our choice: Intuos Creative Stylus, rubber tip - 6 mm;
Advantages: programmable buttons, 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, many compatible applications, Bluetooth support;
Flaws: The stylus is quite expensive, the tip can feel too soft, and the programmable buttons are easy to accidentally press.
Option without rubber tip:
Jot Touch 4, plastic disc tip;
Advantages: programmable buttons, greater pressing accuracy, 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, recharging via USB;
Flaws: The tip takes some getting used to, sometimes the disc makes an unpleasant knock on the screen.
Although many artists today use various electronic devices, it is nice to have something that reminds us of the creative process of the past. Brushes from Nomad and Sensu allow you to paint on the screen, and best of all, you don't have to wash them. It's amazing how much more realistic your painting becomes when you use a Nomad or Sensu brush.
Nomad offers several brush options, but none of them are pressure sensitive. Our favorite is the Nomad Compose brush, which has a long handle and a short, angled tip for detailing. Also interesting are the Mini 2 brushes - a folding brush with bristles at one end and a rubber tip at the other; single-sided Flex brush; and the Nomad Play, a fancy brush with a large handle made especially for kids.
Sensu doesn't offer many options: the Sensu Brush and the Sensu Solo. Which brush will you choose? For us, the texture of the brush and how it touched the screen as we worked played a big role. The Nomad's brush rubs harder against the screen, while the Sensu's brush glides smoothly when drawing. The choice is yours.
Nomad Compose with double tip;
Advantages: easy to draw both large and small details, fits nicely in the hand;
Flaws: The brush easily deteriorates if you don’t take care of it; it rubs against the screen more than other brushes.
Sensu Solo, tip – brush;
Advantages: a brush is convenient for drawing details;
Flaws: The brush can be easily damaged if handled carelessly. Unlike Nomad, it glides smoothly across the screen, feeling naturally in your hand.
Since the introduction of the iPad, we have tested more than 75 styluses, and we decided not to write about many of them in this article. This doesn't mean they don't work well. They're just not the best or they have drawbacks that prevent us from recommending them (Ellis Hamburger, for example, liked the Maglus stylus. We also found the stylus to be quite good, but we noticed that our hands get very tired when working with it. However, However, it is a surprisingly durable stylus).
Visitor reviews about Stylus for APPLE Pencil 1st generation for iPad Pro MK0C2ZM/A
Most frequently asked question from clients:
Hello! Please tell me why the prices in your store are lower than in others and sometimes even much lower?
Kazantsev Ruslan Valerievich:
After the purchase, I was very surprised, the stylus gives the impression that you are holding a real pencil in your hands, there is no delay when writing text, I use it on an iPad Pro 9.7, the screen size is enough, the iPad charges quickly. It’s a little inconvenient that when Bluetooth is turned off, you have to insert it into the iPad again for synchronization, and the cap is not attached to the pencil, it’s easy to lose, even though it’s on a magnet.
Hello! Tell me, is this stylus compatible with iPad Air 1? How correctly will it work?
Astakhov Vakhtang Gennadievich:
I consider it a useful purchase. I find it much more convenient to work with a stylus than with my fingers. But here, of course, it’s a matter of taste and availability of funds.
The stylus is comfortable, not heavy, and it’s very pleasant to draw with it.
Tolstikhin Pavel Alexandrovich:
The best stylus. Many times more convenient than the Samsung stylus. This was decisive when choosing a tablet
For some reason, many thought that one of the key functions The iPad Pro comes with a stylus called the Apple Pencil, although the company strongly emphasizes that this is not a stylus at all, but something else, for example, a pencil, as the name suggests. The reason for the dislike of the word “stylus” is understandable. Apple founder Steve Jobs argued that all management is touch devices companies will be carried out by hand, and the stylus is a relic of the past. Steve Jobs is no more, which means that the current leaders of the company can release whatever they want, which is what they are doing. Nevertheless, you still have to give explanations for your ingenious discoveries, otherwise the crowd of fans will remain perplexed and do not know what to tell others about the next great invention. Jonathan Ive, who hasn’t come up with anything interesting or worthwhile in the last few years, in an interview with Wallpaper Magazine explained why and how the idea for the pencil came about, here is his direct speech: “We realized that there is a clearly defined group of people that can appreciate a tool that will allow them to draw or sketch, but not in the same way as drawing with their fingers. And I suspect it’s a large group of people.”
