Q: Ways to charge the Apple Pencil?

Yes, as long as you use the adapter that came with your Pencil. It allows you to make the connection between the Pencil and the USB charging cord

I don't have an Apple Pencil Charging Adapter. There was none provided.

It looks as if it can charge itself by being plugged into the lightning socket on the iPad but how long should I leave I plugged in to make sure it is fully charged?

Also: how can I tell what the charging state is?

There should have been a small white adapter in the Pencil's package/box that allows you to use any lightening cable connected to any USB port on your computer, iPhone or iPad power brick (see "what's in the box" http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MK0C2/apple-pencil-for-ipad-pro?fnode=37 ).

If you enable the battery widget, you can check the battery status in the widget pane of the pull down notificatons/today screen.  That widget will work to show the battery status of any BT device that supports the battery reporting feature.

OK I found the adapter. Where is the battery widget? I've looked in Settings under Battery but it only shows information about the battery status of the iPad itself.

Pull down the notification window, in the "Today" view there is (small print) the widgets edit feature right below your today calendar.  Tap that and enable the battery widget. Then, whenever your pencil is paired, you will see a "widgets" tab beside "notifications" in that pull down window.

Thank you. Found it.

Perhaps those instructions should be included with the pencil?

Too bad there wasn't a provision for an 'inductive charger' built into a pencil rest location.

SReinton wrote:

 

Thank you. Found it.

 

Perhaps those instructions should be included with the pencil?

Yes, probably should be, and you can suggest it to Apple at http://www.apple.com/feedback/

I think widgets in general are one of the less known or understood features of the current iOS for a lot of people.  The battery widget is not pencil specific either - works also with my motorola S11-flex BT headphones, keyboards and many other BT devices that support the protocol.

I cannot find anywhere to buy a replacement for the Apple Pencil Charging Tip (I lost mine on a plane).  It does not appear on Apple's Accessories page.  Can anyone or Apple help me.

C

Call AppleCare. They can arrange a replacement.