ASTROPAD STUDIO

DRAWING ACROSS DEVICES US$29.99 one-off standard; US$64.99pa pro version | astropad.com

Astropad is an app that links your tablet and desktop computer together: the tablet displays whatever program you’re running on your PC and whatever you draw with a stylus on your tablet appears on your main screen.

Last year’s Astropad Standard app enabled you to do this with a variety of tablet devices and any stylus you owned. Studio, however, works only with devices such as the iPad Pro and Apple’s Pencil as well. Another important difference is that Standard costs a one-off payment of US$29.99, but Studio is only available through a monthly or annual subscription, managed through an online account. It’s clear that Studio is a professional solution, aimed at working artists and designers who expect to be drawing for hours every day.

Setting everything up is a chore, simply because of the number of components you’re working with. First, create your Astropad Studio account and set up your subscription. Next, download and install the Astropad app on your computer and the Astropad Studio app on your tablet of choice. Now run both apps: as long as your devices are on the same network, they’ll recognise each other and your desktop screen will be reproduced on your tablet. Of course, all this only needs to be done once.

The combination works well in practice. If you link your tablet and computer with a charging cable, the connection between the two screens feels instantaneous. If you decouple the tablet and link through Wi-Fi instead, you might notice a lag between the main screen changing and the tablet screen updating, depending on the speed of your wireless network. We were never excessively bothered by the time lag, though.

For Apple users, the exclusive use of iPad Pro and Pencil means that Astropad Studio has several extra features compared with Standard. For example, Studio’s Magic Gestures feature enables you to combine finger tap and Pencil gestures to trigger responses, including simulating a right-click or switching between tools.