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I'm not sure why they did it either. I hardly ever use the pencil for OS navigation but it's clear some people do. Hopefully someone can get an explanation from Apple as to why they changed it.

So you use your fingers until you're in the app of choice and then take out your Pencil - then when you are done, you switch back to your fingers? Granted I don't have an iPad Pro. I do have a Note 5 though - and while I don't use they stylus often - when I do have it out, I use it for everything while I'm leveraging it. I would be annoyed if I had to keep switching back and forth.
 
The Pencil was really useful on iOS 9.2 for scrolling, selecting text and so on, it worked fine for me. I actually prefer the Pencil than my fingers for selecting text precisely.

The moment this was gone in the first iOS 9.3 beta, it annoyed the crap out of me and slowed my workflow down.

I'm hoping they have a good reason for this and will restore it later. If not, Apple just increased the chance of me going with Microsoft next time.
 
Wow - I was hoping this was a bug. I use my iPad Pro for study, and underlining (read - selecting text) is a crucial requirement for me. I can't understand why this would be removed? It really helps preparing and marking up epubs. Is this limitation only on  apps, or any apps that accept input?
 
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So you use your fingers until you're in the app of choice and then take out your Pencil - then when you are done, you switch back to your fingers? Granted I don't have an iPad Pro. I do have a Note 5 though - and while I don't use they stylus often - when I do have it out, I use it for everything while I'm leveraging it. I would be annoyed if I had to keep switching back and forth.

Doesn't have to be any specific apps, it is used throughout the iOS.

For me, it is actually more precise than my fingers trying to select text, pressing certain buttons, and scrolling when the iPad Pro is further back on the desk and keyboard is extended outward.
 
Apple make so man weird decisions... I feel so frustrated with them, just ****ing let consumers use the product how they want.
 
So you use your fingers until you're in the app of choice and then take out your Pencil - then when you are done, you switch back to your fingers? Granted I don't have an iPad Pro. I do have a Note 5 though - and while I don't use they stylus often - when I do have it out, I use it for everything while I'm leveraging it. I would be annoyed if I had to keep switching back and forth.
Right. Mostly I'm not using the pencil to scroll or open apps. Though I do use it in apps to make selections like changing brushes, going from pen to highlighter, etc. if that's been taken away I'll definitely be bummed.
 
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I tried the Surface Pro 4 and the one feature I enjoyed using was the pen. Fine control and was my go to instrument. The rest of the Surface Pro 4 conceptually a good concept but, the implementation did not work for me. Apple may find this to be bad decision. Always can make changes.
 
It's pretty obvious what's going on here.

I'm fairly certain that no-one who works for Apple actually uses Apple products. If they did use Apple products, they would themselves understand the user experience. For example, Apple TV is bloody awful: iTunes is really quite astonishingly poor. How can anyone who's used Plex think iTunes is remotely acceptable? Apple are unaware of this because they don't use their own products. They're all using Amazon Fire TV, and the Microsoft Surface 4, and the Samsung Galaxy Edge.
 
Wow wow wow... this is actually extremely disappointing. I love this aspect of being able to use my pencil to control iOS. Why do I have to switch between my pencil and touch?! So annoying when I have to do that. Apple should be adding even more control to the pencil instead of taking it away. I'm so glad that T-mobile allows me to switch tablets when ever I want with my contract. For me, this is a big no no. I hope Microsoft can make a Surface with LTE so that it can be offered on T-Mobile so I can switch ASAP. Disappointing!

Any way we can voice our opinion to Apple? This is a big deal breaker for me. I won't be updating my iOS and actually trading in my iPad Pro back to T-Mobile if this decision is permanent. Thanks.
 
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Cue everyone who doesn't own an iPad Pro/Apple Pencil being outraged by this rumor.

I'd say this is legit. This is Tim's attempt to dull the revolt when we see the iPad 3 has no Pencil Support in a few weeks. Apple can't produce the volume of displays required to have the 3 support the Pencil. So, remove the navigation features of the Pencil. It will become the "Apple Brush" until if or when production of a supported 10" display in volume is ready.

Still a **** move by Apple to Pro users. However, is this really news? Since Steve's Passing Apple could care less about Pro Users. Apple cares about nothing other than it's Shareholders Dividends these days. Very sad. :apple:
 
Right. Mostly I'm not using the pencil to scroll or open apps. Though I do use it in apps to make selections like changing brushes, going from pen to highlighter, etc. if that's been taken away I'll definitely be bummed.

I imagine in-app it's OK. I would find it odd if that changed. But I know that I am sometimes in and out of apps. To me - if I have a stylus out - it's just a lot easier to keep using that vs picking it up and putting it down. But that's my workflow. I can't say I'm "invested" yet - but I honestly would hold off until this was resolved going forward with any purchase decision. Can I say it's 25% or 50% or more of the weight on whether I would buy one or not - no. But it's definitely something that would niggle at me.
 
Doesn't have to be any specific apps, it is used throughout the iOS.

For me, it is actually more precise than my fingers trying to select text, pressing certain buttons, and scrolling when the iPad Pro is further back on the desk and keyboard is extended outward.
I get the feeling there is more to this story we don't know and Apple did a 180 that will end up being partially or completely reversed.
 
It's gotta be a issue with the beta that will get put back in. Just too hard to believe Apple would put the feature in one point update then remove it the next just on a whim. There has to be (or at least I hope so) a rational reason. I'm thinking it gets put back in in the final version.

Maybe they removed in 9.2 so that it could be an exclusive feature for the Air 3 in 9.4. Ha. Ha. J/K. But I could see TC doing that. I really could.
 
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I'm wondering if they removed the feature because of the new iPad Air. Perhaps the code/software/xcode/whatever would allow people to discover the Air would also work with the Pencil, and so they've removed it until the Gold Master, when the cat will already be out of the bag.
 
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Removing existing features from already marketed and purchased products... Like removing the back seat from my car after I considered other cars and purchased "this one"... It's this kind of thing that has me backing off on purchasing Apple products in the future. New Apple motto: "It may work for a while - then maybe it won't." Whaat? Who needs that?

This kind of decision angered me after I upgraded my family to iPhones. We had been using home sharing on our iPhones for music stored on my Mac Mini Server. Similarly, after advertising the feature, Apple removed it and despite later assurances has never put it back.

I'm glad I waited to buy an iPad Pro. After this nonsense, I will never buy or recommend an iPad Pro to anyone--unless Apple reverts the iPencil back to its prior functionality.
 
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