iPad Moving the iPad Forward: The Future of Touch

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• Moving the iPad Forward: The Future of Touch
• Using the iPad Pro as my development machine
• Pencil not charging when idle too long.
• Zagg launches new iPad and iPad Pro keyboard case lineup with backlit keys, Apple Pencil storage, more
• App for ocr only (no scan)
• What do you want to see in IOS 13 for the IPad that isn’t being talked about or getting enough coverage?
• What features does Notability v8.5 need for better note-taking?
• I find simple tasks hard on iPad. Should I give up?
• Notetaking App with live collaboration?
• Recommendations for a management system for iPads? (Small nonprofit looking to manage 20 or so iPads)
• Edited on the iPad Pro using LumaFusion- Sigiriya- like you've never seen before!
• About to purchase IPad Pro for MacBook replacement ASAP, please answer these questions.
• Must-have apps that I may have missed?
• Which drawing app(s) has the most realistic pencil tool?
• Does iPad (Pro) always support HDR?
• What to do with an old iPad 2?
• iPad 9.7 2018 accessories?
• IPAD gen 1 5.1.1
• iPad, 5th Gen - does a keyboard case where the iPad can also be used in portrait mode even exist?! Help!

Moving the iPad Forward: The Future of Touch Posted: 07 Jan 2019 07:40 AM PST TL;DR: Exploring the addition of secondary touch interfaces to iPad OS. ​ January 2019 By u/thomanthony ​ My MacBook Pro has a pristine screen. I can count on one hand the number of times I've touched it and certainly no one else has. To channel John Gruber, a fingerprint would almost be enough to make me want to throw out the machine and buy a new one. Not quite (read: $3k), but almost. Then look at my iPad. With the screen off, the fingerprints almost form a painterly texture. They tell the story of every tap and swipe, every image edited, every Reddit thread explored. All this is then crisscrossed with tiny veins... The Pencil. Precise and deliberate, the pencil carves valleys in the grime as I draw, edit video, and swipe type. But this article isn't about the oleophobic coating (or lack thereof) on the current iPad Pro generation. It's about the very touches that leave the streaks and the future of interacting with touch platforms. A Tangible Challenge In a previous article on the future of iPad OS, I discussed the idea of adding support for horizontal touch surfaces such as the ubiquitous track pad on the Mac. Some readers commented that without an onscreen mouse pointer, a track pad wouldn't be very useful. I argued that there's no pointer on Apple TV, but a touch surface there works quite well (I know, I know a lot of people dislike the Siri Remote, but I think it is an appropriate model for this kind of interaction). Another reader, u/gadgetluva, pointed me to the "absolute positioning" True Touchpad system on the 2019 Acura RDX. Still others argued that navigating the web's text links and small touch targets without a mouse pointer is difficult while using the device in "laptop mode" with the keyboard attached. All this got me thinking, what does the future of touch look like? And how could Apple implement a secondary pointing and selection method while staying true to the simplicity of a touch-first device? The Rules A new input system needs to stay true to what makes iOS what it is. I've broken that down into three requirements. Direct manipulation Finger-friendly Gesture based Each of these requirements feeds into the others, but I'll attempt to explain my reasoning. Direct manipulation refers to the idea of moving or interacting with onscreen elements directly, rather than by moving a persistent pointer around the screen acting as the user's avatar. Finger-friendly means that the interface should work more or less the same whether using an external touch pad or touching the screen directly and that a user should not be penalized for choosing one over the other or switching between them in a given workflow. And lastly, gesture-based simply requires that the input method rely heavily on high level movements by the user, such as swiping, pinching, and tapping rather than soley on fine movements such as pointing and clicking. As much as possible, a user should be able to navigate the interface quickly with a few small gestures. As I explain my concept below, hopefully you'll see how these requirements result in what I believe is an intuitive and elegant solution. A One-to-One System Because the iPad is a touch-first device, any additional input method must build on top of the interactions that already exist. For that reason, the first big caveat of this system is that it must be built to use track pads and not mice. Put away the pitchforks, I know I just lost some of you. But fret not, I'll come back to the mouse question later. By limiting external input to track pads only, we are able to implement two of the most important features of this input method: system gesture support and absolute positioning. System Gestures This is how we all interact with our iOS devices. Swipe up from the bottom edge to close an app. Pull down in the top right corner to view Control Center. Notification Center, multitasking; they all need to be there for it to function properly and feel native to iOS. Other gestures ought to migrate from the Mac: two finger scrolling for instance. Here's a complete list of system gestures I'm proposing for iOS track pads: Two Finger Double Tap: Smart Zoom In / Out Two Finger Swipe: Scroll page Two Finger Pinch: Zoom In / Out Two Finger Rotate: Rotate Content Swipe from Top Edge: Notification Center Swipe from Top Right Corner: Control Center Swipe from Bottom Edge: Dock > Close App > Multitasking Swipe from Left/Right Edge: Move Back/Forward One Page (In-App and on home screen) Three Finger Swipe Left/Right: Move Back/Forward One Page (In-App and on home screen) Four Finger Swipe Up: Close App / Multitasking Four Finger Swipe Left/Right: Switch Recently Used Apps Absolute Positioning This is where things start to get interesting. As mentioned earlier, touch on iOS is one-to-one and based on direct manipulation. For that reason, my system suggests that the track pad be mapped directly to the screen. If a user begins a gesture in the bottom left portion of the track pad and moves up and to the right, the on-screen result should mimic that move. Lift your finger and start in the middle of the screen and the system responds as if you've touched the middle of the screen. Because the interaction is directly tied to a finger on the track pad, it cannot be persistent. Lift your finger and any indication of touch ceases. While this is a fairly dramatic departure from the Mac, it feels more native to iOS and will allow interactions to be more consistent whether using the track pad or touching the screen directly. It also helps keep system wide gestures more consistent, as discussed earlier. There is one major difference to touching the screen directly, however. The user must press down to "tap." A simple touch will only indicate where the user is touching, not actually tap/click. Okay, you may say, but how does a user see their interaction onscreen? There's no pointer on iOS. Focus and Parallax Apple rolled this interaction system out fully in tvOS, although bits and pieces of it can be seen earlier and in other systems. Parallax effect. Apple.com