iPadOS 18 Allows Apps to Offer Custom Drawing Tools for Apple Pencil

Starting with iPadOS 18, which will be widely released later this year, iPad apps can offer custom drawing tools for the Apple Pencil.

iPadOS 18 Custom Drawing Tool Apple Pencil
For example, in a WWDC 2024 coding video last week, Apple demonstrated how an app could implement a tool that allows for cat paw prints and other animal-related symbols to be added to a drawing. The custom tools support features on the new Apple Pencil Pro, including the squeeze gesture and barrel roll action.

iOS 18 and visionOS 2 also support custom drawing tools in apps, but the iPhone and Vision Pro do not support the Apple Pencil. As always, any drawing tool can also be controlled with your finger and other input methods.

iPadOS 18 Custom Drawing Tool Apple Pencil 2
In addition to custom tools, apps across iPadOS 18, iOS 18, and visionOS 2 are able to change the selection of default drawing tools that appear in the system tool picker. Apple said apps are even able to offer multiple tools of the same type for added convenience, such as two colors of pens or two colors of markers.

iPadOS 18, iOS 18, and visionOS 2 are currently in beta.

Related Roundups: iOS 18, iPadOS 18

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 'Slim': Everything We Know So Far

Friday July 5, 2024 5:13 am PDT by
In 2025, Apple is expected to discontinue the iPhone "Plus" device in its iPhone 17 lineup to make way for an iPhone "Slim" – although it may not actually be called this when it debuts in the fall of next year. Even though the iPhone 16 series launch is still over two months away, when you consider that we learned about larger displays on the iPhone 16 Pro models way back in May 2023, rumors...
HomePod G4 Feature

Leak Confirms Apple's Work On 'Home Accessory'

Thursday July 4, 2024 9:15 am PDT by
Code discovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors confirms Apple is indeed working on a long-rumored home accessory in addition to the HomePod and Apple TV. The code references a device with the identifier "HomeAccessory17,1," which is a new identifier category. The name is similar to the HomePod's "AudioAccessory" identifier. Interestingly, the 17,1 in the identifier name suggests that...
iPhone 16 Camera Lozenge 2

Apple Leak Confirms Four iPhone 16 Models With Same A18 Chip

Tuesday July 2, 2024 9:48 am PDT by
Code discovered in Apple's backend by Nicolás Alvarez and shared with MacRumors confirms Apple's plans to release four iPhone 16 models this year, and it indicates that the devices will all have the same A-series chip. There are mentions of new model numbers that are not associated with existing iPhones, and that have the numbering scheme Apple uses for its flagship devices. The code...

Top Rated Comments

NMBob Avatar
3 weeks ago
Isn't it a violation of human rights or something that the iPencil doesn't work on other tablets, and that other tablets can't use the iPencil? Where's the EU when you need them?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PlayUltimate Avatar
3 weeks ago
it would be nice if the Apple Pencil was usable on the iPhone Maxes. They are almost as big as iPad Minis.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
boak Avatar
3 weeks ago

it would be nice if the Apple Pencil was usable on the iPhone Maxes. They are almost as big as iPad Minis.
I believe the iPad mini's screen area is more like double the screen area of the iPhone 15 Pro Max?
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PlayUltimate Avatar
3 weeks ago

I believe the iPad mini's screen area is more like double the screen area of the iPhone 15 Pro Max?
Agree that the physical dimension is double in size. And the screen resolution of the iPPM 15 is higher than that of the current iPad mini. I still think the pencil would work well for notes et al on the phone.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
holmesf Avatar
3 weeks ago
They say this but the support for custom tools is very bare bones. The custom tools get a very generic look in the tool picker with only a basic icon to differentiate them from built-in tools (see the paw print icon on the custom tool in the screen grabs). The custom tool content also has to be rendered in a separate view from the rest of the drawing, so developers do not benefit from Apple's gesture handling or low latency rendering. For this reason developers cannot intermix their custom tool drawing content with the built-in tool drawing content. If you run the sample code the paw prints are always on top of the built-in tool content, even if you go in and try to draw on top of them, which is pretty unacceptable.

I hear a lot of people suggesting that developers "just use pencil kit". But for many applications it's just not flexible enough and continues to not be flexible enough.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)