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Is this an iPad Pro or Pencil issue? (Notability)

T

TorontoJen

macrumors member
Original poster
May 17, 2016
55
40
Toronto
I just purchased a 12.9 iPad a few days ago and have been handwriting notes using Notability with no issues.

Yesterday, I started getting missing lines in my letters, where the pencil just seems to drop out for a second and leave a tiny gap. The pencil is charged, the screen is clean, and I rebooted it. Still get the same issue every so many sentences. It's not a huge deal but it is distracting.

Not sure what device I should be troubleshooting. Or is it the app?

Any tips? Or maybe those who use Notability can tell me if this is common?

Thanks so much.
 
I use notability every day and have not noticed this. You might want to randomly try another writing app when you notice it happening to see if it might be the app or if it's ipad / pencil related.
 
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I also use Notability a lot for a couple of years now. I never experienced such an issue with my regular stylus. As the others said:

  • try to recreate the issue when using other handwriting apps
  • reinstall Notability
  • ask the Notability team for advice

Good luck!
 
TorontoJen said:
I just purchased a 12.9 iPad a few days ago and have been handwriting notes using Notability with no issues.

Yesterday, I started getting missing lines in my letters, where the pencil just seems to drop out for a second and leave a tiny gap. The pencil is charged, the screen is clean, and I rebooted it. Still get the same issue every so many sentences. It's not a huge deal but it is distracting.

Not sure what device I should be troubleshooting. Or is it the app?

Any tips? Or maybe those who use Notability can tell me if this is common?

Thanks so much.
Click to expand...
I think I experience this issue once in a while, I think. Basically, it's like writing with a pen that seems to run out of ink every few seconds.

In my (limited) experience, the problem seems to stem when my Apple Pencil comes in contact with water. Bit of background, as a teacher, I use my ipad in the classroom and have a habit of spitting when I talk. If my Apple Pencil comes in contact with the saliva stains on the ipad screen, there is a tendency for the ipad to not register the writing from my Apple Pencil.

However, the problem only happens very infrequently, and goes away after a short while. You can try writing in another app like Notes or PDF expert and see if the problem replicates itself.
 
I use notability all the time, and I have to say that I have never experienced this in normal usage.

I did at one point when I'd been messing with twiddling the tip of the Apple Pencil... This can cause detection issues apparently.

Make sure that the tip of your pencil is properly screwed in, see if that makes a difference.
 
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I use Notabilty almost daily. It has become my favorite note taking and PDF app. (I have a lot of them) Anyway, I have never experienced this at all. I would guess there may be an issue with the pencil.
 
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interesting thing - I noticed that behaviour for the first time on my fist gen iPad Pro 12.9 with Notabiliy. I used the iPad extensively the last few weeks and today it's the first time it occured to me ...

any ideas?

Today right before I started using Noteability the app updated itself - I doubt that's the cause - but you never know ....
 
If you have an apple store close to you, take your iPad to the store and pair it with a pencil they have there. That will quickly tell you if it is the iPad or the pencil
 
I had the exact same problem on GoodNotes, then I found out it was due to one of the iPad settings. I changed the setting and didn't have the problem ever since. This was 2 years ago though, so I can't remember what the setting was :/
 
I am having this issue with one of my iPad Pros in notability. I write in notability and there are a few spots on the screen where the apple pencil will start to mark but the line just disappears in these circular zones on the screen and as I scroll the page up and down the zone of the screen that I can not write moves up and down with the page. Oddly enough with the same apple pencil on my other ipad pro of the same model I have never had this issue. I am thinking this is an issue with notability because the zone moves with the page.
 
TorontoJen said:
I just purchased a 12.9 iPad a few days ago and have been handwriting notes using Notability with no issues.

Yesterday, I started getting missing lines in my letters, where the pencil just seems to drop out for a second and leave a tiny gap. The pencil is charged, the screen is clean, and I rebooted it. Still get the same issue every so many sentences. It's not a huge deal but it is distracting.

Not sure what device I should be troubleshooting. Or is it the app?

Any tips? Or maybe those who use Notability can tell me if this is common?

Thanks so much.
Click to expand...
Do you use a screen protector? Sometimes there is issue with pencil sensitivity with some of them. If not, and using a bare screen, it seems very strange.

Never had an issue and have been using this app on three different generations of Ipad Pros. Defective pencil perhaps?
 
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