The main premise of the system is to highlight selected onscreen elements by animating them slightly off the plane and moving them responsively in reaction to a user's gestures. On iOS, this would be paired with the absolute positioning paradigm explained earlier meaning that where a user begins the gesture on the track pad is relevant in determining the movement of the selection. For example on the home screen if a user begins swiping on a track pad from the bottom-right portion of the screen and then moves up and to the left, the focus indication will do the same, tracking their finger across the elements in their path. In a departure from tvOS, on iPad the highlighted item should appear to sink slightly deeper in to the plane of the screen, like their finger is depressing the icons as it moves over them, the user then just presses down firmly to "tap." In a modal dialogue, the default selection starts in focus and user need only swipe up or down and click to choose their selection. Even in complex applications, such as a mail client, focus and parallax can accomplish the job of indicating user interaction very well. What's Old is New I'll begin this section by saying I started this article firmly in the no pointer camp on iOS. The idea of a little arrow floating over my iPad screen just feels wrong. But the pointer has been with us for several decades now, and works incredibly well for dealing with small interaction targets. And let's be honest, if we want more professional-grade apps on the iPad, the touch targets are going to bump against the limits of a human finger. Further, when navigating some complex applications or especially when browsing the web, the simple focus/parallax system begins to show it's limitations. We need one more component to complete the whole. Design Users require some form of indication of where they are touching onscreen. But what would an on-screen pointer in iOS look like? I experimented with a variety of designs. Arrows, cross hairs, hands. None seemed appropriate. Finally, the simplest design won out. My suggestion is something inspired by the gesture demonstrations seen throughout Apple marketing and support documents: a circular design, slightly translucent, with a gentle convex appearance and a faint drop shadow. iOS Pointer Concept Design When the track pad is clicked, the convex pointer switches to a concave appearance. Additionally, the system can dynamically adjust the color and transparency of the pointer based on the content of the screen to ensure visibility. This design does two things: first, it suggests the shape of a fingertip. Even the slight indentation on the surface of the pointer when clicking suggests touching the the screen. It also affirms that any interaction target should still be large enough for a finger. Apple's Human Interface Guidelines recommend that all touch targets be at least 44pt x 44pt (88px on an iPad). This pointer is rendered at 25pt (or 50px on an iPad), making it slightly smaller than touch targets and allowing for accuracy, while staying true to a touch first design. This design has one other major benefit. The circular pointer lends itself well to being only one of multiple pointers on screen at a time. It becomes arbitrary to add a second pointer for multi touch gestures. Imagine that for a second. Put two fingers (or three or four) on your track pad and now you can see them all. Two Finger Scrolling. Trackpad for reference. The circular pointer also allows it to easily communicate different functions to the user by adding an icon to the center of the pointer. These actions include URLs, drop zones, and more. Different pointer shapes can serve the function of text editing, resize, crosshairs, or indicate that an action isn't possible. Here's my take on the iOS pointer set. Full iOS Pointer Set. Unclicked, Clicked, URLs, Delete, No Action Available, Text Cursor, Resize, Crosshairs Other pointer designs can be added as needed, either by Apple or in third party apps. When paired with the focus/parallax system, this complete input system feels remarkably intuitive and responsive. Here are a couple examples of the system in action. Navigating the Home Screen iOS Mail Looks and Smarts There is one more issue I foresee when building this system. Because the track pad is married directly to the layout of the screen, hitting touch targets in the corners of the screen or when buttons are tightly packed together could be somewhat difficult. For that reason, the system requires a little brains to determine where a user intends to tap. This can be accomplished by using a method similar to the software keyboard. If a user places their finger down within a given distance of a button or group of buttons, the system should adjust the selection point to highlight the button closest took their finger. In a group of buttons, the user can then swipe right or left to move to the correct button before pressing firmly to "tap." If the user starts an action further than a predetermined distance from a button and then swipes closer to the button, the system should not automatically move to the button. This should prevent unintentional pointer movements. In practice, this whole back end process shouldn't be noticeable took the user, but if it works properly should make the entire experience far more fluid. Accessibility To ensure that all users can continue to make full use of their devices, there should also be a number of important Accessibility features. Indicator Size: Easily adjust the pointer's diameter to increase visibility. Persistent pointer support: Rather than a one-to-one mapping, the pointer stays on screen at all times and can be moved in the same manner as a traditional Mac pointer. This is important for people with physical coordination impairments. Adjustable mapping: The user can reduce the area of the track pad which is mapped to the screen. Again this is helpful to people with motor skills issues. Alternative input devices: If users need special input devices, such as joysticks or, yes, computer mice to interact, they are supported here. These options automatically turn on the persistent pointer. Obviously, some of these features would interfere with others, so each has its caveats. A lack of system gestures being a major one. Ideally, when a mouse or other input device is used, the system could map some essential gestures to hardware buttons or touch gestures such as those on Mac when using the Magic Mouse. Conclusion By embracing the strengths of iOS and utilizing its touch-first design, it is possible to build external track pad support that feels native to the device. With some refinement and careful testing across a variety of applications, I'm confident that the system I've outlined would work. There's been a lot of discussion around the future of iPad, especially as the Pro line differentiates itself and the possibility of even larger screen devices looms. Personally, I'd love a 20-inch or more iPad at my desk. But in order for that to become a reality, the devices need to become more capable. This is just one of the moves Apple could make, but I hope they address the question and keep pushing iPad and iOS in general down the path to reaching an even larger audience of designers, developers, and the general computing public. submitted by /u/thomanthony [link] [comments]