Almost five years after the release of the first Note, the launch of the line from Samsung, and the rise of its popularity, Apple suddenly saw that there was a niche in the market for those who liked to draw. And we decided to make our own product. There was no need to invent anything here, since all kinds of styluses for Apple tablets were produced by many companies, but they all suffered from one drawback: they were poking sticks, while other manufacturers created full-fledged input devices that responded to pressure, pen tilt and other “little things”. In particular, such devices include all styluses from Samsung, as well as a pen for Microsoft Surface, which in latest versions tablets are part of the standard supply. Once again, Apple is entering a market with its solution, where there are already analogues that have come a long way over several generations. If Apple had not ignored other people's experience, they could have created their own “pencil” completely different, and it would have been much more useful for users iPad tablets, but everything turned out differently, the story developed as usual.
Let's start with the fact that the Apple Pencil is an additional accessory, sold separately from the iPad Pro and positioned as an optional part of the tablet. This accessory is not for everyone, and the fact that it receives so much attention is solely due to the company's successful PR efforts. Every day there are more and more revelations from designers and developers user interfaces, as well as those who design cars, planes and ships, in which these people admit that they had no life before, and with the advent of the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, for the first time they were able to work fully, and not as they did before Togo. Of course, in this PR hubbub there are also adequate reviews, but they are often drowned in the delight of those who have never worked with a stylus and for whom the Apple Pencil is their first such experience.
The price of the Apple Pencil in the USA is $99 excluding taxes, in Russia - 7,790 rubles, which makes this pencil, if not gold, then close to it. On the other hand, professional styluses from Wacom are not cheap, but they are a completely different class of product, and their consumers know exactly what they are paying for. This is not a mass-produced toy for bored people who want to depict something on their tablet screen. I doubt that professionals in graphics, design and the like will start using the Apple Pencil en masse, it all comes down to force of habit, but the main thing is the software that will be available to work with the pen. As for the software, everything is very sad so far, but more on that later.
So, we take the Pencil out of the box, open the cap at the top end and see the Lightning connector. The box shows how it needs to be inserted into the tablet to recharge.
Forgive me, but this is pornography in the literal and figurative sense. Apple engineers lost all their skills, as they created a visually ugly, bad and unreliable solution; in this position, it is not difficult to break off the connector. And they sincerely warn about this! Caring, crooked creators of the Apple Pencil, who quickly realized that their solution was not very good, and therefore added an adapter to the kit for charging the pencil from a computer or from the network. This is a small adapter, on one side we plug in a regular iPhone/iPad charger, on the other side - the pencil itself. Adapter! For the stylus! If Steve Jobs were alive, he would have had a very harsh conversation with Jonathan Ive, after which the latter would have rushed to fix and redo everything.
I didn’t dare post a photo of what it looks like when charging, I was afraid that we would be closed for pornography, so look at this moment in the video, everything is shown there. But I can say one thing, Apple engineers exceeded my worst assumptions, they made the pencil in the worst way possible. The same stylus on MS Surface does not require charging and works great with the built-in software. But more on that later.
Apple's pencil is glossy, and if your hands are wet, it starts to slip. No rough surfaces; a creative tool should be smooth and gliding, both on the surface and in human hands. Speaking seriously, it is clear that it is not for nothing that the majority of those who produce styluses do not make them smooth, but prefer a rough body. Let's guess why. Apparently, they value the ergonomics of the device higher than its appearance, but Apple does exactly the opposite.
From an ergonomic point of view, the Apple Pencil has another drawback - it does not attach to the iPad body. It is magnetized from the bottom, but the attractive force is not enough, so you won’t be able to wear it like that. You will have to carry it somewhere else, but not with the device. This is silly? In my opinion, this is damn stupid and short-sighted, and most importantly, inconvenient. But you can deny quite obvious things and say that this is correct and the only way it is necessary.
Now about the good and pleasant. The Apple Pencil only works with the iPad Pro; it cannot be connected to other tablets. The reason is that the company slightly changed the screen technology to support such a stylus. I don’t know whether it will be supported in other products, but it is justified only on large diagonals, on the same iPad Mini The pencil has little meaning.
We insert the pencil to charge, and immediately the iPad Pro offers us to synchronize the device via Bluetooth and connect it. We agree. In notifications you can find a widget that shows the charge level of your Apple Pencil. The company claims that a fully charged pencil will last about 12 hours, with 15 seconds giving you a runtime of 30 minutes. It will take about 45-50 minutes to fully charge the Apple Pencil from the iPad. In principle, this is a small problem; charging this stylus from time to time will not be difficult. When the battery level reaches a low level, a warning will appear.
There is another side to the coin that no one thinks about or pays attention to. At using Apple Pencil iPad Pro power consumption increases. After half an hour of working on the screen, the battery loses 7-8 percent of its charge. For comparison, watching a movie at maximum brightness eats up 10% per hour. Feel the difference and differences.
Apple's stylus understands up to 2048 degrees of pressure, as well as horizontal deviation. This means that by pressing it you can make lines thicker, and by tilting the pencil you can create shading. And in this way it resembles an ordinary pencil, which is very good.
