The new iPad Pro 2021 is finally here! If you’re one of the lucky ones who got your hands on this beauty, you’ll be needing some apps to go with it.
The display has been updated to an 11-inch Liquid Retina and a 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR. The cameras have been updated to include a 12MP Wide camera and a 10MP Ultra Wide camera—plus they support the LiDAR Scanner, which uses depth data to create super-accurate augmented reality experiences. And don’t forget the M1 chip! This new chip allows for fast processing, super-fast graphics, and machine learning like never before.
So what are the best apps to take advantage of these awesome updates? Check out our top picks below:
Best Apps For New Ipad Pro 2021
Your iPad Pro gives you a great screen and excellent sound—all packed into a fast, portable tablet. But you can also use your device to write long documents, create sketches, convert your handwriting to text, or just relax and read a magazine or play a game. Add your creativity, an Apple Pencil, and these 10 apps to get the most out of your iPad Pro.
01
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Linea Sketch: Create Beautiful Drawings
The Linea Sketch app lets you draw on different layers. Screenshot
What We Like
A more capable drawing app than the free Apple Notes app.
What We Don’t Like
Less capable than professional drawing apps, such as Procreate or Affinity Design.
Linea Sketch (free with in-app purchases) offers a sketching app that also supports drawing layers: When you draw on a layer, you can later move the layer in front of—or behind—other drawing layers. The app includes several pens, color palettes, and background textures. You may also use a transform tool to cut, copy, and paste portions of your drawing.
Download Linea Sketch
02
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MyScript Nebo: Convert Your Handwriting to Text
MyScript Nebo converts handwriting to text as you write. Screenshot
What We Like
While many apps recognize characters in images when you search, MyScript Nebo converts characters into text as you write.
What We Don’t Like
You have to remember how to write neatly and clearly for writing to be recognized.
You’ll need an Apple Pencil to use MyScript Nebo, which turns your handwritten words and sentences into text. If you make a mistake, scribble over a letter or word to erase it, then write your corrected text. MyScript Nebo (free with in-app purchases) supports drawn diagrams, too.
Download MyScript Nebo
03
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PCalc: Add a Calculator to Your iPad
PCalc showing result of 118 divided by 256. (Answer is .4609375)
PCalc brings a customizable calculator to your iPad Pro. Screenshot
What We Like
Plenty of options you can configure.
What We Don’t Like
PCalc may be more calculator than many people need.
PCalc ($9.99) delivers one of the most powerful and flexible calculators for your iPad Pro. You can choose to see a ticker tape of your calculations, set several different modes (engineering, scientific, accounting), or use RPN (reverse Polish notation). It’s also the only calculator we know of with a hidden augmented reality mode: Tap help (in the upper right) > About PCalc > then tap the large “42” icon that appears.
Download PCalc
04
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PDF Viewer – Annotation Expert: Annotate and Edit Documents
Edit, highlight, and sign PDF documents with PDF Viewer Pro. Screenshot
What We Like
Extremely capable PDF viewer and editor that works well with the Apple Pencil.
What We Don’t Like
While we love to make notes on documents, we’re fairly certain no one really likes filling out forms.
PDF Viewer – Annotation Expert, which is available for free, makes it easy to edit PDF documents: Type text, highlight important parts of a page, and scribble notes—or sign your signature—with the Apple Pencil. An optional annual subscription upgrade (free with in-app purchases) adds the ability to annotate images, combine multiple documents into a single PDF, and password-protect your PDFs.
Download PDF Viewer – Annotation Expert
05
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LumaFusion: Edit Video Like a Pro
LumaFusion showing three images in edit view
Edit with the LumaFusion professional video-editing app. Screenshot
What We Like
Lumafusion delivers a professional-quality video editing app.
What We Don’t Like
The many powerful features take a bit of time to learn.
With LumaFusion ($29.99 with in-app purchases), you can edit high-quality videos with 3 video tracks and 3 additional audio tracks. That means you can show videos side-by-side or picture-in-picture-in-picture. And, of course, you can trim, resize, and position your segments anywhere in your video. LumaFusion supports Chroma key, too, so you can shoot video against a green or blue background, then replace the background with other videos—or an image of your choice.
