Duet Display for iPad Updated With New Pro Features

[MacRumors]

Duet Display, the app designed to let you turn your iPad into an extra display for your Mac, is today being updated with new Pro-level features that enhance the Apple Pencil support introduced back in October.

The Pro features are designed to turn the iPad Pro into a high-performance graphics tablet that can compete with Intuos or Wacom drawing tablets, and as of today, Pro subscribers will get more for their money. There are also some features that are available to standard users who don't pay for the Pro subscription.

A customized pressure curve has been implemented, letting users change the way Windows or macOS receive data for a personalized drawing experience. A new Line Lead feature offers up a line preview that predicts where the Apple Pencil is before it makes contact with the iPad, a feature that Duet says will be improved over time. Pro users can also count on improved rendering quality and speed with the Pixel Perfect image refresh setting.

New gestures have been added for both Pro and standard users, designed to make drawing faster, and the Touch Bar has been updated with improved stability, speed enhancements, and support for more apps. Most of the new gestures are available for both Pro and standard users, with the exception of undo and redo, which are Pro only, and the Touch Bar update is also available to all users.

Duet Display is priced at $19.99 in the App Store, and unlocking the Pro features to turn the iPad Pro into a drawing tablet costs an additional $19.99 per year through an in-app subscription. Duet Display is available from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Duet Display for iPad Updated With New Pro Features

 

[robegian]

$20 per year for one feature of an app I already paid $20? :-O

 

[BrettArchibald]

Subscription, you say?
Nope.

 

[Undecided]

Does duet still force the "host" Mac into default resolution, instead of any scaled setting?

 

[rubberfish]

I find it easier to use specialised iPad drawing apps, and then instantly share with my Mac than use this or Astropad

 

[WilliamG]

The subscription really is a racket. It's not a case of it only being $20 a year. It's a case of it being wholly unnecessary.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Boo! No subscriptions! BOO!!

 

[PilotWoo]

Great app but no way to the subscription.

 

[gnipgnop]

If you're a professional that is using this as part of your daily workflow, I don't think the $40 is going to be too daunting. Not sure how long the shelf-life for this app is going to be, as Apple sounds like they may have interest in supporting this type of functionality themselves. You've also got quite a few native iOS creative apps that allow you to export files fairly easily for use with legacy desktop applications, so it just depends on what you prefer for a workflow.

 

[JayMysterio]

How is this better than Astropad though?

 

[MacSince1985]

Apple is likely to build this natively in the next iPad Pro anyway. And since they don't have to abide by App Store restrictions, they can access the iPad at a lower level and hopefully reduce the latency.

 

[BruceEBonus]

Will they duel. Like banjos?

 

[nutmac]

$20 per year for one feature of an app I already paid $20? :-O

Right, either go subscription only or paid. Mixing both is just wrong.

 

[meady100]

Subscriptions are a total turnoff. I'm on to the next story.

 

[PJL500]

Will they duel. Like banjos?

It seems that it is more interested in hearing it's customers squeal like pigs?

 

[gugy]

Subscription is a big no-no. We are bombarded with bills every month, every year, etc. Some app like Duet should be one time pay and if they upgrade down the road that justifies pay another time, then fine.
I am a huge Adobe user and I am holding on my CS6 for many years. I know at some point I will have to cave in but honestly I hate the trend that everything is a subscription nowadays.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Does duet still force the "host" Mac into default resolution, instead of any scaled setting?

Works fine for me. My Retina MacBook Pro runs at whatever resolution I set (usually "looks like 1920x1200,") my external 4K display runs at whatever resolution I set (I set it to a HiDPI "looks like 2560x1440" resolution,) and the iPad (Air) I have set at "Retina Resolution", which runs it at full 2048x1536, but in HiDPI mode so that it looks like 1024x768 doubled.

If you mean "does connecting Duet reset the resolution of my main display" - connecting or disconnecting *ANY* display does that. macOS remembers your preferred resolutions only as a "set of displays". So if I have my external 4K display and my Duet iPad plugged in, it sets to the same resolution as the last time I had them all. But if I quit Duet on the iPad, it acts as if I unplugged a display - and changes the resolutions of my MacBook and 4K display to be the same as the last time I only had those two running. Likewise, when I disconnect all external displays, it resets the internal resolution to be whatever I had it at last time I was running only the internal display. That's just how macOS works.

 

[marioguarneros]

If you're a professional that is using this as part of your daily workflow, I don't think the $40 is going to be too daunting. Not sure how long the shelf-life for this app is going to be, as Apple sounds like they may have interest in supporting this type of functionality themselves. You've also got quite a few native iOS creative apps that allow you to export files fairly easily for use with legacy desktop applications, so it just depends on what you prefer for a workflow.

Apple is likely to build this natively in the next iPad Pro anyway. And since they don't have to abide by App Store restrictions, they can access the iPad at a lower level and hopefully reduce the latency.

As a photographer I sure hope the rumours are true, it would be great to natively use the new iPad as a Cintique without the need to pay for extra apps and worse, subscriptions.

It would also be great to have the option to natively tether/control cameras directly.

 

[zarusoba]

Apple is likely to build this natively in the next iPad Pro anyway. And since they don't have to abide by App Store restrictions, they can access the iPad at a lower level and hopefully reduce the latency.

I hope you're right but I'm not holding my breath. Apple is adamant that tablets and desktops are fundamentally different. They don't want us touching the Mac directly.

 

[philosopherdog]

Apple is likely to build this natively in the next iPad Pro anyway. And since they don't have to abide by App Store restrictions, they can access the iPad at a lower level and hopefully reduce the latency.

This is a brilliant idea for the Pro line. I wouldn't be surprised. But a wired connection seems unlikely.

 

[SoldOnApple]

I'd much rather they made Astropad Studio PC compatible. Astropad works great on my 12 inch MacBook, though it is enough to do some work on that MacBook isn't powerful enough to run my huge Photoshop projects. My PC is powerful enough to run all my projects by Astropad isn't compatible with PC. DuetDisplay works okay on my PC, but it isn't useable at all on my 12 inch MacBook because of the extreme lag.

In the end I bought both DuetDisplay Pro and Astropad Studio and regret both purchases. I wish I waited until Astropad Studio was compatible with PC so then I wouldn't need to adjust my workflow to two different input and display methods. I should have just bought a more powerful Mac in the first place really, but I need to live with the choice I made for now.

 

[zarusoba]

I should have just bought a more powerful Mac in the first place really, but I need to live with the choice I made for now.

Maybe Apple should have made the Mac you bought more powerful in the first place...