The Apple Pencil, now compatible with pretty much all new iPads, is not just good for drawing and writing. Because if its bevvy of sensors — tilt, pressure, acceleration, and orientation — the Apple Pencil is also a pretty good musical instrument. Pen2Bow is a new iPad app which turns the Pencil into a violin bow, letting you use all of these natural gestures to play a virtual violin.
In Pages 4.0 for iPad, you can use Apple Pencil for more than just tapping stuff. Now you can use two great new iOS-only features in Apple’s word processing software. Smart Annotations lets you mark up text just like a teacher would — scoring red lines through words, running a highlighter over a sentence, etc. And a new drawing mode means you can easily add a sketch to a page just by tapping it with the pencil.
The drawing feature is neat, and brings Pages into line with Apple’s Notes app. But Smart Annotations will be a game-changer for many people, because it replicates something many folks still prefer to do on paper. Here’s how to take advantage of the new Pages features.
Apple is ready to make a major push into the education market. During its keynote in Chicago this morning, the company revealed how it plans to make students and teachers fall in love with Apple.
Armed with a bevy of new apps, APIs and other software tools, Tim Cook and company revealed Apple’s cheapest iPad ever. Apple pitched it specifically at students, though we suspect it will prove pretty popular with normal Apple fans, too.
Check out all the new stuff Apple unveiled today:
The iPad has replaced many things — it’s a TV, it’s a games console, it’s a book, it’s a (huge) camera, and it’s even a typewriter. But until recently, it hasn’t made a very good alternative to paper. But thanks to the Apple Pencil, and to iOS 11, that has changed. Now you can write and draw a note without even unlocking your iPad, and you can search for anything you write, just as if it were text. Let’s check out lock-screen notes.
Homework was always a dreaded task back in the days of paper and pencil but in Apple’s new ad, doing homework looks like a total blast.
Eager to highlight its skills in the education market, Apple’s new iPad ad shows how the tablet can be used in creative ways to make learning a fun experience. The two minute ad follows a group of kids as they do a series of gravity experiments utilizing the iPad and Apple Pencil to complete the project.
Check it out:
Apple is ready to unleash a wave of new software for teachers going into the 2018 school year.
At its big “field trip” education event in Chicago today, Apple unveiled a series of new apps and APIs that will make it easier for students and teachers to embrace the iPad. From the redesigned iWork iOS apps to the new ClassKit framework, Apple’s got something new for students, teachers and developers.
The Apple Pencil is a great accessory, but it’s prohibitively pricey for schools to buy in bulk. To give students the chance to use a stylus without breaking the bank, Logitech created a more affordable stylus. It’s called the Crayon, and it will be sold by Apple directly to schools.
Apple’s first big event of 2018 is practically here! Unlike most Apple keynotes, today’s “field trip” education-oriented event in Chicago won’t be streamed live.
Don’t worry. Cult of Mac will be in attendance and we’ll be live blogging everything with up-to-the-minute info on all the new goodies. Not only is Apple expected to preview some new educational software, but we could also see a new iPad, improved Apple Pencil and maybe even a new MacBook Air.
The keynote starts Tuesday, March 27, at 10 a.m. Central time. So save this page and get ready for Apple’s most mysterious event in years.
The Apple online store is down ahead of today’s big education event, which kicks off at 10 a.m. central time.
Downtime is an indication that Apple is preparing to add new products to its lineup, which could be available to purchase or pre-order later today. Recent rumors have hinted at the arrival of a new MacBook Air and an even more affordable iPad.
The Apple Pencil is about to become a lot more accessible to iPad users.
During its field trip event in Chicago next week, Apple will reportedly unveil a cheaper iPad. And according to one of the world’s best Apple analysts, it will work with Apple Pencil.
The Iconfactory’s Linea Sketch drawing app for iPad just got updated to version 2.0, and it’s a winner. Somehow, the developers have managed to keep the app’s signature simplicity and ease of use, while adding in some essential new features.
If you do any kind of writing or sketching on your iPad, you should use a stylus. But you don’t need to spend $99 on an Apple Pencil. SonarPen is the affordable “smart pen” every iPad owner needs. It’s accurate, practical, and it never needs charging.
As much as Apple Pencil accessories seem like useless widgets desired to cash in on gullible buyers, the PencilSnap from Twelve South solves a real problem — how do you keep your Pencil together with your iPad? With a paper notebook, you either clip your pen to the cover (good), to the spine (nasty), or just leave it between the pages and jam the book closed around it (what are you? Some kind of monster?).
