Maybe the official Apple Pencil is overkill for the price? If just browsing, probably the Apple Pencil clones will suffice.
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Apple Pencil 2 is it worth?
- Thread starter AjTee
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Well - I bit the bullet and ordered the Apple Pencil 2.
Have been using for a few days now and it is awesome!!! I have been mainly using it to navigate my 2020 iPad Air (I don't draw or take notes) and it feels great!! It works flawlessly even though I have an ESR tempered glass screen shield as well!
I also bought a case for it :
It is a little cumbersome though - when the pencil is inside the case, it still attaches to the iPad via the magnets but the case does get in the way of the flaps of the iPad Apple Smart cover case very slightly.
Anybody have any other recommendations for some kind of case for the pencil?
Have been using for a few days now and it is awesome!!! I have been mainly using it to navigate my 2020 iPad Air (I don't draw or take notes) and it feels great!! It works flawlessly even though I have an ESR tempered glass screen shield as well!
I also bought a case for it :
It is a little cumbersome though - when the pencil is inside the case, it still attaches to the iPad via the magnets but the case does get in the way of the flaps of the iPad Apple Smart cover case very slightly.
Anybody have any other recommendations for some kind of case for the pencil?
I recently bought the Apple Pencil 2 and for the most part its great. I do wish though that Apple made a universal text field open up in the centre of the screen when you write.
By this I mean that in Safari, the free form writing text field is at the top, whereas in YouTube, it’s right at the base of the screen???!
A free form writing box should open up, somewhere on the screen, so that you can actually write inside this field as currently, when writing a web address in Safari, all you get is the minuscule writing space inside the web address window - it’s almost impossible to write anything in such a small space using the pencil?!
The same thing happens in other apps like YouTube or Twitter, you get the smallest space to try and write anything?! It should be that you just tap inside the window with the pen and then you should be able to write anywhere on the screen but it just doesn’t work like that...??!
Or am I just using it wrong??!
By this I mean that in Safari, the free form writing text field is at the top, whereas in YouTube, it’s right at the base of the screen???!
A free form writing box should open up, somewhere on the screen, so that you can actually write inside this field as currently, when writing a web address in Safari, all you get is the minuscule writing space inside the web address window - it’s almost impossible to write anything in such a small space using the pencil?!
The same thing happens in other apps like YouTube or Twitter, you get the smallest space to try and write anything?! It should be that you just tap inside the window with the pen and then you should be able to write anywhere on the screen but it just doesn’t work like that...??!
Or am I just using it wrong??!
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I have noticed the same and I think it would benefit the experience with a more universal text input box.
It’s not very ergonomic to write in the address field in Safari at all.
I've been using the Pencil 2 now for about a month and for me, there are 2 major flaws already:
1. Auto Minimize is broken and does NOT work properly
So every time I go to Safari or an ANY app which supports Scribble, EACH AND EVERY TIME I always have to select 'Auto Minimize' as the setting NEVER gets remembered - every time I exit and return later on, the 'Auto Minimize' is AGAIN, turned off and I have to re-select this and choose ON. EVERY SINGLE TIME??! Why does it do this - its SO annoying...???!?!
Surely selecting 'Auto Minimize' the first time, it should remember the setting so that when I next come to the same app, 'Auto Minimize' is already turned on - but it doesn't, it gets forgotten and is turned off so I have to re-enabled it.
?
2. Pencil Keyboard doesn't disappear
So in iMessage, if you choose to use the miniature keyboard with the pencil to swipe the letters to compile your message, when you hit the Send button and the message sends, the keyboard REMAINS on the screen???! WHY???? Its pointless and gets in the way - it should disappear as there is no further use for it. You can see in the screenshot above - I have hit Send and replied to a message and yet the keyboard REMAINS on the screen??!?!?
Both of these make absolutely ZERO sense.......??!?!?!
?
1. Auto Minimize is broken and does NOT work properly
So every time I go to Safari or an ANY app which supports Scribble, EACH AND EVERY TIME I always have to select 'Auto Minimize' as the setting NEVER gets remembered - every time I exit and return later on, the 'Auto Minimize' is AGAIN, turned off and I have to re-select this and choose ON. EVERY SINGLE TIME??! Why does it do this - its SO annoying...???!?!
Surely selecting 'Auto Minimize' the first time, it should remember the setting so that when I next come to the same app, 'Auto Minimize' is already turned on - but it doesn't, it gets forgotten and is turned off so I have to re-enabled it.
?
2. Pencil Keyboard doesn't disappear
So in iMessage, if you choose to use the miniature keyboard with the pencil to swipe the letters to compile your message, when you hit the Send button and the message sends, the keyboard REMAINS on the screen???! WHY???? Its pointless and gets in the way - it should disappear as there is no further use for it. You can see in the screenshot above - I have hit Send and replied to a message and yet the keyboard REMAINS on the screen??!?!?
Both of these make absolutely ZERO sense.......??!?!?!
?
I use it much more than on my old iPad because the 2nd generation one is actually attached to my iPad Air 4 at all times unlike that weird 1st Gen pencil. I am using it basically as a replacement for my fingers. As a nice side effect, I am avoiding the annoying smudges on the screen.
What I noticed is that some UI elements (certain buttons) do not register the pencil, you actually have to use your finger and its a little weird cuz it does not happen on every button?