Using the iPad Pro as my development machine Posted: 07 Jan 2019 07:04 AM PST submitted by /u/farslan [link] [comments]

Pencil not charging when idle too long. Posted: 07 Jan 2019 05:15 AM PST submitted by /u/Mr_T-Rex [link] [comments]

Zagg launches new iPad and iPad Pro keyboard case lineup with backlit keys, Apple Pencil storage, more Posted: 07 Jan 2019 12:30 PM PST submitted by /u/sardonicsheep [link] [comments]

App for ocr only (no scan) Posted: 07 Jan 2019 03:32 AM PST Is there an app for ocr only? All the apps i find ask to take photos and turn them into a pdf.. i already have a pdf files which i want to run ocr...is there an such app? Thanks.. submitted by /u/mawifeismy1stlv [link] [comments]

What do you want to see in IOS 13 for the IPad that isn’t being talked about or getting enough coverage? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 11:11 AM PST submitted by /u/itsallaboutbeats [link] [comments]

What features does Notability v8.5 need for better note-taking? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 11:10 AM PST submitted by /u/EvenAH27 [link] [comments]

I find simple tasks hard on iPad. Should I give up? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 07:41 AM PST I recently got an 2018 iPad (non-pro) and Apple Pencil. I wanted to see if I can use it as a replacement for laptop for many day-to-day tasks for my business. Here are two simple tasks I found challenging: 1) I got an email from a customer that required a response. I wanted to go into Google Drive, find a document that has some specific text on it, copy the text and paste it into the email in my Gmail app. I can do this by switching between Drive and Gmail apps, but it's much easier on PC to open a tab, start typing in the url the name of the doc, and it brings up the specific Google Drive doc. 2) I needed to upload a credit card statement to my bookkeeper's document upload area. I went into my account in Chrome app and tried downloading the statement. Not sure where it went. Then I donwload it to Google Drive. I can't seem to upload it from Google Drive, so I try sending it via email by sending to the special email address associated with uploading docs, but the Google Drive attachment is a link and not an actual attachment, so it doesn't work. I don't have a keyboard yet, so that also is not hurting. Perhaps I should just use the iPad for fun and checking web traffic and such,but not for this type of work. ​ submitted by /u/forgonsj [link] [comments]

Notetaking App with live collaboration? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 04:12 AM PST Hello! I'm looking for a notetaking app that supports (live) collaboration. I'm currently using Notability, but there you can only share notes as a PDF which is a strong limitation. I thought about OneNote, but I read somewhere that it is not really an alternative, also it uses a subscription based model. Thanks for your suggestions! Edit: I'm looking for an app that supports handwriting (apple pencil). submitted by /u/chubby_charlie [link] [comments]

