Apple’s iPad and Pencil mixture makes for a superb note-taking or digital drawing answer. However regardless that writing notes or creating artwork on the iPad has loads of benefits over utilizing analog pen and paper, the precise really feel of writing with a plastic-tipped stylus on the iPad’s clean glass isn’t nice. The exhausting plastic of the stylus hitting the exhausting glass of the iPad might be noisy, slippery, and simply disagreeable to make use of for those who’re used to writing on paper.
But it doesn’t essentially need to be that approach. There’s a small cottage business of paper-feel (or paperlike or paper-type) display screen protectors for the iPad that handle this difficulty immediately. And as somebody who takes handwritten notes on the iPad each single day, I now swear by them.
These sorts of display screen protectors have a unique function than the everyday clear plastic display screen protector designed to stop scratches on the display screen. They’ve matte finishes that each diffuse the sunshine popping out of the display screen and supply a rougher texture for writing. This has the impact of offering resistance to the tip of the Apple Pencil, which makes writing on the glass really feel extra like writing on paper and offers extra management over your strokes. In addition they scale back the tapping-on-glass noise you get with the Pencil on the iPad. Writing by way of the display screen protector isn’t any much less responsive than with out it, and you’ll nonetheless navigate the iPad simply with commonplace finger faucets and swipes.
Sure, as anticipated, it makes the iPad really feel extra like paper, although I’m not going to let you know it’s precisely the identical.
Widespread manufacturers of paper-type display screen protectors embrace Paperlike, Moshi (that is what I exploit on an iPad Mini and an iPad Professional), and PenTips, although there are a lot of off-brand choices on Amazon for decrease prices. Yow will discover choices for each iPad available on the market, from the bottom 9.7-inch mannequin launched a few years in the past to the most recent and biggest iPad Professional fashions. A matte display screen protector will usually price greater than a primary clear one, with the name-brand variations operating anyplace from $30 to $45 every.
There are some downsides to concentrate on when utilizing a matte display screen protector. As a result of these display screen protectors diffuse the sunshine popping out of the display screen, there may be an influence to the brightness and coloration saturation of the display screen. In the event you use your iPad open air otherwise you primarily use it for watching motion pictures, this could be a difficulty for you. PenTips’ PenMat affords a intelligent answer for this: it magnetically attaches to the iPad, so you possibly can simply put it on once you need to write or draw and take it off once you need to watch a film or get the total brightness of the iPad’s display screen. I haven’t used this one myself, however YouTuber Brad Colbow, who creates movies about making artwork on digital gadgets, not too long ago examined it and got here away impressed.
Those that write with a heavy hand or do loads of drawing on their iPads would possibly put on out the tip of the Apple Pencil quicker with a matte display screen protector attributable to its rougher texture. (This appears to be worst when tilting the Pencil for shading results.) Changing the Pencil’s tip is straightforward, and you will get 4 replacements for lower than $20, however it’s one thing to concentrate on.
The matte display screen protector nearly makes my handwriting legible
I personally have by no means had a difficulty with the diminished brightness and distinction attributable to the matte display screen protector, so it’s one thing I go away on my iPad one hundred pc of the time. And once I’m writing notes, it’s extra snug to make use of, I’ve better management, and you’ll nearly learn my chicken-scratch handwriting. It additionally eliminates glare once I’m studying or watching video. One final profit is the matte display screen protector appears to repel fingerprints and different grossness higher than the naked glass display screen.
If all you employ your iPad for is watching video and entertaining younger children, you then most likely don’t have to spend the cash for matte display screen protector. However for those who’ve had concepts to make use of it for note-taking or digital artwork, then it’s probably the greatest equipment you should purchase — after getting a Pencil already, after all. And an iPad with a matte display screen protector goes a good distance towards offering an analogous writing expertise to one thing like a Outstanding whereas nonetheless being able to all the opposite issues an iPad is nice for.
