Anybody using OnShape with a recent 2nd gen iPad Pro and pencil?

francesco_de_santis

I've never tried an iPad Pro and pencil combination but think I would like that type of set up to work in OnShape. Instead of finding out the possible "hard way" by spending money buying a new iPad and pencil, are there any users out there that can offer feedback if they are using this set up now? Do you feel the set up helps you get more done compared to using OnSHape on a computer with mouse or with your fingers on previous version iPads without the pencil? Thanks

francesco_de_santis

nobody used OnShape on an iPad with pencil? Or some do but don't want to comment on it?

tgunr

I have, but you will find using the pencil will get in the way when trying to use gestures. I like the pencil for its accuracy and flip between pencil and and fingers for gestures.

AuroraRon

I use the pencil but find it hard to use since you can't put your hand on the screen as if you are writing on paper.  There are writing apps that ignore your hand contact and respond to pencil only when turned on and this should be the way it works on Onshape I hope in the future. Still being able to see more is a benefit.  

francesco_de_santis

tgunr said:

I have, but you will find using the pencil will get in the way when trying to use gestures. I like the pencil for its accuracy and flip between pencil and and fingers for gestures.

yes, that's the way I figured it might work. Flipping between fingers and pencil functions. My fingers are kind of "fatty", had a difficult time trying to play guitar as I was always touching more than 1 string at the time without wanting to. I would imagine using the fingers in my left hand to pan, move and zoom in-out, and the pencil in my right hand to draw and choose functions. Does this describe how it works in your set up? I'm headed to being a full time small RV traveller and will only have a iPad and iPhone in there.

andreas_lechthaler

...i'd like to see a comment from onshape on this...

ravi

We support all standard pencils use cases. You should be able to use pencils with your palm resting on iPad. If you are having trouble,  submit a ticket to Onshape with details of your iPad.

Some apps might have been customized pencil, but works like most sketching apps. You can use the pencil with one hand and use your second hand to pan/zoom etc. When the pencil is on screen, all gestures go to pencil and hand gestures are ignored. You lift the pencil to use your second-hand to pan, zoom. Like most of the other features in iOS app this takes little getting used to but once you get a hang of it, this works well. 

Onshape app doesn't utilize angle and pressure gestures yet and we plan to improve this in the future

francesco_de_santis

ravi said:

We support all standard pencils use cases. You should be able to use pencils with your palm resting on iPad. If you are having trouble,  submit a ticket to Onshape with details of your iPad.

Some apps might have been customized pencil, but works like most sketching apps. You can use the pencil with one hand and use your second hand to pan/zoom etc. When the pencil is on screen, all gestures go to pencil and hand gestures are ignored. You lift the pencil to use your second-hand to pan, zoom. Like most of the other features in iOS app this takes little getting used to but once you get a hang of it, this works well. 

Onshape app doesn't utilize angle and pressure gestures yet and we plan to improve this in the future

Thanks Ravi, do you know of any links to videos showing somebody using iPad Pro with a pencil successfully? Or any planned? I would think a number of users such as myself are trying to better understand how well it works out.

Skippy

The pencil works well with Onshape and makes things much easier than using Onshape mobile without one. The mobile app itself is ok but missing features are annoying.

jake_tse

I have used OneShape on different iPad generations but usually not do that with the Apple Pencil because I think it quite inconvenient. 

peter_stokes

I’ve just started with onshape and I have an iPad Pro with pencil. I’ve abandoned the pencil for now but I’m pretty sure once I’ve got a better handle on the interface I’m going back to the pencil.  I’ve been using the 9.7 iPad Pro but this UI will punch me over the edge to the large iPad I’ve been thinking about. As soon as the Fall iPad announcements are over I’ll be moving to the larger screen and I’m positive the pencil will be part of it.

it all about learning curve and muscle memory. Gotta do some retraining. 

AuroraRon

Don't agree.  There is no right click option with the pencil.  I keep having to put it down to bring up options.  Eventually I just set it down and don't continue with it. 

john_mcclary

Although I haven't use iPad+pencile. 
I do use the stylus with a Galaxy Note often.

I find the accuracy of the stylus makes things much faster, but as @tgunr said early on, It can sometimes get in the way of the hand gestures.
I'm not sure how large the iPad pencil is, but the tiny note8 stylus is easy enough to tuck into your palm and to do your hand gestures.
So it may come down to your dexterity, go grab a real pencil and see how much it gets in your way while trying to do gestures.

davidw34

I have been using an iPad Pro 12.9 with the apple pencil for a couple of years.  I always use the pencil and find my fingers more clumsy.  You can still hold the pencil and two finger tap the screen to bring up the menus or pinch to zoom etc.  The pencil makes it much quicker and more accurate to pick points especially with the zoom in feature with pencil pressure.