Paul Morris on August 5, 2018, 4:46 am

This Hack Lets You Use Apple Pencil With iPhone Or Any iPad

If, for some reason, you happen to own Apple Pencil but not an iPad Pro or sixth-generation iPad, then you’re likely going to be a little underwhelmed by Apple’s $99.00 accessory.

That’s because the Pencil only supports specific iPad models. However, all is not lost as you can actually use it with any device, albeit in a slightly hacky manner.

The Apple Pencil officially only offers support for iPad Pro 10.9-inch and 12.9-inch as well as the latest sixth-generation 2018 iPad. When paired, it allows a user to annotate over images and documents as well as use third-party apps to draw, sketch, and generally give utterly easy input without having to call up the virtual keyboard or user a finger for sketchy-at-best input. However, Apple Pencil is only really useful for those who have invested additional finances in some compatible iPad hardware. Now, to support previously non-supported iPhone and iPad hardware, there is a hack for that.

We should probably mention that this “hack” is not something that most people will actually do. It doesn’t involve installing any additional hardware or modifying the physical DNA of the Apple Pencil or any iOS device. No, instead, as according to iDeviceHelp, it involves wrapping multiple layers of slightly damp napkin around the Apple Pencil just above the actual tip of it. For one reason or another, which probably involves some kind of black magic, the Apple Pencil then works as an input device on any of Apple’s iOS devices – iPhone or iPad.

This is definitely not a convenient method of using Apple Pencil as an input device on previously unsupported hardware. And it’s definitely not something that everyone who doesn’t own an iPad Pro is going to get involved in. However, if for one reason or another, you do happen to have Apple’s Pencil accessory – whether it was gifted to you or you purchased it not knowing it needed specific hardware – then this little modification should definitely give you the ability to sketch and annotate on other hardware.

It just means that you’ll have to carry around some slightly damp napkins with you at all times! It’s probably easier to just buy one of Apple’s iPad Pros, or sell your Apple Pencil.

(Source: iDeviceHelp [YouTube])