iPad + Apple Pencil

Hardware
21

No, i agree it needs lots of work but I’m guessing that it depends upon the app you are using.

22

I hardly every use my iPad without using the pencil. Just a few of the things I did with it today:

Draw a diagram in Goodnotes and send it to my Mac for inclusion in an email
Use Goodnotes to take meeting notes.
Read in a kindle book, highlighted some passages, and added my own handwritten notes (a full nnotation not just a quote)
Read a scientific paper in Highlights, Highlighted several sectiosn with different colors and made notes sent all the highlights to my Mac and then into Obsidian linked to the paper.
Did a quick art sketch in 3 different tools as I try to decide what i like to sketch with

I use Goodnotes and share markdown text mostly

Never had that problem. I am more likely to forget to charge my ipad than the pencil, it lives attached to my iPad most of the time

2 Likes
23

I end up buying more books in Apple Books, but might try the kindle app for one. Thanks for the response.

24

Very interesting question!

About 30 minutes ago I went hunting for my apple pencil because I needed to quickly rework a powerpoint model, and I wanted to do by quickly sketching the changes first.

I couldn’t find the pencil.

While I was looking, though, I did find a notepad and a pen.

I used them instead.

Can’t think why I didn’t do that first. Hmmm.

3 Likes
25

LOL! There is a app in the App Store that will help you find your pencil when it gets up and wanders away. Bluetooth finder. It was inexpensive.

Even real pens can get up and get away when you need them.

The pencil is great when your carpal tunnel is bothering you.

1 Like
26

The original pencil runs flat all the time if kept near the iPad and infrequently used, because it connects when in range of the iPad even if the iPad is asleep. It does charge up quickly if plugged into the iPad via lightning port - a couple of minutes plugged in give a lot of time to work with it. However this doesn’t work when it or the iPad is having one of its fugues, where it doesn’t connect unless you forget it and re-pair it.

In short, original pencil, infrequently used, invariably does not work when you decide to have another go with it.

27

I use the pencil every day for taking notes With GoodNotes. Sometimes some sketches in Notes or Onenotes.

28

I just came across this YouTube video of Apple Pencil tips that I thought would be good to collect in @HellsKitchenDweller’s thread. Top 10 VERY Useful Apple Pencil Tips & Tricks - YouTube

The ten tips include:

  1. Three finger swipe to undo/redo
  2. Actionable handwriting
  3. Shape recognition
  4. Scribble (Instant handwriting to text translation, inserting/editing typed text w/ the pencil, converting pre-written notes to text)
  5. Double tap Apple Pencil 2
  6. Using Pencil w/ Mac using Sidecar
  7. Screenshots with Apple Pencil
  8. Quick Notes
  9. Instant Note
  10. Tracking battery life and recharging
  11. Adding a hand drawing to an email
6 Likes
29

I have the second rev of the pencil not the first one. I didn’t know that about original apple pencil.

30

The second gen one resolves the issue by being stored magnetically attached to the iPad where it can remain charged up. I don’t know to what extent the iPad runs down faster with the 2nd gen pencil attached, I expect not much.

31

I take notes with the Pencil in GoodNotes. One plus is that I can copy GoodNotes handwriting to text for pasting in other apps.

I also find the Pencil invaluable for annotating PDF documents using PDF Expert.

2 Likes
32

Same as everyone here, I do use mine for anything creative where you need to “draw” and for anything where lazy-me loves the extra reach I get compared to my finger.
On the latter, something utterly frustrating is that you’re not able to do all the actions you can do with your fingers, for example, it’s not possible to gesture with the pencil to go back to the Home Screen… or did I miss an accessibility setting?

33

I agree. Strangely, when highlighting text (as opposed to drawing highlights) in a PDF in Preview on iPad I can’t do it with the pencil, only my finger.

34

This is a variation of the “notate on a PDF” theme but I don’t believe it has been mentioned yet. The pencil is a wonderful way to annotate musical scores within the (great) forScore app.

1 Like
35

I take a lot of notes. I usually type them because I can type waste faster than I can write, but I think it’s distracting when someone is typing in a meeting while everyone is talking.

I would like to write my notes out with my Apple Pencil and later be able to search it or copy/paste into Notion for sharing with others, but keep the handwritten notes.

What workflows/apps are people using for this situation? I know handwritten notes in Notes can be searched. I know GoodNotes has a way to transform writing to text, but I think it replaces the handwritten text.

36

Nebo might be worth a look.

37

Goodnotes is great for that.

38

I use the Pencil mainly for taking notes, and for highlighting or copying text in the Kindle app or other books/documents. And it does double duty as a stylus when I’m dealing with objects too small for my fingers.

39

I use Goodnotes a lot as well and also convert them into text for inclusion in other stuff. On PDF annotation I’ve switched to using Highlights instead. Offers a few more features I prefer compared to PDF Expert which is my standard on the Mac.

40

Nope, I frequently keep the original notes and also the text conversion.

1 Like