Download LumaFusion
06
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Ulysses: Write Long Documents
Ulysses iPad app; shows 127 works completed toward a goal (circle displayed in upper right).
Use Ulysses to write and edit long documents in plain text. Screenshot
What We Like
A highly capable, text-focused writing tool.
What We Don’t Like
Subscription pricing ($40 per year or $5 per month) for a text editor isn’t for everyone.
If you write, take a look at the Ulysses app (free trial/subscription)—especially if you need to write a long document with many sections. You can set word count goals for each segment or for the entire piece. Ulysses supports Markdown, a way to markup format for the web. You can publish your work to WordPress or Medium from Ulysses, too.
Download Ulysses
07
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Jump Desktop: Connect to Your Desktop Apps
Jump Desktop connects you to a remote computer from your iPad. Screenshot
What We Like
You can access traditional Windows or macOS systems from an iPad Pro.
What We Don’t Like
Jump Desktop on the iPad only works with two Bluetooth mouse models.
Many people who use the iPad Pro also use devices that run Windows or macOS. With a bit of configuration, Jump Desktop ($7.99) lets you connect to these devices from an iPad Pro to give you full access to your desktop apps. You can even buy a mouse that works with Jump Desktop to achieve an even more traditional desktop-like experience.
best apps for ipad pro 2021 with pencil
The Apple Pencil transforms the iPad from a touchscreen tablet to a computer with a precise pointing instrument. Add an Apple Pencil to your iPad or iPad Pro and you’ll watch the device spread its wings.
Tasks like editing photos, taking notes in class, drawing, and graphic design become more intuitive, faster, and easier. Check out our list of the best Apple Pencil apps for iPad and iPad Pro.
- Apple Notes
Apple Notes Apple Pencil Drawing
Before you jump into the abyss of amazing third-party apps, don’t forget everything Apple Notes can do. The built-in Notes app comes with support for the Apple Pencil.
Make a new note, then just start writing with the Apple Pencil. You can scribble, draw, or do whatever else you want. Tap on the Pencil icon at the bottom to reveal the toolbar. From here, you can switch to a pen or a marker tip and pick any color you want.
Tap on the lasso tool icon to make a section. With it, simply draw over part of the note and you’ll be able to pick it up and move it around.
The best reason to use Apple Notes as a quick note-taking app on iPad is its integration with iOS/iPadOS. Tap on the Lock screen with your Apple Pencil and you’ll instantly open the Notes app with either a blank note or the last note you accessed (you can specify this in the app’s settings).
- Notability
Notability Apple Pencil Notetaking
Notability is designed as a multipurpose note-taking app, especially for students. When you open a note, you can choose to write with your Apple Pencil or type with the keyboard (and easily alternate between them).
Plus, you can record the audio in the background. This makes Notability the best tool for taking lecture notes. You can change the background to show graph paper and write as much as you need, thanks to the infinite scrolling feature. Notability also marks page breaks, which makes it easy to export notes as PDFs or print them later.
Download: Notability ($8.99, in-app purchases available)
- Adobe Photoshop
adobe-photoshop-ipad
As the iPad continues to become more powerful, desktop-class apps are making their move to the tablet, including Adobe Photoshop. Adobe designed the app to take advantage of the iPad’s touchscreen and include support for the Apple Pencil.
With the app, you can create full PSDs with layers and use features you know from the desktop version, like spot healing and blending. There are other familiar tools like the Layer stack and Toolbar. To better help you while working, the app’s UI is context-aware, so it will only show tools that you really need.
You can try the app out with a 30-day free trial. Anyone with a current Adobe Photoshop monthly membership can use the app at no additional cost.
Download: Adobe Photoshop (Free trial, subscription required)
- AstroPad Standard
Astropad Standard
You can bring an iPad and Mac together with AstroPad Standard. Requiring a special app to run on a Mac simultaneously, connect your iPad via Wi-Fi or plugged in with a USB connection. On the iPad, you’ll be able to mirror any Mac app on the tablet screen. Along with full touch support and gestures, you can use the Apple Pencil all across the system and with any app. That opens up a wide variety of ways to bring stylus support, including full pressure sensitivity, to the Mac.
