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> With these advanced features, Apple Pencil Pro allows users to bring their ideas to life in entirely new ways, and developers can also create their own custom

> With these advanced features, Apple Pencil Pro allows users to bring their ideas to life in entirely new ways, and developers can also create their own custom interactions. Can someone please make it so that if you turn the "Pencil" upside down it acts as an eraser, like a real pencil would?

ayewo 2y ago
[flagged]
- killerdhmo 2y ago
  its been 9 years of Apple Pencil and they haven't done this yet, why would they start now?
  - mcphage 2y ago
    They just added new features to this one—those are things they hadn't done for 9 years, either.
goosedragons 2y ago
I think it would depend on there being bits for the iPad to track where the tip is for it to work well. Kinda funny that Apple calls their stylus a Pencil and lack this functionality while the Surface and Wacom "Pens" do.
sircastor 2y ago
I understand the desire to mimic an existing tool, but I would find this feature (more specifically if it were limited to that) to be really annoying. To me this is an example of skeuomorphism that forces an older experience into the digital one.
- nickthegreek 2y ago
  But you wouldn't be required to use it, just erase how you do now. I would love for this and for it to be customizable. It could be used to become a highlighter/selector tool or some other concept that we don't know yet. Adding in more features to a pencil and ones that mimic and improve on old analog equivalents sounds exactly like that kind of improvements I would like to see.
- ericcholis 2y ago
  The pencil for the Remarkable tablet has this feature. I found that it was a great way to ease into digital note taking. Matching a real-world feature felt very natural.
- wlesieutre 2y ago
  Surface Pro did this ages ago, and while I like the iPad better in most ways for a tablet I would rather have the Surface’s eraser
  - hollandheese 2y ago
    Yeah. It's actually one of the main reason I've switched to doing my lectures off a Surface Pro rather than my iPad Pro. Having to constantly change tools in the apps just to erase is a giant pain (Yes, I know about double tap, but it doesn't work half the time).
- rebuilder 2y ago
  It works great on Wacom pens. Erasing is a pretty fundamental part of drawing and painting workflows.
- nijuashi 2y ago
  Yes, it’s a bit of skeumorphism, but pencil end eraser is a great design! It makes intuitive sense regardless of existing tool - write on one end, reverse to erase.
- baq 2y ago
  now that's a variant of 'you're holding it wrong' I haven't seen yet.
- hollandheese 2y ago
  Why? This is muscle memory that's built into every person who's taught to write. You should reuse that muscle memory if you can to make writing flow easier. Sure if you were teaching people to write exclusively on these devices then coming up with something new would make sense but since we all go back and forth using the real world method makes the most sense.
gumby 2y ago
This has been around for so long I wonder if there's a patent that is in the way of apple implementing it. Even though I tend to like Apple gear: if there is such a patent in the way I'm sure they'll add this once the patent expires, and call it a revolutionary development.
- paulmd 2y ago
  if it’s parent-encumbered, it’s literally been recognized as a novel and advanced innovation, that’s why it’s granted a patent in the first place. Choosing to license vs wait is a business decision but you’re spinning something that’s objectively true into somehow being a “trick”, which is a really common pattern when discussing apple for some reason (“selling or renting first-party tools is a trick”, for example).
  - gumby 2y ago
    > if it’s pa[t]ent-encumbered, it’s literally been recognized as a novel and advanced innovation I think it's pretty clear by now that the patent system rarely works that way in practice, though that is the intent. And I was merely joking that whatever apple announces has to be "revolutionary" or "groundbreaking" or "jaw-dropping". Whatever the quality of the product (and for their hardware, it's typically high), the company culture is to staple a bunch of superlatives onto the headlines. (BTW I don't know what “selling or renting first-party tools is a trick" means)
_mlbt 2y ago
There's a double tap gesture on the second gen (and newer I think) version of the Apple Pencil that switches between the eraser and whatever tool you're using. I find this to be much more efficient and ergonomic than having to turn the whole pencil over to erase.
- hackernewds 2y ago
  Disagree with this
- davidf18 2y ago
  [dead]

ayewo 2y ago

[flagged]

killerdhmo 2y ago
its been 9 years of Apple Pencil and they haven't done this yet, why would they start now?
- mcphage 2y ago
  They just added new features to this one—those are things they hadn't done for 9 years, either.

goosedragons 2y ago

I think it would depend on there being bits for the iPad to track where the tip is for it to work well. Kinda funny that Apple calls their stylus a Pencil and lack this functionality while the Surface and Wacom "Pens" do.

sircastor 2y ago

I understand the desire to mimic an existing tool, but I would find this feature (more specifically if it were limited to that) to be really annoying. To me this is an example of skeuomorphism that forces an older experience into the digital one.

nickthegreek 2y ago
But you wouldn't be required to use it, just erase how you do now. I would love for this and for it to be customizable. It could be used to become a highlighter/selector tool or some other concept that we don't know yet. Adding in more features to a pencil and ones that mimic and improve on old analog equivalents sounds exactly like that kind of improvements I would like to see.
ericcholis 2y ago
The pencil for the Remarkable tablet has this feature. I found that it was a great way to ease into digital note taking. Matching a real-world feature felt very natural.
wlesieutre 2y ago
Surface Pro did this ages ago, and while I like the iPad better in most ways for a tablet I would rather have the Surface’s eraser
- hollandheese 2y ago
  Yeah. It's actually one of the main reason I've switched to doing my lectures off a Surface Pro rather than my iPad Pro. Having to constantly change tools in the apps just to erase is a giant pain (Yes, I know about double tap, but it doesn't work half the time).
rebuilder 2y ago
It works great on Wacom pens. Erasing is a pretty fundamental part of drawing and painting workflows.
nijuashi 2y ago
Yes, it’s a bit of skeumorphism, but pencil end eraser is a great design! It makes intuitive sense regardless of existing tool - write on one end, reverse to erase.
baq 2y ago
now that's a variant of 'you're holding it wrong' I haven't seen yet.
hollandheese 2y ago
Why? This is muscle memory that's built into every person who's taught to write. You should reuse that muscle memory if you can to make writing flow easier. Sure if you were teaching people to write exclusively on these devices then coming up with something new would make sense but since we all go back and forth using the real world method makes the most sense.

gumby 2y ago

This has been around for so long I wonder if there's a patent that is in the way of apple implementing it. Even though I tend to like Apple gear: if there is such a patent in the way I'm sure they'll add this once the patent expires, and call it a revolutionary development.

paulmd 2y ago
if it’s parent-encumbered, it’s literally been recognized as a novel and advanced innovation, that’s why it’s granted a patent in the first place. Choosing to license vs wait is a business decision but you’re spinning something that’s objectively true into somehow being a “trick”, which is a really common pattern when discussing apple for some reason (“selling or renting first-party tools is a trick”, for example).
- gumby 2y ago
  > if it’s pa[t]ent-encumbered, it’s literally been recognized as a novel and advanced innovation I think it's pretty clear by now that the patent system rarely works that way in practice, though that is the intent. And I was merely joking that whatever apple announces has to be "revolutionary" or "groundbreaking" or "jaw-dropping". Whatever the quality of the product (and for their hardware, it's typically high), the company culture is to staple a bunch of superlatives onto the headlines. (BTW I don't know what “selling or renting first-party tools is a trick" means)

_mlbt 2y ago

There's a double tap gesture on the second gen (and newer I think) version of the Apple Pencil that switches between the eraser and whatever tool you're using. I find this to be much more efficient and ergonomic than having to turn the whole pencil over to erase.

hackernewds 2y ago
Disagree with this
davidf18 2y ago
[dead]