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

[Glassed Silver]

*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

For reals... Every day.
The worst are close-to-edge selections... Good Lord.

Anytime I use Android I'm baffled how easy things could be if Apple only wanted...

It's one of those things where you ponder if Apple developers actually use the product themselves...

Glassed Silver:ios

 

[jdillings]

Your holding the pencil wrong

 

[Westside guy]

I fully expect this will be remedied, once we have a jailbreak for 9.3+. This is exactly the sort of thing that makes jailbreaking worthwhile.

 

[Glassed Silver]

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?

Scroogled... oh wait...

Joking aside, this is basically the vibe I've been getting for too long now with Apple.
It distracts from the emotions that overwhelmed me when I got my first Mac.
"No you can't" can be had for cheaper, don't need to spend premium prices on that.
I hope whoever makes these sorts of decisions gets replaced soon.
Doubt it's a CEO-level decision, but even if it was, save for some very shining moments of Tim I'm not too stoked about him anymore.
I had been very optimistic in 2011 and hell even around iOS 7's launch...
The hype faded. I'm ready for change at Apple HQ, don't see how it can get much worse.

Glassed Silver:ios

 

[avanpelt]

I bet they'll reverse course on this pretty quickly before the final release. While I don't have an iPad Pro or the Apple Pencil, if I did, I would be pretty miffed if Apple was adding software "enhancements" that removed some functionality from the $99 accessory I bought.

I guess Apple is considering bringing back its "Think Different" campaign and applying it to styli?

 

[RedOrchestra]

What do you think about the actual topic of Apple retroactively removing functionality of an already sold product?

Some people just can't bring themselves to criticize Apple, no matter what. Apple can do no wrong.

 

[lenbtw]

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.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.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

Please register my voice of alarm and indignation, I paid a premium for a tablet and pencil for it to be postumiously bricked? If you must set a toggle in preferences.

 

[Jethrox]

. 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.

I bought 3 iPad Pros with the goal of using them for my business and expanding to 20 by the end of the year. We liked the option of drawing graphics with text on a larger tablet with the pencil while still having access to our iPhone database and communications after several months of false starts, stalling and damage to our current database we unfortunately came to the conclusion that Apple has profit priorities that do incorporate customer desires....they will say anything to keep up their friendly image but their actions hurt our business. Apple's infrastructure is not geared for anything beyond the high margin shrink wrapped products (they are almost non-existent in academic markets now), they don't care about needs of specific groups and just cannot be trusted to provided functionality if there is a remote possibility they can profit somewhere else. The Apple has gone sour in terms of innovation in products or use.

 

[KaliPaige]

This isn't fair to the people who shelled out 99$ for an Pencil. It might not be what Apple wants for a touch-first operating system, but the fact of the matter is that when drawing with a stylus on anything... And I mean anything, there's going to be a time you don't want to set your pen down and will just want to use it to select something. I do it with my Surface Pro 3, I do it with my Huion tablet. It's just awkward to reach out with your index finger to select something. Why bother when you have a perfectly good input device already in your hand?

 

[Piggie]

You would be legally entitled to return the product for a full refund I take it?

If you accept an official upgrade that removes functionality you use and was there when the product was bought, then you are of course totally entitled to.

Yes?

 

[Zwhaler]

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.

Curious, what is Apple trying to do? This seems to be one of many examples where a feature is removed instead of making it an option and allowing the user decide whether or not they can use it.

 

[samcraig]

"We've made the user experience thinner. Instead of offering a plethora of ways the Pencil can be used - we've narrowed it down to only the interactions that are required." - Jony Ive

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

Scroogled... oh wait...

Joking aside, this is basically the vibe I've been getting for too long now with Apple.
It distracts from the emotions that overwhelmed me when I got my first Mac.
"No you can't" can be had for cheaper, don't need to spend premium prices on that.
I hope whoever makes these sorts of decisions gets replaced soon.
Doubt it's a CEO-level decision, but even if it was, save for some very shining moments of Tim I'm not too stoked about him anymore.
I had been very optimistic in 2011 and hell even around iOS 7's launch...
The hype faded. I'm ready for change at Apple HQ, don't see how it can get much worse.

Glassed Silver:ios

Perhaps it's time for Apple to reformat itself, but Ive and Cook?

