iPad & iPhone User - USA (2019-08)

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said that this handset is so big that it effectively

doubles as an iPad mini, although you’d have to use the

Pencil lengthways in order to get the best use out of it.

Apple may even keep the feature limited to the larger

devices, as dropping from a device like the iPhone XS

Max to the iPhone   8    would feel a bit like dropping from

a Moleskine notebook to a Post-It Note.

But why would you use an Apple Pencil on the

iPhone? At the simplest and most obvious, we’d

use it to sign documents, and we could use it to

touch up photos with more precision in apps such

as Adobe Lightroom. We may even be able to use it

with some games.

Let’s get speculative, though. I see it as a useful

note-taking tool, particularly if an app had a window

that zoomed to a space with enough room for a couple

of words so you could write continuously in landscape

mode. When done, you could exit out and see the draft

as one continuous block of copy. As an occasional

longhand writer, I’d pay a lot for an app like that.

Apple could also introduce a feature like Sidecar

but for the iPhone and iPad, and so allow the iPhone

interface to act as a palette of sorts in an app such

as Procreate and thus grant as much screen space as

possible to an artist working on the iPad.

Necessary changes

Of course, all of this would require some changes to

how Apple Pencil works. At the moment the Apple

Pencil stays tied to one device, so Apple would have

to make with Pencil work with every device tied to

an Apple ID at once – or, a tad more likely, make

FEATURE

saidthatthishandsetissobigthatiteffectively

doublesasaniPadmini,althoughyou’dhavetousethe

Pencillengthwaysinordertogetthebestuseoutofit.

Applemayevenkeepthefeaturelimitedtothelarger

devices,asdroppingfromadeviceliketheiPhoneXS

MaxtotheiPhone 8 wouldfeelabitlikedroppingfrom

aMoleskinenotebooktoaPost-ItNote.

But why would you use an Apple Pencil on the

iPhone? At the simplest and most obvious, we’d

useit tosigndocuments,andwecoulduseit to

touchup photoswithmoreprecisioninappssuch

asAdobeLightroom.Wemayevenbeabletouseit

with somegames.

Let’sgetspeculative,though.Iseeitasauseful

note-takingtool,particularlyifanapphadawindow

thatzoomedtoaspacewithenoughroomforacouple

ofwordssoyoucouldwritecontinuouslyinlandscape

mode.Whendone,youcouldexitoutandseethedraft

asonecontinuousblockofcopy.Asanoccasional

longhandwriter,I’dpayalotforanapplikethat.

ApplecouldalsointroduceafeaturelikeSidecar

butfortheiPhoneandiPad,andsoallowtheiPhone

interfacetoactasapaletteofsortsinanappsuch

asProcreateandthusgrantasmuchscreenspace as

possibletoanartistworkingontheiPad.

Necessarychanges

Ofcourse,allofthiswouldrequiresomechangesto

howApplePencilworks.AtthemomenttheApple

Pencil stays tied to one device, so Apple would have

to makewithPencilworkwitheverydevicetiedto

an AppleIDatonce–or,atadmorelikely,make