Malcolm Owen
A new version of the Apple Pencil may make an appearance at tomorrow's Apple special event, according to a pair of tweets from developers, with the updated stylus tipped to include support for gestures made along its body.
Messages posted to Twitter on Sunday by developer Guilherme Rambo advise the "Apple Pencil 2," said to be model B332, will include support for gestures. "The user will be able to change stroke properties by sliding along the side of the pencil," writes Rambo.
The current version of the Apple Pencil offers pressure sensitivity with the tip, as well as angle detection allowing shading in some drawing apps. The main shaft of the stylus currently does not offer any touch capabilities at all, with such features requiring the introduction of new hardware.
More tweets from developer Steve Troughton-Smith notes there are properties in the iOS code for "UIPencilAdjustmentInteraction" that may enable the rumored features. A version ending with "DidTap:" and "didSlide:Phase:" are said by Troughton-Smith to be the "new favorite delegate methods" for developers of drawing apps.
UIPencilAdjustmentInteraction's pencilAdjustmentInteractionDidTap: and pencilAdjustmentInteraction:didSlide:phase: are your new favorite delegate methods, as drawing app developers
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) October 28, 2018
Troughton-Smith also suggests there could be some form of "button," possibly one that is solid state, that could be held down to perform gestures with the Pencil. A button could also be the source of a "tap" that's separate from the Pencil making contact with an iPad's display, and is also suggested could be used to produce "radial contextual menus" in apps that offer functions selectable by the Apple Pencil's tip touching the display.
The potential for Apple Pencil gestures have surfaced in the past, both in rumors and in patent filings, with one October patent application suggesting the use of ultrasonic touch detection allowing the finger position and movements on the stylus' body to be monitored. Twisting or rotating the stylus and shifting the grip could provide different pen stroke weights, for example, while a tap on the section of the shaft could be interpreted as a software button press.
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24 Comments
One thing we know for sure, ain't no way Apple is adding a physical button to the pencil.
Very cool if true. One think I hope for is that the new pencil has an on/off switch. I don’t use my pencil every day and often times when I do go to use it it’s got hardly any battery life left. Just carrying it around in my laptop bag causes enough motion to drain the battery.
I would like it to be about an inch shorter. I carry mine in a shirt pocket most of the time, with a clip I liberated from a pen of about the same thickness. It’s really too long for that, and the extra length doesn’t serve a purpose when holding it, though there could be circuitry that does. Pencils rapidly shorten so that the full length is almost never encountered except in the beginning, and pens are all shorter for the reason of carrying. So, shorter, and possibly with a clip that can be popped out of the side when needed. It should also come with a spongy sleeve, that can be slipped on, for those who find it to be uncomfortable. Though, I wonder about all those using “real” pencils that don’t have that. I’ve got hundreds from years of buying them, and none have anything other than wood. People are too quick to complain about things like that these days. Also, at least 1024 levels. I’ve never found more than that to really make a difference, but 1024 is better. I would also think that the connector end could be better figured out. I like the charge method, but something other than that little cap that keeps running away from me when I take it off, would be good. Please, no eraser end.
Apple could buy Wacom and get it over with already. Wacom makes the best pens.