For example, you can draw directly into any creative software like the popular Adobe Creative Suite, Pixelmator, and more. You can also use the Apple Pencil for annotation, whiteboarding, and other tasks. When using the app, it bursts up to 60 FPS, even when using Wi-Fi. The app also sports accurate palm rejection for an even better experience.
Download: AstroPad Standard ($29.99)
- Linea Sketch
Linea Sketch App Prototype Sketching
Linea Sketch sits somewhere between a simple doodling app and more professional drawing tools like Procreate. It gives you the simplicity of doodling whatever you want, with power user tools like unlimited layers, transform tools, automatic ruler, grids, and more.
Like every other drawing app, Linea takes a canvas-based approach. Unlike Notability, you won’t find an endlessly scrolling page here. However, you can create multiple canvases and organize them in projects.
RELATED:
The Best IPad Drawing And Painting Apps For Beginners
The grid tool gives you backgrounds for note-taking, drawing, and user interface design. Linea Sketch’s genius lies in its simple design. The tools are arranged in two panels on either side of the screen, letting you ignore features you don’t need.
But this is a double-edged sword, as many of Linea’s interesting features are hidden behind buttons. Once you get comfortable with the app, you should create a blank page and try all the tools at least once.
Download: Linea Sketch (Free, subscription available)
- GoodNotes 5
Goodnotes 5 iPad Drawing Notes
GoodNotes 5 is the modernized version of the original versatile note-taking iPad app. The first app’s premise was simple: it replicated a physical writing environment on the iPad. If you liked writing on a yellow legal pad, you could essentially get the same feeling on your iPad.
But this also meant that GoodNotes was limited in functionality. For example, it didn’t have the endless vertical scrolling we’re used to in apps like Notes and Notability. Instead, you had to flip pages every time.
GoodNotes 5 takes care of these annoyances. The continuous vertical scrolling makes note-taking much easier. And this version improves on all the aspects that make GoodNotes such a robust note-taking app. You can now nest as many folders as you want and organize them easily.
Plus, the handwriting recognition works even if your handwriting is poor.
Download: GoodNotes 5 ($7.99)
- LiquidText
Liquidtext highlights
LiquidText takes the usual note-taking app to a new level. The app is designed to bring the true paper experience to an iPad. On the tablet, using an Apple Pencil you can gather and organize notes, ideas, a more from a number of sources. And a single tap can show the original context of the information. The app’s unique visualizations allow you to bring search results and highlights to see the big picture. Once the notes and excerpts are organized how you’d like, results can be exported into a PDF and other standard formats to share with others.
The free version offers limited functionality. There are multiple purchases opportunities for a single device or a cloud-based version that can be used across multiple devices.
Download: LiquidText (Free, in-app purchases and subscriptions available)
- Pixelmator
Pixelmator iPad Photo Editing
Pixelmator is known as an intuitive and simple image editor. While you can use Pixelmator to quickly edit photos, it does a lot more than that. You can create an empty canvas, add and arrange photos, create shapes, add text, and more. Each lives on its own independent layer.
The Apple Pencil adds an extra layer of creativity. Using the selection tool, you can accurately single out parts of images that you want to edit. You can also write over images freehand, or draw any shape you want. Pixelmator comes with a variety of brushes, from calligraphy to crayons.
Download: Pixelmator ($4.99)
- Procreate
Procreate iPad Apple Pencil Brushes
Procreate is the ultimate Apple Pencil app. If you can dream it, and you have the skills, you can probably make it using Procreate on iPad. If you don’t want to use Photoshop, Procreate is rightly championed as an Adobe suite replacement and one of the best professional iPad apps.
However, Procreate is best suitable for drawing and painting. It’s not really designed for graphic design and vector work.
