The Apple Pencil is excellent for sketching, painting, taking notes, and using other productivity features on your iPad. You can use the Pencil to take screenshots, and it’s capable of much more. For instance, you can turn your Apple Pencil into a camera button trigger to take photos on your iPad. Luckily, with iPadOS 18 and later, that is possible.
Also Read: Best drawing apps for using Apple Pencil with iPad
Things to Note Before You Proceed
The free, open-source app Pencilera can transform your Apple Pencil into a camera button for your iPad. While the app is free, it has two essential requirements:
- Works only on Apple Pencil 2 and Apple Pencil Pro
- Requires iPadOS 17.5 or later on iPad
The app works on all iPad models running the latest iPadOS 18; you can check if your iPad is compatible. Here’s how to use it to turn your Apple Pencil into a camera remote for your iPad.
1. Install the Pencilera app on your iPad from the App Store.
Download: Pencilera for iPad
2. Open the app nd tap the two circular arrows button to pick the front or rear camera.
3. Point and adjust your iPad’s camera towards the subject or area you want to capture.
4. Double-tap or squeeze the Pencil to take a picture.
You might need to practice a bit to time the capture the photos from your iPad’s rear camera. The iPad’s screen flashes whenever you take a photo using this app. At the time of writing, the app did not have any ads or pro version.
This Nifty App Will Make You Want More
The Pencilera app looks very minimal and is simple to use. The iPad’s screen flashes when you click a photo using the app is a good indicator to know if someone is playing with the Pencil. Also, note that the Pencil will only work if it is in the iPad’s connectivity range. The one thing that we’d like to see is the capability to use it as a camera remote to record videos using the iPad camera.
