Apple Pencil Pro: Squeeze & Barrel Roll

Let’s take a quick look at the new options available with the Apple Pencil Pro. You can configure both gestures - squeeze and barrel roll - to suit your preference through the Settings -> Interaction tab in Concepts 6.14+. Of course, both of these require specific hardware; an Apple Pencil Pro and an M4 iPad Pro running iPadOS 17.5 or later.

Squeeze

The Squeeze gesture is a useful new way of triggering actions like changing tools and colors, activating nudge or selection, or even navigating the infinite canvas. Here’s what it looks like:

In our testing, Squeeze is harder to trigger unintentionally than Double Tap, but if you find you still trigger it accidentally, you can tune its sensitivity through Apple’s Settings app under Apple Pencil -> Squeeze -> Sensitivity, or turn it off completely.

It’s worth noting that Double Tap is still available on the Apple Pencil Pro, as well as the Apple Pencil (2nd gen), and can be configured in the same way (and with most of the same options) as Squeeze.

Barrel Roll

Barrel Roll is a great addition to the Hover Brush Preview support from the last generation of iPads with Hover. It offers a visual preview of the brush dynamics for your current tool or pen before you touch down on the screen.

The effect is especially useful for brushes and tools that are not perfectly round. We like the Graphite Pencils and the Brush Pens, but it works just as well with any Custom Brushes you create.

There aren’t any special configuration options for Barrel Roll, but you can disable it if you feel the need.

Available Now

Barrel Roll and Squeeze are available in Concepts now in the App Store.