What I noticed is that some UI elements (certain buttons) do not register the pencil, you actually have to use your finger and its a little weird cuz it does not happen on every button?
I have both, I find the pencil easier for me then the track pad to navigate and point. I think the 12.9 MK might be a easier tool then the 11" MK. I think they are both a good combo, and I use both.
I've been studiously avoiding any sort of Apple Pencil or its equivalents for years, other than to try products like the Adonit Jots. For the most part it's been ebay specials, ball point pens with rubber tips and the like.
Then a few months ago I got the iPad Pro 11. Anyway, the biggest thing for me was that palm rejection no longer works with unpaired or "dumb" styluses, particularly in Notability which I use a fair bit.
Two weeks ago I relented and bought the AP2 after my daughter got her new iPad with the AP1. Tried hers and said, "dash it, I'll get one".
Tonight I unpacked it (it sat in my work bag for 2 weeks) and set it up, Well, stuck it to the side of the iPad to let it pair and to charge. It's gone from 20% to 50% in ten minutes.
Meanwhile, I've just tested it with Notability. It's so smooth, allows me to write small, slides easily across the screen, not as noisy as some hard nibbed styluses and best of all, Palm Rejection now works.
Notability support was useless when I first got this ipad, installed the app and started writing with it, only to discover that palm rejection wasn't working.
Maybe this model iPad Pro isn't designed to work with naything other than the Pencil. Who knows.
Whatever, for $195AUD it ain't cheap. I won't say it's worth it or not worth it because I can achieve the same thing with a paper note pad and pen for about $5 and if I want to, scan the pages into Evernote or similar. But, it's a gadget and with them you don't justify the cost or whatever. You just buy it if you can afford to do so.
To protect it I got a $5 silicon cover off of ebay. It makes it a bit bulkier to write with but it's soft and easily removed. It has a slide off nib cover but that degrades the writing performance. But importantly, it's magnetically attached to the iPad and is charging.
To the OP, if you have some spare cash and like playing with gadgets, go for it, I reckon.
Then a few months ago I got the iPad Pro 11. Anyway, the biggest thing for me was that palm rejection no longer works with unpaired or "dumb" styluses, particularly in Notability which I use a fair bit.
Two weeks ago I relented and bought the AP2 after my daughter got her new iPad with the AP1. Tried hers and said, "dash it, I'll get one".
Tonight I unpacked it (it sat in my work bag for 2 weeks) and set it up, Well, stuck it to the side of the iPad to let it pair and to charge. It's gone from 20% to 50% in ten minutes.
Meanwhile, I've just tested it with Notability. It's so smooth, allows me to write small, slides easily across the screen, not as noisy as some hard nibbed styluses and best of all, Palm Rejection now works.
Notability support was useless when I first got this ipad, installed the app and started writing with it, only to discover that palm rejection wasn't working.
Maybe this model iPad Pro isn't designed to work with naything other than the Pencil. Who knows.
Whatever, for $195AUD it ain't cheap. I won't say it's worth it or not worth it because I can achieve the same thing with a paper note pad and pen for about $5 and if I want to, scan the pages into Evernote or similar. But, it's a gadget and with them you don't justify the cost or whatever. You just buy it if you can afford to do so.
To protect it I got a $5 silicon cover off of ebay. It makes it a bit bulkier to write with but it's soft and easily removed. It has a slide off nib cover but that degrades the writing performance. But importantly, it's magnetically attached to the iPad and is charging.
To the OP, if you have some spare cash and like playing with gadgets, go for it, I reckon.
my consideration is in bold. i seldom use it to take notes. that's why still undecided whether to get it. it's more like a want than need thing
Did you not consider a $30 stylus' from Amazon? Based on this thread and videos on Youtube, they do a good job with palm rejection and basic note taking. Their only downside is the absence of pressure sensitivity.
For me, it's not so much that I can't afford it, but rather the value an item brings. To spend close to $200 CAD after taxes, I'd need to justify it in what I get out of it. Right now, my needs are such that I can as you say, use a pen and pad. And the cheap Amazon alternatives I spoke of, can easily do the job.
My problem is, there's something about the official Apple Pencil 2. It just looks so much more premium and tastefully designed. So I try to convince myself that I need that pressure sensitivity feature. So like @ipos, it's more a want and less a need.
Which one? Do you have a link to it? Thing is, none of my styluses work with this iPad Pro 11 successfully with palm rejection.
I don't know for sure but I have a suspicion that Apple has disabled it for non-Pencil styluses. Well, put it this way, the conspiricy theorist in me is leaning in that direction.
I can so for sure though, is that PR works beautifully with all apps that I tried tonight. So, who knows?
I believe it's the JamJake. You should check your local Amazon.
You can see around 3:40 mark, that palm rejection works flawlessly.
Thanks. Amazon sells it for $86 here in Australia. That's around $65 USD.
I don't buy anything from Amazon AU. I have had a US based Amazon account since 2001. But increasingly, products sold there aren't shipping to here, obviously to protect its Australian operations.
In any case, I wasn't aware of the Jamjake. It looks the goods. And I'm surprised that I've not read about it in any of the Apple-centric magazines which I've been subscribing to for a while now.
It allows for different hand motion, so is useful for avoiding repetitive stress when using finger as a pointer.. I do the same with a Wacom on my Mae Mini to break things up from just touchpad pointing only.