iPencil iPad double tap in pdf switch between tools

Report · Sep 30, 2022

iPad OS 15.6.1 (should be most recent up to date)

Adobe Acrobat app Version 22.08.00 (220819.224230)

I have been using acrobat on the ipad for about 2 years and this issue only started about 3-4 months ago. When editing a pdf, normally, I write with the pen and double-tap to switch to eraser. This appears to only work intermittently or on certian pdfs and not others. Right now, I am consistently getting it to work on 3 specific pdfs (2 that I created via LaTeX, and 1 scanned in from paper by a student) but 2 pdfs it just won't work on (1 is LaTeX'd by me that it used to work on a few months ago, and 1 is LaTeX'd by someone else).

It started out as intermittant, and sometimes an iPad reboot would fix it, but it has become more constant.

It doesn't seem to be a setting in LaTeX. I don't know about pdf security, but that shouldn't be it as I am not setting anything for that. Seems like it must be a bug either in iOS or the Acrobat app.

Any ideas? I would love to get this fixed as I primarily use my iPad for pdf marking up. Any thoughts are appreciated!

Report · Sep 30, 2022

jps5FDB wrote:

iPad OS 15.6.1 (should be most recent up to date)

Adobe Acrobat app Version 22.08.00 (220819.224230)

Since your question is about Adobe Acobat for iPad, I have moved this from the Photoshop forum where you posted to Acrobat Mobile.

iPadOS is 15.7, btw.

Jane

Report · Oct 03, 2022

Ah! Thanks for moving the post. I just didn't check at all what subforum I was in... ugh...

I didn't realize iPadOS wasn't up to date since it usually auto-updates. So I fixed that. After a fresh reboot, I checked the behavior, and it is still the same---not switching with double-tap between eraser and pen (in Adobe Reader) for some files but working correctly in other pdf files.

Another possible factor is this iPad is owned by my employer. So maybe they can help troubleshoot or otherwise have something to do with it. There is an expired certificate in my Device Management settings. It apparently expired very close to when this issue first started, so maybe that could have something to do with it? I'll ask them and report back here.

Report · Oct 03, 2022

Hi @jps5FDB

I'm reading your post again and realize that I forgot to ask what you are trying to erase?

The eraser tool is a Commenting tool, not an overall eraser. I drew some squiggles with my Apple Pencil and the Pencil tool (5th from left), and the Eraser deleted it properly. I opened a scanned document and it erased nothing of the scan, as expected.

In Acrobat DC for desktop, I either use the Edit tool to delete text or I will Redact to transparency. I don't see Redact in the Reader for iPad.

Does your Eraser tool work on your Comments?

Jane

Report · Oct 03, 2022

I am writing notes in "comment" mode (with the pencil selected in the comment toolbar image you shared) using Apple's iPencil and then erasing my own comments to edit them (with the eraser selected in the comment toolbar image you shared). The double-tap on the iPencil switches between these two tools in some pdfs but not others, and I cannot see any patterns in which pdfs it works with and those it doesn't.

I just tried two pdfs that I had previously used the double-tap functionality in, on either side of the certificate expiration date, and both exhibited the non-funcitoning double-tap. So I suspect that is not the issue, but I will ask my employer IT team anyways.

Report · Oct 03, 2022

Clarficiation: it's the double-tap funcitonality that works inconsistently, but only in this Adobe Acrobat app. The comment tools all work in any pdf though (e.g. write, erase, etc. all work, always).

Report · Oct 05, 2022

hi jps5FDB,

May I suggest the followings,

1. Open the iOS Settings app

2. Choose the "Apple Pencil"

3. Check the "Switch Between Current Tool and Eraser" is ON

Please give it a try to see if it works.

Hope this helps,

Report · Oct 05, 2022

derek lau adobe.com wrote:

Check the "Switch Between Current Tool and Eraser" is ON

I have iPadOS15.7 and don't see that setting?

Jane

Report · Oct 05, 2022

hi Jane,

If the Apple Pencil is paried with the iPad, the option should be available. If they are not paired yet, please follow the Apple instructions https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205236

Hope this helps

Report · Oct 05, 2022

derek lau adobe.com wrote:

If the Apple Pencil is paried with the iPad, the option should be available.

It's paired Derek. I'm baffled.

Jane

Report · Oct 05, 2022

Switching between tool and eraser works in many other apps, and it even works in Adobe Acrobat Reader. It just works only in some pdfs and not others in Adobe Acrobat Reader. For a pdf that this double-tap functionality doesn't work in Adobe Reader, it does work as expected in Foxit pdf editor, for example. So this is not a problem with iOS alone nor with the Apple Pencil alone. It is a problem with Adobe Acrobat Reader alone or in how that app interacts with iOS or the Apple Pencil.

I went ahead and toggled that double-tap option on and off in iOS Apple Pencil settings, and it had no effect on this issue.

Report · Oct 05, 2022

jps5FDB wrote:

I went ahead and toggled that double-tap option on and off in iOS Apple Pencil settings, and it had no effect on this issue.

I had tried double-tapping in Acrobat Reader before Derek posted and was getting the same results as you. It did not switch to the eraser; it just made lots of pencil marks.

Jane

Report · Oct 05, 2022

I meant the double-tap action on the Apple Pencil. I normall double-tap the pencil itself onto the iPad screen in an open pdf to put it in comment mode, and the a double-finger-tap on the pencil switches between current tool and eraser. Although it seems that your iPad for some reason doesn't have that as an option in your settings!!!

If your iPad is managed by your employer (like mine is), maybe they are able to change the settings that appear and somehow they have disabled that setting? Is your Apple Pencil generation 2? Or did the gen 1 also have then double-finger-tap capability?

Report · Oct 05, 2022

It seems Gen 1 Apple Pencil actually doesn't have this funcitonality, so probably you are using a gen 1 pencil.

Report · Oct 08, 2022

It seems Gen 1 Apple Pencil actually doesn't have this funcitonality, so probably you are using a gen 1 pencil.
By jps5FDB

Good thought, but no. I bought a new iPad and the Apple Pencil 2 because I needed both for Illustrator on iPad when it was released. I lost my first pencil and bought a second one less than a year ago.

I'm not too worried, but it would be good to know why I'm missing that entire section of settings!

derek lau @ adobe.com , do you have any ideas?

Jane

Report · Mar 01, 2024

Update: This has been going on about 1.5 years now. It is less frequent now, but still does occur. I do have pdfs where it sometimes works and sometimes does not, thus, it could be an issue tied to specific pdfs, but that doesn't seem to answer it completely. So my best guess is it is at least partially a bug with iPad OS, the iPad Adode Reader app, or both. Maybe when saving a pdf, some data-bit toggles randomly to make this issue crop up sometimes but not all the time? Either way, at least, it happens less frequently now!

Report · Mar 20, 2024

Hi @jps5FDB,

Hope you are doing well. Thanks for writing in!

The team is still investigating and making progressive changes on updates.

You will be seeing more improvements in the upcoming updates. We are glad to see users like you share your feedback on the app, so we are able to make the app even better.

Thanks,

-Souvik