Duet Display for iPad gains better Apple Pencil support, improved picture quality

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPad
The developers of the Duet Display app that allows the use of an iPad as an second screen for a Mac have released an update to the Pro in-app subscription, allowing for better color quality, better pressure curve customization, and more.




Users who have subscribed to service can now change the way that macOS receives and translates pressure curves, allowing for tailoring of how the Apple Pencil responds to the user. Additionally, to provide a faster drawing experience, Duet has implemented a "line preview" feature to predict where the Pencil is before macOS or Windows knows where it is.

Advanced gestures have been implemented in the new version, making drawing and using the iPad as a primary interface better for the user. Supplementing that, the virtual Touch Bar feature has been improved, with enhanced speed and stability.

Rendering quality and speed for pro users under the Pixel Perfect setting has been improved, delivering a higher quality display in less time according to the developers.



AppleInsider examined the core Duet Display app in December 2016, and found the $19.99 app "preposterously fast" in regular use, with nearly transparent extension of the macOS desktop after initial installation.

Duet Pro 2.0 is a $19.99 yearly in-app purchase, allowing for use of an iPad as a graphics tablet replacement, the ability for the Apple Pencil to be more than a simple pointer as in the core app, and implements palm rejection as well.

Duet Display and the Duet Pro 2.0 in-app purchase require iOS 8.0 or greater on the iPad, and macOS Sierra 10.12.2 or later.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    stanthemanstantheman Posts: 332member
    This should be a regular feature of Mac-OS and iOS. You should be able to use any Apple device as a spare display screen or user interface for every other Apple device. That's the idea behind the Remote app, which lets an iPhone or iPad control AppleTV.
    edited May 2017 dysamoriacornchiptmay
  • Reply 2 of 9
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    The word "subscription" makes this an automatic "no". I had known about this app before, but had forgotten about it back then for the same reason.
    cornchipSpamSandwich
  • Reply 3 of 9
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,949member
    How does this compare with Astropad?
  • Reply 4 of 9
    hagarhagar Posts: 130member
    Still can't use this. If I install Duet on my iMac, AirPlay to other external screens and Apple TV is broken. This is a known issue that will never be fixed, according to their support. Too bad. 
  • Reply 5 of 9
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,861administrator
    dysamoria said:
    The word "subscription" makes this an automatic "no". I had known about this app before, but had forgotten about it back then for the same reason.
    For clarity, the app itself is $20, and is a good screen extender on its own. We looked at in in January, I want to say.

    The add-ons for the Apple Pencil are the $20 per year addition.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    davidmalcolmdavidmalcolm Posts: 384member
    It's rough, on the one hand I'd love to use this instead of Astro Pad since Astro Pad only does a chunk of your screen, so it never really looks proper on the iPad, where as this looks like I'd be able to treat it like it's own separate monitor. But at the same time, subscribing for something like this is just ... no. If I buy something like this I want to own it. Really I just hope that Affinity Designer comes out on the iPad soon.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    jdwjdw Posts: 1,334member
    Mike Wuerthele said:

    The add-ons for the Apple Pencil are the $20 per year addition.
    So if you don't care about the Apple Pencil, you pay one-time $20 for the app, but if you want to sketch with it a few times a year, you must perpetually pay $20/year?  What is the logic behind that?
  • Reply 8 of 9
    alexonlinealexonline Posts: 241member
    jdw said:
    Mike Wuerthele said:

    The add-ons for the Apple Pencil are the $20 per year addition.
    So if you don't care about the Apple Pencil, you pay one-time $20 for the app, but if you want to sketch with it a few times a year, you must perpetually pay $20/year?  What is the logic behind that?
    Well, it's either greed, or more likely, the need desire for an on-going, reliable income stream. 

    The only problem is the 'reliable' bit - as someone noted above, Duet is merely a feature that Apple could replicate at will, instantly destroying Duet's business and revenue stream. 

    Whether Apple would do that is in question, but Dropbox was derided as a feature by Jobs and iCloud Drive has dropped in as Apple's answer...
  • Reply 9 of 9
    bestkeptsecretbestkeptsecret Posts: 4,265member

    Damn these bloody subscriptions!

    I'd subscribe to magazines, to news portals probably, to services. But the notion of subscribing to get my software to keep working still seems off to me.

    I do have an Office 365 subscription though.

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