Setting up an iPad as a dedicated sketchbook

October 29, 2024

For as long as I’ve owned an iPad I’ve been looking for its place in my life. Recently I thought that I’d try using it as a distraction-free sketching and notetaking tool.

First I took the iPad out of its Magic Keyboard folio. Sketchbooks don’t have keyboards. I found a nice light folio case from Speck that protects the Apple Pencil while on the device.

Then I went into Settings and turned off automatic app installation. I hid or deleted most of the apps on the device. I signed out of FaceTime and iMessage, and deleted Mail entirely.

I cleared out all of the home screen widgets and removed all my home screen apps, leaving 2x2 Shortcuts widget tiles for the things I intend to use: adding an item to my To Do list and sketching with Linea, my favorite sketchbook app. I added these shortcuts as lock screen widgets as well, in the name of minimizing the time from opening the folio to sketching or notetaking.

In the past I felt some resistance to opening up the iPad … having to deal with a stack of notifications, a home screen cluttered with apps that I had installed on my iPhone without any intention on using them here, and so on. I’m hoping that this simpler setup will encourage me to use the iPad for what it is best at.