iPad Pro Unlocks Your Creativity

I got an iPad Pro. No, not one of the gigantic cinematic ones that forces you to buy a bigger bag to carry it, the original sized iPad. And it's fantastic. Fantastic because of its killer feature. The Pencil.

Now we all know it's not a pencil, who ever heard of a plastic pencil? But then it's not quite a pen either. Nor is stylus a great name because this is designed for writing and drawing. So I can see why Apple chose the least bad name for it.

This is the writing device (ok then Pencil) that you have always wanted. Expected even. Before this these things have always been disappointing. This is because of their poor latency, accuracy and software. Apple has fixed two out of these three with the Pencil and iPad Pro. The Pencil feels (almost as) responsive as a real pen on paper. It feels real. And you can rest your palm naturally on the screen and it knows this.

So Apple has done its bit. The software however is left to the app developers. There is already quite a bit of choice. I have tried a few paid-for apps and they are very good though I'd expect even more creative apps to come along that realise the true potential of digital writing and drawing.

Version 1

Before the Pro I had an iPad Mini. I liked the Mini but found I used it mainly for,

• Reading news
• Email and Calendar while on the move
• Slack while on the move
• Working while travelling, my laptop is too cumbersome.
• Working in meetings, my laptop is too noisy.
• Working on aeroplanes, my laptop is too painful.
• Netflix or Prime
• Reading books

For these things the iPad Mini was ideal for me. So I was kind of hoping Apple would release an iPad Pro Mini. But they didn't this year (or haven't yet and I suspect they won't because it doesn’t quite fit the Pro branding). And then I realised my wannabe Mini might be too small for writing and drawing. Time to try a 9.7 iPad Pro.

Version 2

The iPad largely hasn't changed since it was launched in 2010. Yes it now has different sizes, is lighter and is much faster than the original but we now expect this type of annual evolution. Beyond this nothing has changed. Perhaps this is why iPad sales are in decline: there just is no reason to upgrade and little to entice new buyers.

But the iPad Pro is most definitely changed. It feels very much like the first major change to the iPad since the original. And this change is the Pencil (and internal gubbins to make the Pencil work).

Now of course the second major change in the Pro is the keyboard case with its new connector. I haven't tried the keyboard case but I didn't see this as particularly revolutionary nor did I want the ugly thick case. To position the iPad Pro as a laptop replacement because you can carry a squiggly keyboard around and define some shortcuts falls short for me. It falls short because I am convinced that one of the biggest reasons for the iPad plateau is the apps. There is just not enough new and revolutionary apps coming along. It also falls short because I have a 2015 MacBook which has a better keyboard, applications and it easily more productive for typing.

Writing

I got an iPad Pro (thanks @KainosSoftware) for two reasons: to write and to draw. Of course I expect it will still do all the things I used the iPad Mini for - which it does with the slight downside of being bigger to carry around. However, I quickly got used to that bigger screen and so size isn't a big deal for me.

I love taking notes on the Pro. I am a reluctant note-taker but as the years go by the need for notes increases. And with the tick-tock of the 40 clock maybe something that makes taking good notes easier is a very good thing.

I've been used iOS Notes on both iPad and iPhone since iOS 9 launched last year. I grew tired of bugs in Evernote and have been using it for typed notes and GTD lists. It does the job across my devices. Notes now supports the Pencil within notes for drawings and doodles. The drawing tools are fairly basic but more importantly the emphasis is still on typed notes. For me this is the wrong way around: I want to write my notes not type them.

Step forward the Notability app (£5.99). It lets me write notes, organise them, highlight, and mix in text if needed. The pens available make writing nicely easy. This is where digital writing can be better than analogue writing: my digital writing can be prettier than my handwriting allows in real life. I'm not sure how Notability does this but it is brilliant.

Another place where digital writing is better than handwriting is rubbing out. Almost everyone who's tried the Pencil expect the nib to be a rubber (it isn't it's a lightning charging connection). But nonetheless Notability makes every glyph written erasable. It works like each glyph is a separate layer. That allows you to rub out highlighting with one action and whole sentences with one action. You can also re-position anything by cutting it and moving to pretty up your notes as you go.

All of this is backed off to iCloud. But perhaps the killer feature is auto-backup to a file-share of your choice. I have all my notes auto backed up to DropBox (it supports Drive, DropBox, Box, WebDAV). This means whenever I finish a note it will PDF it and save in my DropBox so I can easily share it wherever I am.

Taking notes by typing when in a meeting has always come across as anti-social, which is why you still hear people apologising for it. Taking notes by typing on the iPad is silent but a bit too slow for conversation. However, taking notes by writing silently on the iPad Pro feels very similar to pen and paper notes.

I haven't attempted to use any apps for converting writing to text. I'm not really interested in this, even though this seems to have been a fixation of the stylus industry for many years. I want to write with the Pencil. If I want text I will type.

Drawing

I like drawing. This is lucky because drawing is an essential skill for every software architect. That's because we all know complex ideas and relationships can be more easily communicated in a diagram than in words. So I was very keen to draw with the Pencil.

I normally carry sharpies, fine pens and colour designer pens around in my bag ready to draw using someone's A3 paper from their printer supply. My workflow once I have a drawing is to photograph then post-process in Pixelmator (a cheaper, simpler alternative to Photoshop) to remove the background and touch up the colours. Would the Pro replace this tried and tested process?

