Procreate pocket (free) is an iPhone version of the popular professional-grade drawing app for iPad, now rebuilt for touch-screen use. Procreate pocket is built on the very same Metal-Sumi metal engine found in the Apple Pencil-based iPad apps, and developer Savage Interactive states that every single line of code and every single pixel are identical. The only real difference you will notice between the Procreate pocket and the iPad version is the fact that the former has a full screen mode and is capable of being used like a pen. The result is that this version of Procreate is a true competitor to the Apples iPad drawing program, as it can be used just as effectively on a full-size screen.
Like the full-sized version of procreate, the pocket has a powerful drawing engine that gives you complete control over what you draw. Unlike the iPad apps, though, this version supports a variety of formats, including PSD, Flash, JPEG and many others. In addition, the iPhone version of this popular program also allows you to export your work into many different formats, so you have the ability to share it with other artists, even if you are working from your own computer.
The lack of full screen mode is one major drawback of the Procreate pocket, however, and it’s the one thing that may turn some prospective iPhone X owners off of the device. Even though the layout of the iPhone X makes it difficult to see everything at once (particularly when you’re working on a larger canvas), the Procreate doesn’t have nearly the touch sensitivity of other apps, such as the Sketchbook Basics or O’ Creations for iPad apps. This means that you may have to rely on other means of creating brushes or drawing new content to your iPhone in order to make it feel right for your eyes.
Another big plus of the Procreate pocket is that it includes a powerful set of brushes. These are actually quite advanced for something made for an iPhone, and the overall result is a detailed and realistic brush painting experience. In addition to its brushes, the Procreate pocket also includes an impressive timeline system that will allow you to easily see your entire work-in-progress, which can be printed out at a moment’s notice. The timeline system, however, lacks support for both Android devices and the Apple iPhone X. This means that if you want to export your work to one of these devices, you’ll need to import the images or artwork from your computer first.
While the Procreate pocket is mostly successful for iPad users, it’s not completely a failure for the iPhone X. The fact that it lets you use your phone’s built-in social media options might make it more appealing to some, but this feature doesn’t seem to have very many fans among the iPhone X’s audience. The graphics and user interface of the Procreate app are likely to change with the next version, though, so it’ll be interesting to see what else is added in the next few months.
Like other apps designed for the iPhone and iPod Touch, the Procreate app is easy to use and has several unique features that set it apart from similar applications. However, there are only a handful of useful uses for the large canvas that the application allows you to work on. The most useful aspect of the Procreate pocket for users of the iPhone X, however, is the ability to export your creations to the clipboard. It’s a neat feature that makes sharing your work easy and eliminates the need to take a separate photo and import it into the application. If you haven’t checked out Procreate yet, you should definitely check out the new version as soon as it becomes available.
