Free App Turns Apple Pencil into an iPad Camera Remote

Pencilera is a new free, open-source iPad app that turns an Apple Pencil into a camera remote.

Spotted by The Verge, the new app relies upon either the Apple Pencil 2 or the new Apple Pencil Pro and works with any iPad that runs iPadOS 17.5

Pencilera’s developer, Starlight Apps, explains that its new app is “simple yet incredibly useful.” Suppose someone is trying to capture a group photo using their iPad. The typical self-timer method is tedious and prone to errors. The developer realized that many iPad owners already have a tool that could solve this issue: an Apple Pencil.

The Apple Pencil 2 added double tapping to trigger specific actions, like switching to an eraser in a drawing app, while the new Apple Pencil Pro released alongside the redesigned, M4-powered iPad Pro supports squeezing gesture controls.

Using Pencilera, an iPad owner can use their Apple Pencil as a camera remote control through tapping or squeezing gestures.

“Pencilera was actually a rather fun project for me to work on. I decided that it would only be fitting for a simple iPad app, to be built on an iPad. I took up the challenge to build the entire app on iPad from start to finish; I wanted to push the iPad to its limits and see how it works out. Keep in mind this was made using a 2020 iPad Air with an A14 chip — not the M1, M2 or M4 iPad,” explains Om Chachad, Chief Software Developer at Starlight Apps.

“I think Pencilera turned out amazing, and everyone who uses it will enjoy the app. I’ve put a lot of love and care into designing small elements of the app, and I hope people notice and appreciate them. I’ve had the chance to demo the app in action to people over the last two months, and it has left nearly everyone impressed, and some even thinking that this was a native feature of the Apple Pencil from Apple. And that’s when you know you’ve built a great app.”

Starlight Apps also believes in open source software, so it has made its new app entirely open source on GitHub.

Pencilera is a clever use of the Apple Pencil for iPad photographers and is available to download now for free from the App Store. To borrow a clever line from the app’s store listing, it’s time for iPad photographers to “say squeeze!” instead of “cheese.”

Image credits: Pencilera / Starlight Apps