Apple has rolled out the first update for Final Cut Pro for iPad since its release in May this year. The v1.1 release adds support for new keyboard shortcuts and improves the app’s overall stability and performance.
Final Cut’s iPad version is not as feature-rich as its Mac version. Apple is working on reducing that gap, with the latest update taking a small step in achieving this.
Final Cut Pro v1.1 for the iPad is here
While Final Cut Pro for iPad has been designed with touch as the primary input source, it also supports keyboard shortcuts. This is useful if you use a Magic Keyboard or an external Bluetooth keyboard with your iPad while editing. However, many of Final Cut’s commonly used keyboard shortcuts on Mac did not work on the iPad version, leading to a frustrating experience. For example, you could not turn skimming on/off using the ‘S’ key or snapping using the ‘N’ key.
This is changing with the Final Cut Pro v1.1 update for iPad. It adds support for many commonly used keyboard shortcuts that were missing in the initial release. Apple’s full release note for the update is as follows:
- Turn snapping on or off using the keyboard shortcut N.
- Move the playhead backwards or forwards 10 frames using the keyboard shortcuts Shift-Left Arrow and Shift-Right Arrow.
- Show info for browser clips using the keyboard shortcut Control-I.
- Turn skimming on or off using the keyboard shortcut S.
- Turn audio skimming on or off using the keyboard shortcut Shift-S.
- Split and switch multicam clip angles using the keyboard shortcuts 1, 2, 3 and 4.
- Show or hide the jog wheel using the keyboard shortcut Control-Shift-W; expand or collapse it using Control-W.
- Switch the jog wheel between playhead mode and nudge mode using the keyboard shortcut Shift-W.
- Resolves an issue with custom fonts not appearing in the inspector.
- Fixes bugs that improve overall stability and performance.
As we noted in our Final Cut Pro for iPad vs. Mac comparison, the tablet version of the app is promising but nowhere close to its desktop counterpart. With time though, Apple should be able to bring a lot more of the video editing tool’s features to its iPad version.
You can grab the latest Final Cut Pro for iPad release from the App Store. You get a 30-day free trial, after which you need to pay $4.99 for the app.
