{"id":257,"date":"2020-12-13T15:59:41","date_gmt":"2020-12-13T15:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wendyzhous.wordpress.com\/?p=257"},"modified":"2026-05-19T12:52:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T12:52:43","slug":"affinity-designer-on-the-ipad-pro-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/affinity-designer-on-the-ipad-pro-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"How Good is Affinity Designer on the iPad Pro for UX\/UI Design? A Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This is a review of the &#8220;Affinity Designer &#8220;on the iPad Pro for UX\/UI design. What features does this software have, and can it replace desktop software?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last updated: Dec, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BsTAvZCIUUQ\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is Affinity Designer?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/affinity.serif.com\/en-us\/\">Official Affinity Designer website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Affinity Designer is a vector graphics editor developed by Serif for macOS, iOS, and Microsoft Windows. It is part of the &#8220;Affinity trinity&#8221; alongside Affinity Photo and the yet-to-be-released Affinity Publisher. Affinity Designer is available for purchase in the Mac App Store, iOS App Store, and the Microsoft Store.&#8221; <\/p>\n<cite>Wikipedia<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In short, Affinity Designers is a software program similar to Illustrator that allows the user to create vector and pixel graphics. It&#8217;s available for both desktop and tablet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Software Available on the iPad Pro for UX\/UI Design<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There aren&#8217;t many good options today for UX\/UI design on the iPad Pro. Especially not vector-based programs. It&#8217;s not that weird since it wasn&#8217;t long ago that iPad + a pencil became a thing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-instagram wp-block-embed-instagram\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"oceanwp-oembed-wrap clr\"><blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BsgCX23g15A\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"13\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"><div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BsgCX23g15A\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\" target=\"_blank\"> <div style=\" display: flex; 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font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;\"> View this post on Instagram<\/div><\/div><div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\"><div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div> <div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)\"><\/div><\/div><div style=\"margin-left: auto;\"> <div style=\" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div> <div style=\" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div><\/div><\/div> <div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\"> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div> <div style=\" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div><\/div><\/a><p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/BsgCX23g15A\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\" target=\"_blank\">A post shared by UX\/UI Design | Wendy Zhou (@wendy.design)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote><script async src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Affinity Designer is one of the most famous and adapted software for UI design on tablets, alongside Adobe Comp CC. There are some other big ones out there such as Procreate and Sketchbook, but they are more optimized for pixel graphics (drawings) than vector graphics (illustrations and UI design).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What UI Design Features are there in Affinity Designer?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Affinity Designer features some of the important features that are needed to do proper UI design:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Creating vector shapes <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Edit in detail (corner radius, colors, borders, etc)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Work in layers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Group elements<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make re-usable components<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Easy grids and alignment systems<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>UI libraries for quicker mockups<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Multiple Artboards in one document<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These functions are already more than what most other applications offer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For me, the program works and is enough for creating single-screen UI mockups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>But it&#8217;s not enough for me to completely stop using the computer and only design on the iPad Pro. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reason is simple: Not this one, nor any other app on the App Store today, allows UI designers to create any interactive components (which is such an important step in the UI design process).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I can&#8217;t do a proper user flow or system design if I can&#8217;t prototype between screens and create even the simplest animations!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1708\" src=\"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/27349D9D-A156-489E-B7E7-D2AA036D502E-edited-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Affinity Designer on the iPad Pro for UX\/UI Design - Review\" class=\"wp-image-3028\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/27349D9D-A156-489E-B7E7-D2AA036D502E-edited-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/27349D9D-A156-489E-B7E7-D2AA036D502E-edited-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/27349D9D-A156-489E-B7E7-D2AA036D502E-edited-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/27349D9D-A156-489E-B7E7-D2AA036D502E-edited-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/27349D9D-A156-489E-B7E7-D2AA036D502E-edited-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/27349D9D-A156-489E-B7E7-D2AA036D502E-edited-2048x1366.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">UI mockup made on iPad Pro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is a pretty okay application for UI design on the iPad Pro. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It allows you to create multiple artboards in one document, group elements, and create components. You can also work in layers, and the software does feature auto-snap and alignments. It also allows for a custom UI library of components. I would even say that it&#8217;s the best program I&#8217;ve tried so far on my iPad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>However, it still lacks multiple basic features, such as prototyping between screens and doing interaction design.<\/strong> <strong>I could never switch completely from a laptop to my iPad without having at least those features. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-css-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I hope you found this review of the Affinity Designer on the iPad Pro for UX\/UI design helpful. Leave a comment if you have any questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Interested in reading more?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you&#8217;d like to read my similar articles, you can check out the ones below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/ux-ui-design-programs-and-applications\/\">6 Best UX\/UI Design programs and applications 2020<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/learn-ux-ui-design-books\/\">The 4 Best Books to Learn UX\/UI Design for Beginners<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/learn-ui-design-for-beginners-how-to-place-your-ui-design-in-a-mockup-with-photoshop-tutorial\/\">How To Place Your UI Design In A Mock-up (Photoshop tutorial)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a review of the Affinity Designer on the iPad Pro for UX\/UI Design. What features does the program have and can you use it as your primary design tools?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ux-and-ui-design","entry","has-media"],"gutentor_comment":3,"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/affinity-designer-blog-thumbnail.png",1440,1024,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/affinity-designer-blog-thumbnail-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/affinity-designer-blog-thumbnail-300x213.png",300,213,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/affinity-designer-blog-thumbnail-768x546.png",768,546,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/affinity-designer-blog-thumbnail-1024x728.png",1024,728,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/affinity-designer-blog-thumbnail.png",1440,1024,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/affinity-designer-blog-thumbnail.png",1440,1024,false],"ocean-thumb-m":["https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/affinity-designer-blog-thumbnail.png",600,427,false],"ocean-thumb-ml":["https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/affinity-designer-blog-thumbnail.png",633,450,false],"ocean-thumb-l":["https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/affinity-designer-blog-thumbnail.png",984,700,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Wendy Zhou - Design","author_link":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/author\/wendyzhouux\/"},"uagb_comment_info":3,"uagb_excerpt":"This is a review of the Affinity Designer on the iPad Pro for UX\/UI Design. What features does the program have and can you use it as your primary design tools?","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8992,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257\/revisions\/8992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wendyzhou.se\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}