Lower part of screen goes black when selecting Art Text or Frame Text Tool

[walt.farrell]

I noticed today that I can't change (or even see) the Context settings for the Text tools in Designer (or Photo) 1.10.7, on iPadOS 16.3. As soon as I select the Art Text or Frame Text tools and draw on the screen with them, the bottom part of the screen goes black, hiding the lower tools on the left and right and the complete Context bar. Switching between landscape and portrait for the iPad doesn't help. I tried resetting User Data in the app, closing the app, and also Force Stopping the iPad. Nothing helps.

Edit: Detaching the Magic Keyboard lets the context bar show when the on-screen keyboard comes up. So it seems to be related to having the physical keyboard attached.

 

[Dan C]

Hi @walt.farrell,

Thanks for your report!

I've tried this on an M1, M2 and an older iPad Pro using the A9X chip all updated to 16.3 and I've yet been unable to replicate this here with a magic keyboard.

Can you please confirm, are you drawing the Artistic Text object using an Apple Pencil, or your finger? Do you see a difference in behaviour when using either input method?

[walt.farrell]

1 hour ago, Dan C said:

Can you please confirm, are you drawing the Artistic Text object using an Apple Pencil, or your finger? Do you see a difference in behaviour when using either input method?

Same behavior either way.

[Dan C]

Apologies for the delay Walt - that's certainly interesting behaviour.

Can you think of any display settings (such as the recently added 'Display Zoom') or keyboard settings/languages you have enabled that may explain the difference in behaviour we're seeing here?

Just to confirm, are you using the iPad Magic Keyboard that attaches using magnets to the back of the iPad and acts as a 'floating' stand, similar to the one shown below?

I'm aware there are multiple different styles of 'Magic Keyboard' for iPad and want to ensure I'm testing on the same keyboard

[walt.farrell]

Yes, that's the keyboard I have, @Dan C. And to my knowledge I don't have any non-default Display or keyboard/language settings.

[Dan C]

Thanks for confirming Walt - this iPad / Keyboard combo are in the office currently so I will be sure to perform further tests on Monday and respond back ASAP

[Dan C]

I've tried testing this on our M1 Pro, M1 Air & M2 Pro - all running iOS 16.3 & Designer 1.10.7 - thus far I've been unable to replicate the issue, even after resetting the app, restarting the iPad, etc.

I'm unsure what's causing this locally for you, however I can log this as an issue with our team as a needs more info bug, such that our QA team can test further and should we receive further reports, it can be converted to a regular bug report.

My apologies I can't provide a better answer at this time!

[Hieronymos Prime]

I’ve recently been experiencing the same issue.  I have the 11” iPad Pro, using iOS 16.3.1 and Magic Keyboard.

 If I hold and swipe left or right at the bottom of the screen, I can move the rounded rectangle.  I can access the fonts etc. if I move the rectangle towards the top of the screen; however, I have to use my other hand to make selections.

[walt.farrell]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity forums, @Hieronymos Prime.

I hadn't even noticed that dark gray rounded rectangle down in the lower right, so thanks for mentioning it. I have no idea what it might be.

You're right that touching/holding somewhere in the black area, and dragging left/right will move that rounded rectangle, and reposition it. I can end up with it on the right (where it started) or on the left. Or if I drag it upward to about mid-screen the context bar with font selection, etc. appears.

That at least makes it usable, though somewhat painful in operation  

@Dan C: Here's a video of that.

 

[Dan C]

Thanks for the further information here @Hieronymos Prime & the screen recording provided @walt.farrell!

I will be sure to update the development log with this information now and I will continue to test this issue when I am back in the office tomorrow to see if I can replicate this once again.

Our apologies for any inconveniences caused in the meantime due to this.

[Dan C]

Just to confirm, I have since been able to replicate this issue - it requires Stage Manager to be enabled which isn't supported for Affinity apps at this time (and is unlikely to ever be supported for Affinity V1).

If you disable Stage Manager, this issue should stop occurring