Some suggestions to make the iPad version even more keyboardless friendly

[R Seven]

1) It would be nice if Affinity iPad had a 'four finger tap' shortcut that would show off a multitude of user-selected shortcuts. Attached is a sample of how you can practically map any possible function from Art Studio Pro to any one of its 24 user shortcuts. Found it very handy that i practically never need to use a keyboard while using the app on the couch or other comfortable locations.

 

2) One thing I was missing a lot when manually fine tuning masks with regards to hair on tricky backgrounds, was switching constantly between the foreground and background color (B/W).

It was possible with a keyboard shortcut like 'x' on photoshop but would like to suggest an iPad touch+pencil only alternative: tap down on the color circle, then swipe to the left or right (depending on which hand setting the user set the UI to) to quickly switch between the foreground and background color. Or as with number 1 above, set it as a possible user-selected shortcut.

 

[DanH]

Quote

'four finger tap' shortcut that would show off a multitude of user-selected shortcuts

Love it. Edit: wait, we have an almost exactly as requested function in the Quick Menu, which is shown but not mentioned in the second image above. 

Quote

switching … between the foreground and background color … tap down on the color circle, then swipe

Would also like something to help with this, but I’d probably prefer just swiping, with no tap. This would replace the current function where “scrolling” of the color swatch/circle causes the color to turn lighter or darker. Does anyone use it that way? For me, it’s so slow as to be not useful, and swipe to switch between color 1 and color 2 would be much more useful.

Also, I’d like the X keyboard shortcut added for switching between color 1 and color 2. (Unification of all desktop and iPad keyboard shortcuts would make sense, too, for users who switch between both devices).

[DanH]

Just learned: the Quick Menu, which is in your second image, does nearly what you ask. But maybe you’re asking for more than the nine user selectable commands, and an expansion to the list of command options which currently is limited?

On first impression, I think the grid design of the Quick Menu might make it hard to quickly find what I want except for any commands that I use a lot.

Ideas to consider that may improve the Quick Menu: 

Color coded buttons, color being selectable by the user

Option to add more columns and rows of buttons. One benefit would be more chances for empty spaces to better “design” the button spacing to allow a faster read and/or to arrange into categories.

Command options expanded to all possible commands.

Option for smaller buttons as currently found in the Edit menu.

Option to layout the Quick Menu in the same layout style as currently found in the Document, Edit, and Selection menus (at the top left of the UI). So, option to be a list, or arrangeable into categories (i.e. Clipboard, Operations, etc.) with “buttons” in a column underneath each category just like Edit menu.

Not sure if this next one, in practice, would actually be better, but worth an explore: Option to have the quick menu be identical to the Document, Edit, and Selection menus (in the upper left of the UI)—identical in layout and options, so, exactly identical. Basically just providing a slightly faster way to access these menus while also having them appear in the middle of the screen where it is a bit quicker to reach. Option to have one two, or all three of these menus to appear simultaneously. 

Afterthought: I wonder how much physiological benefit, if any, there is to “reaching” around the screen to access menus and tools, as compared to limiting “reaching” by having menus pop up at center screen which, perhaps, might be a bit ergonomically detrimental by keeping range of motion narrower. Sometimes a little change in how we move makes big a impact with actions done over and over.