iPad and Procreate – What’s the big deal?

I write this post with mixed feelings. Ever since I bought my first smartphone, so many years ago, I’ve been a solid Android fan. It never entered my head to purchase an iPhone or iPad, I thought them overrated and overpriced. Well, the jury is still out on the latter, but I’ll tell you how I got here.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my Samsung tablet; it’s powerful and does everything I want, but my sister-in-law has an iPad and loves it, she won’t give it up and I always wondered why. Well, who am I to judge without even trying it first? So, feeling a little like I was cheating on Android, I took the plunge and purchased a 12.9 inch iPad Pro. I bought it, refurbished, from the Apple website, almost half the price of a new one, which I thought was a good deal.

Being very interested in digital design, I also ordered the Apple Pencil. They are not cheap! I can’t really say if they are overpriced because I have no idea of what goes into producing them, but I have to admit, it’s very impressive. It feels great, has pressure sensitivity and is flawless to use.

I came across a lot of design tutorials on YouTube and they all seemed to use Procreate, which I learned was only available on Apple devices. It’s cheap, so I decided: ‘Why not?’ I have to say I’m absolutely blown away by how simple it is to use, but how powerful it is! What I can’t understand is why Apple won’t release it for other operating systems, I’m sure it would be very profitable for them, but it’s their software, so it’s obviously their choice.

I’m also very impressed with the iPad itself, although there are one or two things I don’t like, such as having no back button and not being able to close all running apps at once (no idea what the reasoning behind that is), but on the whole, I’m having fun with it. and getting used to the interface isn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.

I’m sorry, Android and Samsung, but I’ve been converted, at least as far as tablets go, and I can’t see me returning any time soon. It looks as though some lucky Amazon user will soon be in possession of a second-hand Samsung tablet!