With the iPad you can’t do any of those. Instead, you’ll have to buy the PencilSnap to take care of it for you.
It is usually correct to ridicule Apple Pencil accessories. This hand-stitched leather sleeve for the Pencil, for instance, is absurd. But some Apple pencil accessories are almost essential, including today’s selection, the Fintie cap holder, nib cover, and Lightning cable adapter tether. At first glance, these may look as pointless as a the pencil case, but after some study, you’ll see they’re essential to fix Apple’s own design mistakes.
Still stressed about holiday shopping? Don’t fret! Cult of Mac is here to help you pick out the perfect gifts for your loved ones this Christmas. This gift guide offers up a bunch of brilliant suggestions for the iPad addict in your life.
We’ve handpicked the best accessories, the finest cases, and more.
The iPad Pro is set to get a huge processor upgrade in 2018, based on the latest rumor out of Apple’s supply chain in Asia.
Apple supposedly plans to slap an octa-core processor in next year’s iPad Pro, making them the most powerful tablets Apple’s ever made. The chip will allegedly be manufactured by TSMC and will pack a few features the A11 chip on the iPhone X doesn’t have.
Whether it’s Touch ID or Siri, we’re used to seeing hot iPhone features make their way across to the iPad. However, a new report suggests that we may soon see the opposite phenomenon: the arrival of an iPad-style Apple Pencil arrive on the iPhone.
According to “an industry source,” Apple is preparing to launch an iPhone as early as 2019 that will include a stylus. Apple is said to be in talks with several stylus makers, suggesting that this wouldn’t simply be adding iPhone support for the existing Apple Pencil, but instead the creation of something new.
Microsoft is bringing its Edge web browser to iPhone.
Windows users will feel right at home with its design, which looks as close as possible to that of Edge on the desktop. They will also enjoy the ability to send websites to their desktop when they want to view them on a larger screen.
It used to be so simple: If you swiped open the iOS Control Center and tapped the Bluetooth icon, then Bluetooth would be toggled on or off. That was it, and the same went for Wi-Fi.
In iOS 11, tapping the same Bluetooth button doesn’t do that. Instead, the Control Center Bluetooth button disconnects your iPhone or iPad from connected Bluetooth accessories, leaving the actual Bluetooth radio on. What’s more, not all accessories get disconnected. Just what in the blazes is going on here?
iPhone and iPad owners can finally enjoy iOS 11 starting today and Apple’s got some spanking new videos to help you dive right in.
Apple published a series of new how-to videos on iOS 11 that cover a range of topics like converting handwritten notes into type and editing photos. The helpful new videos also cover some cool third-party apps that take advantage of the software update’s new features.
Watch them all right here:
Apple Pencil has become such an essential accessory for iPad Pro owners that Apple is working on bringing it to the iPhone.
New patents again reveal the company’s work on making the iPhone compatible with its beloved stylus, just a day after Samsung announced its new Galaxy Note 8, a smartphone that has become so popular thanks to its S Pen.
Having to keeping track of your Apple Pencil with ugly accessories is the worst feature of Apple’s magical stylus. A new iPad app is promising to change that hassle by providing a Find My iPhone like solution for the Apple Pencil.
Nebo is an alternative to Apple’s upcoming iOS 11 Notes app. Like the Apple app, Nebo lets you use the Apple Pencil to draw and write in notes. It also recognizes the words you write and lets you search on those terms. Unlike the native Notes app, however, Nebo also converts your longhand scrawls into actual, editable text, which can be copied and pasted anywhere.
In fact, I used Nebo to write this entire article. My handwriting isn’t as fast as my typing any more (my hand still hurts), but the app is fantastic.
Apple is famous for its iconic designs, but is the company slowly losing its way?
Products like the Apple Pencil and Smart Battery Case suggest that Apple’s design team might be missing a certain spark. Even the iPhone, once the prettiest smartphone by a long shot, is now being outshone by rivals from the likes of Samsung and LG.
Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over whether Apple design has become lazy and boring. And be sure to have your say!
With the Apple Pencil getting so useful in the upcoming iOS 11, you might consider purchasing one for use with your iPad Pro. There are already a slew of accessories for the Pencil, most of which are utterly ridiculous, like this leather case — from Apple itself, no less.
As a longtime Apple Pencil user, though, one accessory has caught my eye. It’s the FRTMA magnetic sleeve, and it solves a whole bunch of Apple Pencil “problems” all at once.