Recommendations for a management system for iPads? (Small nonprofit looking to manage 20 or so iPads) Posted: 07 Jan 2019 12:08 PM PST I work for a small nonprofit and we have about 10 ipads out around Michigan that our demonstrators use to show apps to people with disabilities who might want to try them before they purchase. We've been "managing" the iPads from one account on multiple iPads, but we're going beyond the limit and our demonstrators periodically turn on a setting or delete something that messes up the account on all of the devices. We're looking to find a management system on a smaller scale (most of the systems we've seen are for many more devices than we'll have). I put that we're a nonprofit in my post, but we know things cost and good tools most be pricey (we want something that works though). Can you recommend anything? Thanks in advance submitted by /u/Jenasauras [link] [comments]

Edited on the iPad Pro using LumaFusion- Sigiriya- like you've never seen before! Posted: 07 Jan 2019 12:04 PM PST submitted by /u/MuscleBound76 [link] [comments]

About to purchase IPad Pro for MacBook replacement ASAP, please answer these questions. Posted: 07 Jan 2019 02:00 PM PST Hey guys I have done some research and from personal experience I end up using my iPhone for tasks the Macbook can do and have never really utilized the MacBook for what they can do because all my work is done on IOS and I prefer apps over websites and every major website I need has an app now. 1: This will be my full laptop replacement that Includes homework, YouTube, Gmail and a little bit of light video editing. So with that 12.9" or 11"? I can't justify paying a third of the price of the device for the accessories. So what is the Apple Pencil usable for if I don't draw? Only Pro thing I will be doing is lumafusion video editing. The Keyboard is insanely priced. Can you use it on your lap in bed like a normal laptop? Also are there any cheaper and better alternatives to the Keyboard case? submitted by /u/Komplex201 [link] [comments]

Must-have apps that I may have missed? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 07:20 AM PST Bought myself an iPad 6th gen for Christmas mainly as a video machine (Plex, Netflix, Hulu, Twitch, etc) but was wondering if there are any nice apps out there I've missed. Can be free or paid. I like Unsplash to get new wallpapers for the iPad. submitted by /u/SativaSammy [link] [comments]

Which drawing app(s) has the most realistic pencil tool? Posted: 07 Jan 2019 05:46 AM PST Which drawing apps do you feel have the most realistic pencil tool? I'm a beginner sketch artist, and have been attempting to identify the best app for my drawings. So far I've tried Adobe Sketch, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, and Concepts (free apps are great for me, at this early point). I'm sure Procreate is the best at everything; but I'd appreciate your input on alternatives. The built-in Apple Notes has a great pencil representation, but that app does not have the organization I need for my gallery. Thank you for your input! submitted by /u/phillyotter [link] [comments]

Does iPad (Pro) always support HDR? Posted: 06 Jan 2019 11:33 PM PST submitted by /u/everkannn [link] [comments]

What to do with an old iPad 2? Posted: 06 Jan 2019 04:37 PM PST Dug out my old (and struggling) iPad 2. I can't update it past iOS 9 which limits a lot of apps I'd like to have on it. I thought I might use it as a comic book reader but most of the apps require at least 10. Any suggestions for this old dinosaur? I hate to just throw it away it's in great shape just old. submitted by /u/DrFunStuffs [link] [comments]

iPad 9.7 2018 accessories? Posted: 06 Jan 2019 06:59 PM PST I'm wondering what other accessories would you all recommend? I'm looking at getting an Apple Pencil, this stand AmazonBasics Adjustable Tablet Stand https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006ZT4VA0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5aSmCbERXGPYV This Bluetooth keyboard Arteck HB030B Universal Slim Portable Wireless Bluetooth 3.0 7-Colors Backlit Keyboard with Built in Rechargeable Battery, Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X5P8BJO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_FbSmCb6WBMJ7W submitted by /u/truefreedom4711 [link] [comments]

IPAD gen 1 5.1.1 Posted: 06 Jan 2019 04:35 PM PST Hey everyone. I recently grabbed a first gen Ipad running 5.1.1, hoping to use it for the kids to watch Netflix, or play some games. So far I'm finding that I cannot download much of anything from the Appstore. Is this thing pretty much a paperweight, or is there some way to get Netflix and some games to run? I am currently running an Iphone, and we have a newer Ipad mini as well. Thanks in advance. submitted by /u/loworange88 [link] [comments]

iPad, 5th Gen - does a keyboard case where the iPad can also be used in portrait mode even exist?! Help! Posted: 06 Jan 2019 05:06 PM PST I can't find one to save my life! I'd prefer Amazon since I have some credit with them, but I really need one. submitted by /u/infantata [link] [comments]

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