Blender has revealed it is developing a native iPad version of its popular open source 3D creation suite, complete with a fully-featured multitouch interface tailored to artists who rely on tablets.


According to the Blender development team, the idea is to bring the full power of Blender to popular tablet devices without compromises, starting with the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil Pro. From the blog post announcement:

This requires adapting to platform-specific paradigms, but also to offer more task-oriented user interfaces with reduced information density. This will be achieved by extending existing input methods, and improving workspaces and application templates, running on top of a regular Blender build.

The first version will reportedly focus on sculpting and basic object manipulation, with hopes of bringing tools like the Grease Pencil and storyboarding to the iPad later.

The team's current mockups show a single-window workflow that prioritizes screen real estate and quick access to tools via floating UI elements and contextual overlays. Menus are collapsed by default, and the usual Tool Settings header has been replaced with floating panels tailored to pen input.

Notably, this isn't a simplified mobile version of the app. "There is no specific intention of simplifying or tailoring Blender to appeal to an audience that might not be familiar with Blender or 3D," the team explains. Instead, the goal is to implement new core features in Blender while designing a custom application template tailored for devices like the iPad.

"The audience is 'Blender users'," the developers emphasize. "There is no distinction between desktop or tablet users, the same way mouse/keyboard and graphic tablet users are treated equally."

No release date has been announced, but Blender says a live tech demo will be shown at SIGGRAPH 2025 in Vancouver, with follow-up discussions and design workshops planned for Blender HQ and the Blender Conference later in 2025.

After iPad Pro development has reached the app release stage, Blender is expected to make an appearance on other touch-based input devices including the Microsoft Surface, Huawei MatePad, and Wacom MovinkPad. Some of the work being done for tablets will also benefit the desktop version, such as a Quick Favorites editor and a Helper overlay with curated shortcuts.

It's a bold plan for the open-source 3D software, which has previously been limited to desktop platforms. The latest Blender build can be downloaded for free from the Blender website, for both Intel and Apple silicon Macs.
This article, "Blender iPad Pro App in Development with Apple Pencil Support" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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