 

[Dirtfarmer]

hahahahahaqhahahahahahahhaahahahahaaha

hahahahahhhahahhahahahahhahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahaha

They sell you a thousand-dollar tablet, then charge you a hundred dollars for a stick to poke at it with.

THEN they tell you that you are no longer allowed to use your hundred dollar stick for most functions.

You may only use it for certain functions, the list of which is curated by Apple.

Then they force the feature removal onto the device via mandatory software update.

This is the most Apple thing I've seen in a long time.

And the most perfect example of why I went from ten-year Apple evangelist to shaking my head in disbelief.

"Apple is a vertically-integrated marketing company." - Robert Cringely

 

[RedOrchestra]

we've narrowed it down to only the interactions that are required." - Jony Ive

"... we've narrowed it down to only the interactions that we believe you require." - Jony Ive

 

[jdiamond]

Navigating with the pencil was a positive experience for me .

I couldn't agree more. Look at all the people who use styluses already to help with navigation. My fingers don't mesh well with Apple's touch screen due to their shape. And of course, who wants to put down a stylus every time you need to tap on something? Even if you are using a drawing program, you still need to select stuff.

 

[VulchR]

Dear Tim,

But, but ... I thought customer satisfaction was your top aim? Surely you understand that people count losses about twice as much as they count gains....

 

[jdiamond]

"... we've narrowed it down to only the interactions that we believe you require." - Jony Ive

Did he really say that, or is this just something that he probably said? Or something from his next video?

 

[nt5672]

My guess is that there is some deeper problem that they don't want to talk about or be obvious. So they disabled it while they figure out what they are going to do. Now it could be that the problem requires a redesign of 9.3 and significant effort. In that case 9.3 will be released without the functionality. You see, Apple image overall is more important than a few unhappy stylus customers.

 

[VulchR]

...

And the most perfect example of why I went from ten-year Apple evangelist to shaking my head in disbelief.

So, you were fired then?

 

[satchmo]

Oh for heaven sake Apple, let the user decide.
Okay sure, the default can be limited to drawing, but provide a check box in the preferences to allow full navigation with pencil.

 

[samcraig]

My guess is that there is some deeper problem that they don't want to talk about or be obvious. So they disabled it while they figure out what they are going to do. Now it could be that the problem requires a redesign of 9.3 and significant effort. In that case 9.3 will be released without the functionality. You see, Apple image overall is more important than a few unhappy stylus customers.

"We told you years ago you didn't need a stylus - so stop complaining about what it can and can't do!"

In all honestly - Steve Jobs, I believe, was never against a stylus. As CEO if a company introducing a full touch interface phone, he differentiated his product very smartly by saying fingers were all you needed.

 

[KPOM]

Curious, what is Apple trying to do? This seems to be one of many examples where a feature is removed instead of making it an option and allowing the user decide whether or not they can use it.

"We've made the user experience thinner. Instead of offering a plethora of ways the Pencil can be used - we've narrowed it down to only the interactions that are required." - Jony Ive

Considering that the Pencil never could be used to activate the notification screen (and thus never was truly a "finger replacement), my guess is that Apple really wants to limit the Pencil to creative tasks rather than create the assumption that iOS is becoming a stylus-centric operating system. That said, then it would have been better had they not had the functionality in the first place.

The way the Pencil works in iOS 9.2 it isn't likely to "accidentally" scroll. Plus, they are leaving some "finger" functionality in, such as the ability to tap objects. That's why this is perplexing. Maybe they have some other drawing functionality planned for the future that the current UI was interfering with, but it seems unlikely.

 

[Thunderhawks]

This confirms that Apple will be launching an iFinger attachment for fine UI control. It will be completely revolutionary and at $99.99 is a complete steal!

There are things my finger can do that makes the Apple pencil....................

 

[macduke]

Gasp! Those fools who bought our $1000 tablet and $100 stylus are using it in a way which we didn't intend. Selecting text? THE HORROR! They should have to repeatedly put down the pencil and pick up the pencil when quickly responding to texts. Let us punish them for their transgressions. No matter that we're pissing off some of our wealthiest customers in the process. REMOVE THE FEATURE! We'll add it in Apple Pencil Air 4 and charge twice as much.

This might just be the trolliest, most anti-Aple comment I've ever written on here, lol. But it's stuff like this that seriously pisses me off. Apple doesn't think things through all the way these days.