iPadOS 14: Widgets, Scribble, Notes and Some Qualms

This year’s iPadOS 14 is quite exciting with the introduction of, among other things, Widgets (finally!) and Scribble. To Android users it is nothing new at all but to Apple users, widgets had always been something of a wishlist. The ones that appeared on the iPhones and iPads several iOS versions ago felt half-baked because they do not appear on the Home Screen. Finally, in iOS 14 things are once again moving in the right direction. Widgets can appear alongside icons, seamlessly on the Home Screen. However, the Widgets will most likely need several iterations before getting close to Android levels of interactivity and functionality.

I wrote the above paragraph with the Note app using Scribble on iPad Air 2019 (and the first generation Apple Pencil). It’s refreshing to literally write instead of type. Here are my brief experiences:

***Before starting it’s important to watch the brief pop-up tutorial when you first launch Scribble. Otherwise, like me, I’d thought it doesn’t work in Notes. If you missed it, you can always go to "Settings > Apple Pencil > Try Scribble” or search YouTube for more in-depth tutorials. Here's one that might help:

1. To Scribble on Notes, you will have to select the new pen with an alphabet on it (the first pen from the left).
2. It’s obvious I’m not writing on paper but glass so the feeling is still a bit off. I guess this is as good as it gets.
3. The handwriting recognition is pretty good. It recognised most of my scribbles save for some.
4. The difficulty comes when I try to make corrections such as capitalisation, delete alphabets, etc.
5. I still do not know how to place a full-stop at the end of a sentence unless I included it along with the last word (I don't seem to face any issues with a comma). Whenever I try to separately place a dot, a floating comma appeared instead.
6. When I try scribbling in tight spaces such as between lines of text or paragraphs, my actions will often be detected as an “insert” or the cursor might end up somewhere else.

It’s pleasant to be able to hold the Apple Pencil and use it to perform most functions while using the iPad. There is less necessity to put the Pencil down, use touch to perform some functions and then pick Pencil up again. This is something that people who frequently switch between Pencil and touch-only apps will really appreciate. Besides that, this implementation (kind of) solves the argument where handwriting is more beneficial to our well-being compared to typing. Unfortunately, the issues that I've pointed out above can be frustrating so I wouldn't write an essay this way. I would stick with typing for long-form writing. Scribble in its current young age is more suitable to fill in short phrases in forms and cells.

The upgrading of the iPad Air to the beautiful iPad Pro form factor effectively increased the price of the device by a hundred dollars. For people like me on a tight budget, the Air loses some of its shine as the middle sibling that balances between computing power and price. The more convenient Apple Pencil 2 that just attaches to the side of this new form factor for easier transport, charging and pairing, is also more expensive than the original version. Besides that, the new iPad Air now only works with the more expensive Smart Keyboard Folio and the much more pricy Magic Keyboard.

To be fair, Apple still sells the cheaper iPad (with upgraded internals) and the once again ignored iPad Mini, both which still support the first Apple Pencil.

Ultimately, Apple’s technological progress comes with a high price tag. Users will have to decide to stick to the lower models or pay more for ecstatics and convenience.