Astropad Standard 4+

These guys are fantastic; they really know good design! I guess that’s what you can expect from ex-Apple employees. The user interface & user experience is top-notch. I used AstroPad for a while then I also got their Luna product which lets you use your iPad as a second monitor that is touch-capable. I think the Luna also boosts the performance of AstroPad, although I never had any problems with AstroPad before (probably it helps that I have a good WiFi network in my home).
I just tried my Luna out with AstroPad and it works great! Super responsive with very clear Retina graphics. It’s nice that the app comes with a tool to let you track the product performance in real time (latency, etc). Note that Luna on your iPad doesn’t work with pressure-sensitive styluses unless you also get the AstroPad product. But when you combine Luna with AstroPad you can use the pressure-sensitive feature on your stylus and its an amazing experience! In that case, you open the AstroPad app on your devices rather than the Luna app. But thanks to the Luna app, with that setup you can continue to use your iPad as a second display. This really is the ultimate setup. It’s a great way to take your Mac and your iPad and combine them to have a touch-enabled drawing pad that works with Apple Pencil. And much cheaper than buying a Wacom drawing pad or a second monitor with touch/draw capability.

I was really hesitant to buy this app after seeing the mixed reviews, but I went ahead and made the purchase and I’m glad I did. I’ve been using my iPad Pro as a drawing tablet for a little over a month on ProCreate, but I really wanted to use it on the computer similar to a Cintiq. After getting my first MacBook and this app, I finally got the chance.
The first thing I tried was the WiFi mode since I don’t like being tethered to my computer if I can help it. Sadly, the mode is essentially unusable for me. As soon as I open the app it immediately just opens and refreshes the screen over and over and cannot connect. Once I switched to the usb mode, there were no issues whatsoever.
Contrary to some of the reviews, I’ve experienced 0 lag at all upon switching to the connected mode. As soon as I draw it registers it seamlessly. Even when running numerous apps in the background I have experienced no lag. Keep in mind, I am using a pretty strong Mac and iPad so my experiences may not be universal. I have also not contacted their customer service as I’ve had no issues, so I can’t vouch for how helpful or not they are.

I have gone through 4 tablets (this iPad Pro included) and this is the best drawing tablet experience I’ve had with Astropad. I bought a Cintiq and it broke out the box, so I switched to a Huion kamvas 221 gt and it didn’t last a year. I had to deal with their customer service for over 2 weeks to get a
refund, and I still gotta ship the thing back. Astropad has everything you need in a drawing tablet. Hot keys and touch zoom/panning, it has everything. The Apple Pencil is super responsive with photoshop, I’ve yet to use it on other drawing programs but I’m sure it’ll work just as well. If you own an iPad Pro, an Apple Pencil and are looking to upgrade to a drawing tablet. Pick this up, it works amazingly