It did. After 3 weeks I no longer feel the need to carry the pens around. I haven't touched A3 paper since. Large trees everywhere have sighed with relief when nobody was listening. I've been using the Paper app instead.

Paper (free) from 53 is a great place to begin drawing. It offers a number of digital drawing benefits. First of all you have instant access to a fountain pen (good for nice labels), pen (non transparent), pencil, marker and watercolour paint brush (great for backgrounds).

One innovation that feels important but is just at the start of its development is diagramming. With the diagramming pen in Paper you can draw rough circles that get auto-corrected into perfect circles that look hand-drawn. Same for rectangles, squares and triangles. Straight lines also work this way with auto arrows. Diagram objects can be copied and pasted by long hold, tap and drag. So it becomes simple to draw designs with diagram shapes. You can fill diagram shapes with any preset colour - or by using the colour mixer.

My workflow has changed now to draw in Paper, send to my MacBook using AirDrop, crop and add to slides. Much simpler and streamlined than before.

I have also started to do live drawings. Imagine you're in a meeting and you draw a design on Paper then agree it after much editing. Once the meeting is done you send it to everyone present. The Pro has now become a collaborative review session for diagramming. Better than any whiteboard. Someone asked me recently if I had done this on a projector - the answer is no, not yet. I suspect the technology will work but the limiting factor may be the person drawing (me).

One thing becomes evident quickly. The Pro exposed my lack of drawing talent quickly. This is great because it encourages me to learn to draw better, to sketch better. It will also encourage app developers to do more magic to let us do things digital drawing that we could never hope to achieve with HB pencils.

Of course Paper is not close to perfect. Given its free I am loath to diss it. In fact I'm happy to pay a reasonable price for it (many of the better Pencil aware apps seem to be around £5 which is fair I think). It doesn't support rubbing out as neatly as Notability nor does it allow things like colour fill of hand drawn shapes. I would love to see significant new diagramming features that will consign Visio-like tools to the past.

I also bought ProCreate (£4.49) but haven't used it. It seems aimed at professional illustrators rather than amateur drawers or diagrammers. The stock illustrators are stunning. So stunning in fact it is a high barrier to usage. The choice of pens and brushes is too overwhelming for me.

Photo Editing

I bought Pixelmator (£3.99) for photo editing because I use the OSX version but haven't really had a need to use it yet — I don't tend to do a lot of photo editing.

When I did use it I tried to colour fill a hand-drawn diagram from Paper. So I exported a diagram from Paper as a PNG to Pixelmator and attempted to colour some of the shapes. This proved trickier to do than in the OSX version because you have to create a new layer with the selected shape and apply the formatting to the whole layer (it can't be done on an arbitrary selection in the app).

Not Perfection

The iPad Pro is not perfection. The hardware is is of course fabulous, almost identical to the iPad Air. I got the Apple smart cover but it’s terrible. Not only is it not as nice as the older leather covers but it’s the wrong size. There is a overhang which just feels like a design mistake. We expect more from Apple.

You can't use the Pencil on a plane. Or at least you can't unless you break the rules. Once Airplane mode is enabled the Pencil won't work. This is because it uses bluetooth to communicate with the Pro — and presumably this is why the Pencil needs to be charged. Instead you have to switch off Wi-Fi and Mobile data but leave Bluetooth on to write on the plane.

The battery life of the iPad is still great. In fact it was the original iPad that redefined our expectation of an all day battery life from a computer. I haven't done any blind tests but I am suspicious the battery life of the Pro is diminished more rapidly when Pencil is nearby. Or it could be power hungry apps that use the Pencil. My battery evidence for the last 24 hours does point to Notability consuming a lot of battery when running.

It is continually surprising that the Pencil even has a battery. And of course this tiny battery needs charged too. You can quick charge from the Pro lightning connector but I find a main charge once a week is good. My main grumble with the is the finicky male-female adapter to charge the Pencil (take a look at the Pencil picture at the top). It feels like it’s been designed as an afterthought and will get lost easily given there is nowhere natural to keep it.

Some people have expressed surprise there is no place to put the Pencil in or on the iPad Pro when not in use. The Surface has this after all. I don't find this an issue. I'm not the sort of person who keeps their pen attached to their notebook, I keep my pens in my bag or pocket. So the Pencil goes in the bag too.

The Pencil though is too long. It is too long to fit comfortably in my pocket. It is about the length of a brand new HB pencil. I would prefer the length of a typical pen.

Unlocking Creativity

You can tell I like the Pencil and therefore the iPad Pro. And I think the apps will get better so that digital writing and drawing will surpass the analogue equivalent for most people.

I love the iPad Pro because it unlocks creativity. The iPad Version 1 was often criticised for being a consumption device — which was not entirely true but I suspect was the main activity for most people. The iPad Pro flips this. It's as good at creativity as for consumption.

This means I now use my iPad Pro for writing and drawing more than anything else. And this is the reason why I think the Pro label is a good fit. This is a device that you will use to create with.

For all of these reasons I don't hesitate to recommend upgrading to an iPad Pro with Pencil especially for professionals who write, draw, email and communicate a lot.

Thanks again to @KainosSoftware for giving me great kit to do my job better. If you’re interested in working with us we are always hiring.

I’m using an iPad Pro 9.7 128Gb, smart cover with Apple Pencil.