Is there any way to view the built-in help topics *without* an iPad?

[R C-R]

I hope the question itself is straightforward enough but my reason for asking it probably is not:

 

I do not currently have a supported iPad (wife has an iPad Air but not a 2). I may or may not ever get a supported one, but I am willing to buy the app anyway, in part just to support Affinity development & in part because I might win the lottery or something & have the cash to spend on an iPad Pro.

 

However, it would be nice if I could get some use out of my purchase now, like by being able to study the help topics.

[DWright]

The help in the iPad app is a live help that the content is loaded in to app as required and therefore these help topics can only can be displayed is from within the app itself.

[James Ritson]

Hi R-C-R, thanks for your support through expressing a desire to buy the app even without a supported device! 

 

Making the iOS help available online (or as a separate download) isn't something we're able to do, mainly for a couple of reasons. The iOS help has some specific styling and scripting that doesn't translate well to fluid width browsers. As the remit wasn't to make the iOS help compatible externally, we were able to make some specific adjustments to work better with the 4:3 aspect ratio. It also has a fair few inline video clips with certain encoding that may not be supported in other browsers. Making the content accessible externally means people would likely try and produce PDF copies, which would not end well...

 

The help has mainly been adapted to facilitate gestures and heavier use of iconography to locate options and features. Generally, the feature set is similar to the desktop version. The only thing I can really recommend for now is to review the video tutorials (particularly Interface Tour which will give you the general layout). I'm planning and recording more over time, so they will hopefully give you a clear idea of the iPad version's feature set.

 

Also, a little off topic, but I've also read and appreciate the various threads from customers about providing an online help. As much as it seems that it's just a case of throwing up some HTML files on a web server, we're a small team of currently two (maintaining documentation and tutorials) and somebody would have to take responsibility for that, including updating, localisation and support. There are considerations for such a service, but there is a lot of behind the scenes work required to make it a reality. It will hopefully happen, but as can be seen from the recent iPad launch, there are many dynamic things happening that require more attention  ;)

 

I realise that it's not hugely cheap, but from the testing I've seen, the cheaper 5th gen "iPad" actually runs Photo reasonably well - I believe it thrashed a 6-core i7 in a number of raster operations! Worth thinking about if you're able to consider a cheaper iPad?

 

Thanks again,

James

[R C-R]

James, thanks very much for all the detailed info!

 

Regarding a cheaper (non-pro) iPad, one of the things I am most interested in exploring is using brushes with pressure sensitivity. As I understand it, this is currently only available when using the app with one of the iPad Pro models & an Apple Pencil, & that 3rd party active styluses like the Adonit Pixel (which are compatible with non-pro models) are not supported.

 

Assuming that is true, I have as yet not seen any comments from the staff about if or when the app will support any specific 3rd party active stylus, so I am kind of in "wait & see" mode for now. If the app did support the Adonit Pixel, it would be a no brainer because I could justify buying the cheaper 5th gen iPad for me & that stylus for use on both iPads (but of course not with the Affinity app on my wife's iPad Air).

[PhotoNewbie]

Read your OP a few days ago (havnt reviewed since) so this may have already been said. Have you considered buying a refurbished 9.7" ipad pro or a used one? Those should be reasonably priced. I have a 9.7" IPP and it is working well with the AP App.

[James Ritson]

Read your OP a few days ago (havnt reviewed since) so this may have already been said. Have you considered buying a refurbished 9.7" ipad pro or a used one? Those should be reasonably priced. I have a 9.7" IPP and it is working well with the AP App.

 

That's a really good point - Apple certified refurbished iPads are generally in excellent condition, I got my partner a refurbished Pro last Christmas and you honestly wouldn't know the difference (apart from the lack of fancy packaging).

 

(And yes, she knew it was a refurb ;) )

[PhotoNewbie]

That's a really good point - Apple certified refurbished iPads are generally in excellent condition, I got my partner a refurbished Pro last Christmas and you honestly wouldn't know the difference (apart from the lack of fancy packaging).

 

(And yes, she knew it was a refurb ;) )

I have bought two macbook pro's refurbished. Zero issues with either. One is a 2012, still going strong, that I gifted to my grandaughter when I got my 2015.

[R C-R]

Thanks for the suggestions. I too have bought refurbished Apple products -- just Macs for me -- so I don't have any problems in that respect. Mostly, it is just a budgeting issue.

 

Decisions, decisions ....  :D

[RHiNO]

Hi R-C-R, thanks for your support through expressing a desire to buy the app even without a supported device! 

 

Making the iOS help available online (or as a separate download) isn't something we're able to do, mainly for a couple of reasons. The iOS help has some specific styling and scripting that doesn't translate well to fluid width browsers. As the remit wasn't to make the iOS help compatible externally, we were able to make some specific adjustments to work better with the 4:3 aspect ratio. It also has a fair few inline video clips with certain encoding that may not be supported in other browsers. Making the content accessible externally means people would likely try and produce PDF copies, which would not end well...

 

The help has mainly been adapted to facilitate gestures and heavier use of iconography to locate options and features. Generally, the feature set is similar to the desktop version. The only thing I can really recommend for now is to review the video tutorials (particularly Interface Tour which will give you the general layout). I'm planning and recording more over time, so they will hopefully give you a clear idea of the iPad version's feature set.

 

Also, a little off topic, but I've also read and appreciate the various threads from customers about providing an online help. As much as it seems that it's just a case of throwing up some HTML files on a web server, we're a small team of currently two (maintaining documentation and tutorials) and somebody would have to take responsibility for that, including updating, localisation and support. There are considerations for such a service, but there is a lot of behind the scenes work required to make it a reality. It will hopefully happen, but as can be seen from the recent iPad launch, there are many dynamic things happening that require more attention  ;)

 

I realise that it's not hugely cheap, but from the testing I've seen, the cheaper 5th gen "iPad" actually runs Photo reasonably well - I believe it thrashed a 6-core i7 in a number of raster operations! Worth thinking about if you're able to consider a cheaper iPad?

 

Thanks again,

James

Out of curiosity: What's the size of the actual app itself and the size of the help in the 1.2GB app size?

 

I understand a online help is problematic, but why not having a separate ios app just for the help? It will help (ops) people who need to constant look into the help (because the embedded help always start at the beginning) and also will alleviate the update size of the app itself (if the help and the videos are a considerable chunk of those 1.2GB) ;)

 

Not a big problem, just technically intrigued by this really big app size, that's even bigger than the desktop version :)

[donka]

Didn't know if you had seen this or not but it is the video guides for the iPad version:

 

https://forum.affinity.serif.com/index.php?/topic/40981-official-affinity-photo-ipad-tutorials/