But now is the time to talk about which programs and how they support working with the Apple Pencil. You can use it to move around the screen and select icons. And there are no problems here, everything works. Another thing is that creativity requires programs that can work with the Apple Pencil, and there are already more than a dozen such programs. For example, in standard notes you can write by hand, but your text will not be recognized; there is simply no such function in iOS9. This is the first disappointment, no handwriting or typing this way, this pencil is for creativity, not for boring handwritten notes.
I tried a dozen programs that were recommended to me App Store for a pencil, most of them already had stylus support, that is, the appearance of the Apple Pencil was not unexpected. For example, in Evernote it has long been possible to enter notes by hand; on the iPad you could draw with your finger, as, indeed, this can still be done now. It’s approximately the same in each of the programs; the Apple Pencil does not provide any special accuracy; you draw exactly the same as you drew before, with the same programs or similar input devices.
I conducted a small experiment and asked my colleague, who is interested in drawing, to try out the device and give her opinion. She enthusiastically began to draw from a photograph taken on one of her trips, but very quickly put her Apple Pencil aside and said the following: “I don’t really need it, here you can draw it all by hand in the program, some parts are probably more difficult.” than usual, but not fundamentally more difficult.” After chatting about this topic, I realized a simple thing: to draw, you don’t need a miracle device, you only need desire, and the choice of tool is secondary. The surface of the device cannot replace paper, its quality and other sensations, since it is not only the pencil, brush or paint that is important, it is how they interact with the paper and what result you get. In theory, it would be possible to emulate paper in software, but no one has done this yet.
All the software that I tried can be used with any stylus; the Apple device is extremely simple and does not have any special functions. Moreover, there is no integration into operating system No. And this puts an end to the most popular use cases that have opened up on Note line for almost five years of its existence. For example, people often cut something out of pictures and send it by mail, adding annotations to such pictures. And on the same Note, this can be done in a matter of seconds, there is an option “write on the screen”, you instantly get a screenshot, which you decorate to the best of your ability. Or you can cut out a piece of a picture and simultaneously recognize the text on it, send both the picture and the text from it, in any language. But this is already such a high class that I won’t even talk about it, since Apple in this case looks like a poor relative. The key strength of the Note is the deep integration of the stylus into everything you can do on the device. It was created not only and not so much for those who draw, but for everyone who wants to gain new opportunities, and the device provides these opportunities to the fullest. It is possible that they are not always needed, but sometimes they are necessary and very useful.
What's with the stylus integration on MS Surface? Exactly the same story, at Microsoft, oddly enough, they understand that the stylus itself is not important, it is necessary to integrate it into the system, for example, to make it possible to launch OneNote with one click, enter handwritten text or drawings, and recognize all this. If necessary, erase without resorting to additional movements and pressing the button on the stylus. And on the same Surface Pro 4, the stylus is attached magnetically to the body, it can be carried along with the device. It turns out that Microsoft's engineers are much better than those at Apple, where they could not implement the simplest function, although they themselves came up with many chips with magnets during the time of Steve Jobs.
Also a slightly different level of software and binding of the stylus to the system. Why is this so? Probably the answer lies in what people think, why and why they do it, and to whom it might be important. They are working on use cases. At Apple, they don’t do this, but rest on their laurels. In fact, by copying other people's products, Apple brings nothing to them, and the implementation from an engineering point of view is the worst possible. Why is that? We relaxed, there is no owner inside the company who would monitor how everything should work.
It’s interesting how, with the release of the Apple Pencil, many “leading world publications” discovered this topic and began writing about it. And it doesn’t matter that dozens of styluses existed before, and the software initially supported them, including on the iPad. It doesn't matter that the only advantage of the Apple Pencil in the small stylus market is the name of the manufacturer, and not anything else. The main thing is that the company was able to create a myth that time after time it produces successful products that are needed by millions. And it doesn’t matter at all that the same watch didn’t take off and Apple doesn’t say anything about it in terms of real numbers. It doesn't matter that the iPad Pro is a very niche device with an idea that was stolen from Samsung and Microsoft, with a little bit of each. And it’s not so important that no one thought to charge a hundred dollars for a stylus. On the other hand, you have to pay for stupidity. Apple believes that stupidity is worth a hundred dollars. And it's the right price.
As an additional comment, a review of the Apple Pencil from our UI/UX design reader.
This accessory, like a drop of water, reflects where the company is going and how its helmsmen have relaxed and rested on their laurels. This is not the best product that Apple has released, however, over the past couple of years it is difficult for me to name something that would attract attention. Copying other people's ideas, poor implementation, but for now Apple can afford it. But the credit of trust is a rather fragile thing, it can disappear.
We thank UP-house.ru for providing the Apple pencil.
