Can apps acknowledge the Magic Keyboard?

[Retromantic]

The Magic Keyboard turns the iPad into a proper computer.

So, when I’m using it as a tablet without the keyboard attached, it makes sense for my fingers to do the scrolling rather than the drawing, but for my Apple Pencil to do the drawing.

But, if I pop the iPad onto the Magic Keyboard, all of a sudden, in Designer, my trackpad gestures and mouse movements no longer draw anything. I have to go back to their settings and change the way the pencil is recognised to have it behave like a computer.

It gets really boring doing this many times throughout the day as I swap between tablet and keyboard mode, can we have the app know when the keyboard is attached, and act accordingly?

I imagine there are lots of opportunities throughout the suite to make lives easier in this regard.

And yes, other keyboards are available, but any keyboard attached via the Smart Connector ought to be recognisable…?

[walt.farrell]

12 minutes ago, Retr0mantic said:

But, if I pop the iPad onto the Magic Keyboard, all of a sudden, in Designer, my trackpad gestures and mouse movements no longer draw anything. I have to go back to their settings and change the way the pencil is recognised to have it behave like a computer.

I don't have that problem. Or I don't understand what you're asking.

My iPad works fine with or without the Magic Keyboard attached. The Apple Pencil always works for drawing and other Tool usage whether the keyboard is present or not.

You can configure the Affinity applications (Settings, Tools) to "Allow Touch for Gestures Only" which will restrict how your fingers work with the application (if on) or allow them to also be used for drawing. But the Apple Pencil works either way.

 

[Retromantic]

That’s what I mean.

If I use it as a tablet with the pencil, of course I don’t want my fingers to draw. That’s how I have it set. I found it unusable otherwise.

But the app doesn’t know the difference between a finger and a mouse or trackpad gesture. So when the keyboard is attached, I’m forced to use it like a tablet or manually change the settings so that I can draw with the trackpad or mouse.

Perhaps an alternative approach could be to forensically expose ALL the app settings to iPadOS shortcuts, so I can create my own shortcut to set the preferences as I wish whenever the keyboard is attached.

At the moment, it feels as if the apps don’t really recognise the different way the user is using the iPad when the keyboard is attached, beyond offering OS level support for typing and mouse movement…

[walt.farrell]

Thanks for the clarification.