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User profile for user: thomasbricker
thomasbricker Author
User level: Level 1
74 points

Apple Pencil tools in Freeform, not the same as they are Apple notes! Why!?

I am a long time user of all Apple applications. I an very pleased with the updates to Apple notes in iOS 16.

I’m also very pleased with the introduction of Freeform. As great as it is, I am baffled/disappointed at the fact that it does not share the same Apple Pencil tools as Apple notes. I cannot imagine why that choice would be made. The behavior of the pencil tool and the watercolor brush in Apple notes is highly desirable in any notetaking environment. Also, the ability to draw perfect shapes in Notes is an excellent feature. It should be in Freeform also. Thankfully, Freeform includes the ability to resize any element in the document. Apple Notes can’t do that yet.

Perhaps the developers haven’t had a chance to speak with each other between the two applications and establish a parity. I look forward to that time with anticipation. 😊

iPad Pro (6th generation)

Posted on Mar 19, 2023 6:43 AM

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User profile for user: LotusPilot
LotusPilot
Community+ 2024
User level: Level 10
289,442 points

Posted on Mar 19, 2023 8:55 AM

Many of Apple’s Apps that support Apple Pencil appear to have a different subset of functions and capabilities. This is perhaps due, at least in part, to Apple having different teams of Developers for its different in-house Apps.


While you might reasonably expect all Apple-developed iOS/iPadOS Apps to be very similar in their implementation, in reality, it might be easier to consider each of Apple’s Apps in the same manner as those conceived by external third party developers; here you would anticipate seeing differences in both tool design and capabilities between Apps.


Apple does invite submission of constructive comments and feature requests via its Product Feedback portal. This would be the most appropriate channel to communicate any thoughts or desires concerning Apple’s Apps. For iPad and iPadOS:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

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User profile for user: LotusPilot
LotusPilot
Community+ 2024
User level: Level 10
289,442 points

Mar 19, 2023 8:55 AM in response to thomasbricker

Many of Apple’s Apps that support Apple Pencil appear to have a different subset of functions and capabilities. This is perhaps due, at least in part, to Apple having different teams of Developers for its different in-house Apps.


While you might reasonably expect all Apple-developed iOS/iPadOS Apps to be very similar in their implementation, in reality, it might be easier to consider each of Apple’s Apps in the same manner as those conceived by external third party developers; here you would anticipate seeing differences in both tool design and capabilities between Apps.


Apple does invite submission of constructive comments and feature requests via its Product Feedback portal. This would be the most appropriate channel to communicate any thoughts or desires concerning Apple’s Apps. For iPad and iPadOS:

Feedback - iPad - Apple

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User profile for user: thomasbricker
thomasbricker Author
User level: Level 1
74 points

Mar 20, 2023 5:10 PM in response to LotusPilot

Yes, it's true, there may well be very independent teams of developers working on a company's different apps (witness Microsoft's OneNote or Teams > Pretty great. Microsofts's Word > the most unusable software known to mankind.)

But when it comes to Apple, I would think that developers who work for Apple would need to be extremely well versed in what the other Apple Apps do and behave like. I would think they might be the types who are chomping at the bit with every developer beta that gets released to see what the various toolsets are now capable of. But maybe they aren't. I know I would be like that if that was my job... And also, I would think that the code that has been established for something like the toolset that exists in Apple Notes (which is now public facing and no longer in beta) would be available within internal resources within the Cupertino ecosystem. I doubt these folks have to come up with their own code for the Freeform pen tool for example...

But hey, maybe Im wrong. 😊... Or maybe they will rectify this disparity during some unheralded iOS update.

All I can say is, I hope so.😉

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User profile for user: LotusPilot
LotusPilot
Community+ 2024
User level: Level 10
289,442 points

Mar 20, 2023 5:23 PM in response to thomasbricker

Contributors here are all end-users - just like you. Other than information publicly released by Apple, nobody here has any insight into Apple’s product or software development design process.


However, we can certainly witness the differences that are [sometimes painfully] evident within the UI of the different Apple Apps within the iOS/iPadOS ecosystem. In many cases, there is little visible evidence of a common codebase or consistent UI design between Apps.


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Apple Pencil tools in Freeform, not the same as they are Apple notes! Why!?

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