Inability to Use Apple Pencil for Navigation in iOS 9.3 Appears to be Intentional

[MacRumors]

Over the course of the iOS 9.3 beta testing period, iPad Pro users running the update have noticed a disturbing feature removal that limits the functionality of the Apple Pencil. In the current version of iOS, iOS 9.2, the Apple Pencil can be used for navigational purposes, just like a finger. It's possible to tap on buttons, select text, scroll, swipe between apps, access menus, and access general editing controls in non-drawing apps.

With iOS 9.3, much of that functionality has been removed. The Apple Pencil is no longer able to be used for selecting and manipulating text or doing things like scrolling -- it's only available for selecting buttons and drawing, sketching, and writing within apps.

Early on, Apple Pencil users thought the feature removal was perhaps a bug, but full Apple Pencil functionality has not been restored in later betas and the release notes that accompany betas have never mentioned the Apple Pencil's inability to be used for navigational purposes as a known issue. In a recent podcast, Relay.fm co-founder Myke Hurley said he's heard that the decision isn't a bug, but an intentional design decision.

Sources in the know confirm that removing the functionality of the Apple Pencil is a decision inside of Apple. It is not a bug they have overlooked for three betas. It is a decision.

Earlier today, iMore's Serenity Caldwell wrote an opinion piece outlining the issue and calling on Apple not to remove the Apple Pencil's existing capabilities. In her post, she points out the Apple Pencil can no longer be used for tasks like editing videos in iMovie for iOS.

But the fact remains that the Pencil's owners use those navigation options, and frankly, the idea that Apple would take away functionality that people have come to expect and depend on is a significant hit to usability and overall experience.

Worse, it makes the Pencil useless for video and audio editing, creative pursuits that I'd hoped to explore further on the iPad Pro. I'd initially enjoyed editing and cutting several videos in iMovie for iOS with the help of the Pencil; now, you can only select and drag clips. You can't cut a clip with the downward swipe gesture, nor can you scroll the timeline.

Many iPad Pro users have come to rely on the Apple Pencil as a finger replacement in some situations, and it is not entirely clear why Apple has opted to eliminate that functionality. iOS 9.3 is expected to be released in the spring, perhaps at Apple's March 15 event, which means the end of the beta testing period is fast approaching. As Caldwell points out, Apple still has time to re-add the Apple Pencil features back into the operating system ahead of that date.

Article Link: Inability to Use Apple Pencil for Navigation in iOS 9.3 Appears to be Intentional

 

[gugy]

Odd move by Apple.

 

[Paddle1]

Well, this was what Steve was talking about...

 

[teknikal90]

ain't no wrath like the prosumer's wrath.

 

[Norbs12]

Yeah, that strikes me as being pretty odd. At least make it a setting you can toggle.

 

[Zwhaler]

A $1,000 tablet can't use the stylus to navigate? Even worse is that it obviously can and the feature is being held back. Let's hope they enable it as they ought to.

 

[iisdan]

Makes sense. Apple has always known to remove the ability for a developer to provide poor user experience.

 

[farewelwilliams]

*moves finger to select text*

*releases finger off the screen*

*iOS selects an additional character at the end*

*touches the screen to move the slider to unselect the additional character*

*it unselected too many characters*

*touches the screen to move the slider to reselect the missing character*

gg apple

 

[xnu]

its not a bug, its a feature.

 

[iLoveDeveloping]

Maybe it made Safari snappier when used in the app and Apple didn't like it! "It's to dam snappy I tell you, remove it.."

 

[theheadguy]

Apple will tell you what you're going to like, and you're going to like it!

 

[HiVolt]

Heh, sometimes you wonder who makes these kinds of decisions... Release with a prominent feature, then take it away without consequence.

I wonder if they'll refund anyone who brings the iPad Pro & Pencil back to the store.

 

[profets]

I can see what Apple is trying to do, but losing the ability to use the Pencil for fine controls, like editing video and audio, and selecting text doesn't seem like the best idea.

 

[KPOM]

its not a bug, its a feature.

Well then it shouldn't have been in there in the first place. I find it useful. The Pencil never did everything a finger did (e.g. it doesn't activate the Notification screen in iOS 9.2), but things like selecting text and scrolling are useful features, particularly since if you already have the pencil in your hand, it's easier to scroll a list or the UI with it.

 

[joueboy]

Once again Apple making decisions for us. That is why we love their products, because we know that they know what's best for us. I love it...!

 

[topdrawer]

this is awful. i don't use the pencil but i was planning to eventually. i use a wacom stylus plus touch on my mac, and switching between stylus and touch is not smooth or fun. i like to use on or the other for periods of time.

 

[sza]

Decision makers in Apple are lost.

 

[Monkeydude]

They told you years ago, that nobody needs a stylus. They showed you in 9.2 what it can do and in 9.3 they show you that you don't need it. Apple knows what is best for you. Who are you to doubt that.

 

[edgr.sanchez]

It makes sense, the Pencil is not meant to be used as a tool to navigate the UI with, it's meant to be used for drawing.

Why Apple decided to introduce the Pencil WITH that feature is beyond me. They should have left it like it was instead of taking it away.

 

[MH01]

Makes sense. Apple has always known to remove the ability for a developer to provide poor user experience.

Navigating with the pencil was a positive experience for me .

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Well you can't have it all yet.

 

[Mascots]

It seems a lot like what happened with Apple and the switch on the iPad. Originally, it went back and forth as a "Flip to Mute" and "Flip to Lock Orientation" before Apple finally just added an option in Settings to please both camps.

I could see the same happening here as there are implications for both decisions.

 

[2010mini]

Not that was silly.

 

[BruceEBonus]

A stylus is a finger replacement (obviously) so its right that Apple ensures it doesn't work otherwise fingers could seize up and eventually become redundant and fall off! It's a matter of using it in moderation .... for example a stylus can safely and sensibly for pointing at things. Or simulating a real pen. Or .... Oh no ... What am I saying? Its a marketing disaster and has now been known as Tims Second Folly (the Watch was his first) so it's no surprise why it's been neglected already ... Waste or eighty quid that was. Just wait til my missus finds out what I bought ... She's gonna kill me!

 

[Glideslope]

Another asinine move by the "Executive Daycare Team."