Apple is updating its iWork suite of productivity apps — Pages, Numbers and Keynote — that allow users to draw, sketch or write with an Apple Pencil directly in the iOS versions of the apps. The input device can also be used to add color, texture and more to any drawing.
Smart Annotation, launched today in beta, is a new tool in Pages that allows users to give, receive and incorporate feedback in a document using Apple Pencil. With Smart Annotation, comments and proof marks will dynamically anchor to text. And as a user integrates feedback and the document changes, remaining annotations will stay with the text they were attached to.
“iWork is a powerful suite of apps designed for iPhone, iPad and Mac that is used in classrooms around the world,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Apps Product Marketing, in a press release. “With Apple Pencil support on iPad, the new Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps now let students bring a whole new level of creativity to their documents, spreadsheets and presentations, while the innovative new Smart Annotation feature gives students the ability to give, receive and incorporate feedback easier than ever before. Students can also use the built-in, real-time collaboration tools available in iWork to explore and learn together.”
Book creation is now possible in Pages for iOS and macOS, allowing users to create interactive digital books, from short stories to travel books. Users can start a book using a variety of templates, and then customize it with drawings using iWork’s new drawing tools or with image galleries and videos from their Photos library. Users can collaborate in real time with their classmates or colleagues to create books together on iPad, iPhone, Mac and iCloud.com. Books can then be shared and will display beautifully in iBooks.
Additional new features include Presenter Mode in Pages, allowing users to transform their iPad or iPhone into a virtual teleprompter for distraction-free reading. The text can auto scroll at an adjustable speed, and text size, spacing, font and background color are all customizable during text playback. Integration with Box lets users collaborate in real-time in Pages, Numbers and Keynote documents stored in Box.
Pages, Numbers and Keynote on iOS and Mac are free and come preloaded onto most devices. Today’s updates are available to download on the App Store and Mac App Store.