Download: Procreate ($9.99)
- Nebo
Nebo Handwriting iPad app
Nebo is a full-featured note-taking app that’s made even better with the Apple Pencil. With it, you can edit and format text and do tasks like add or remove content and space, plus decorate and apply different styles.
One of its headlining features is converting handwriting from the Apple Pencil into text that you can edit and add to different notes. The app recognizes more than 65 languages and will also convert handwritten symbols. You can also enter text using a keyboard if you prefer. When looking for specific information, both typed and handwritten text are searchable.
When you finish a note, it can be converted into Word, PDF, HTML, or text. While the app is free to download, the majority of features require an in-app purchase to unlock the Pro version.
Download: Nebo (Free, premium version available)
- Sketch Club
Sketch Club
Sketch Club combines a great drawing and painting app with a vibrant community of artists looking to improve their craft.
When creating with an Apple Pencil, there are a wide variety of different tools at your disposal allowing you to create different layers with configurable blending, naming, and color tagging. You can create a canvas up to 16K resolution with a number of exportable sizes, including the standard 300 DPI. To help craft a perfect creation, there are many built-in tools to choose from, and you can even import others from the community.
Along with the drawing features, you can follow other artists and even gain followers while sharing creations. A new challenge arrives each day and a fresh competition comes each week, giving you a chance to improve. You can also live stream and chat for feedback while drawing.
Download: Sketch Club ($2.99)
- Affinity Designer
Affinity Designer iOS
Affinity Designer is the only great full-featured vector design app on iPad. It brings almost all the features from the Mac app to your iPad, and does so in an intuitive manner.
At first glance, you might feel like there’s a lot going on as the app covers three edges of the screen with toolbars. But don’t be overwhelmed; tap on each button and you’ll see detailed options appear.
To make working easier, Affinity has three different modes: Vector, Pixel, and Export. The Vector mode is for drawing, while Pixel mode is similar to using a raster app like Photoshop. If you’re using Designer to design graphics or user interfaces, Export mode makes it easy to export individual assets.
The app is fast and slick. Start creating points and paths, and you’re on your way to creating an illustration. The features you expect from a good vector design app (pen tool, node tool, fill tool, live shapes) are all here, and they’ve been made more intuitive for a touchscreen.
Download: Affinity Designer ($19.99)
- Flow by Moleskine
Flow by Moleskine
Flow by Moleskine takes the iconic notebook to your iPad. Just like with a real Moleskine, if you can dream it, it’s possible to create using the app and an Apple Pencil.
One of the most unique features of the app is that documents are an infinite width, so you can simply pan and continue the drawing. And with a virtual toolset, you can create custom tools available with just a single tap.
The app is free to download. A subscription unlocks cloud storage and backup for all documents and tools so you can start on one iPad and then pick up work on another.
Download: Flow by Moleskine (Free, subscription available)
- MyScript Calculator
Myscript calculator
With an iPad and Apple Pencil, you can use MyScript Calculator as an interactive piece of paper for all of your math problems. Instead of using a keyboard, you can write calculations in a natural way on the tablet screen. You’ll then see the results. If you make a mistake, you can even scratch out and rewrite the correct number.
The calculator supports basic math operations and more advanced options like trigonometry, logarithms, constants, and more. Results can be saved into memory and reused when needed. You can also retrieve all past calculations to reuse or export.
Download: MyScript Calculator ($2.99)
- Pigment
Pigment Apple Pencil Coloring App
Coloring has been known to reduce stress and anxiety. The mere act of taking time out of your busy life and focusing on coloring can be meditative. And you don’t need to buy an adult coloring book or colored pencils to get started. All you need is an iPad coloring app.
Pigment has a collection of more than 4,000 coloring pages. You’ll certainly find something that strikes your fancy, as it has everything from simple nature drawings to complex mandalas that you can really take your time with.
Pigment has two coloring modes. If you want, you can tap on a shape to only color inside it. No matter how inaccurate you are, the color won’t bleed outside the selection. If you want a more realistic drawing experience, don’t tap on the shape before you start coloring.
Download: Pigment (Free, subscription available)
Conclusion
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