Apple in October introduced a new generation iPad Pro that features the M2 chip. However, M2 iPad Pro also comes with a new exclusive feature named “Apple Pencil Hover,” which enables a new experience when the accessory is hovering over the screen. For the team behind the popular app Procreate, “it’s hard to go back” after using Apple Pencil Hover on the new iPad Pro.
In an article published by Apple, the developers of Procreate shared their thoughts on the new Apple Pencil Hover feature. For those unfamiliar, Procreate is an illustration app for the iPad, introduced in 2011. The app now has an iPhone version and has been awarded “App of the Year” by Apple in 2018.
What the Apple Pencil Hover changes for users and developers
But what do they think about Apple Pencil Hover? According to Procreate CEO James Cuda, the Hover feature helps artists and creators draw with even more precision. “The ability to not make a commitment or damage the artwork is transformative,” Cuda says.
With this new technology, the iPad can detect Apple Pencil when the tip is up to 12mm above the screen. Developers can use the Hover feature in their apps for different purposes, such as for showing a preview of where the user is drawing, selecting menus, and more. And for Procreate’s chief product officer, Claire d’Este, this makes the experience of using apps much more “playful.”
I find myself rolling up and down menus just to see it responding. There’s something so nice about everything lighting up as I’m thinking about what to do next.
In Procreate, users can take advantage of Apple Pencil Hover to expand images or preview animations directly from their thumbnails. The color picker and menu buttons react as the user moves Apple Pencil over them, and it also works with canvas. d’Este highlights the ColorDrop feature to preview colors using the Hover feature.
A second target was the app’s ColorDrop feature, which instantly fills a section of your artwork when you drag and drop a color on it, paint-by-numbers style. Using Apple Pencil hover, people can preview of what the artwork will look like before committing to a color, speeding up the process dramatically. “If you’re doing inking — comic book art, for instance — it’s huge,” says d’Este.
Now the Procreate team strongly believes that the Apple Pencil Hover “solves a bunch of things” for creators and that anyone who uses the feature will have a hard time going back to an experience without it.
More about Procreate
Procreate for iPad is available on the App Store for $12.99. The Pocket version for iPhone costs $5.99. Both apps require a device running iOS 15.4.1 or later.
- Procreate updated with better performance and more layers for iPad Pro users
- These are the winners of the 2022 Apple Design Awards
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