Hjalti playing with the sculpting mockup. Multi-touch interfaces like tablets have been common for years, but only recently thanks to increased processing power, have they started to serve as primary computing devices. To support Blender’s mission of making 3D technology accessible to everyone, it’s important to fully embrace these platforms. Some of these devices include Apple iPad, Microsoft Surface, Huawei MatePad, and the Wacom MovinkPad, among others. The idea is to bring the full power of Blender to these devices. This requires adapting to platform-specific paradigms, but also to offer more task-oriented user interfaces with reduced information density. This will be achieved by extending existing input methods, and improving workspaces and application templates, running on top of a regular Blender build. The initial platform where this idea will be tested is the Apple iPad Pro with Apple Pencil, followed by Android and other graphic tablets in the future. While standalone tablets are the primary target, the core design principles apply across all platforms. This means that any UI/UX improvements will immediately benefit regular tablet users, even as Blender is being ported to run natively on the targeted devices. Design Overview This is a breakdown of product design considerations taken into account when thinking about “what is Blender on a tablet”. Audience – Who is it for? The audience is “Blender users”. There is no distinction between desktop or tablet users, the same way mouse/keyboard and graphic tablet users are treated equally. Therefore, there is no specific intention of simplifying or tailoring Blender to appeal to an audience that might not be familiar with Blender or 3D. The intention is to make Blender fully accessible for users working with those devices, for example: Artists that need a pen-device for specialized tasks (painting, sculpting, 2D animation). Artists that have tablets as their main device. Artists that need Blender on-the-go. While the ultimate goal is a complete Blender experience, the initial focus will be on basic object manipulation and sculpting. These will be followed by Grease Pencil and storyboarding, which are slightly more advanced as they require animation tools. Tablet UX Challenges Working on a standalone tablet comes with its own set of software and hardware limitations, such as: Single, full-screen window workflow. Relatively small screen real estate. No keyboard/mouse (out of the box, use should be optional). Multi-input interface (touch + pen). Limited processing power and battery. Siloed file system. Input Methods Some tablets can be paired with a keyboard and trackpad accessory, in which case they should provide the same experience as working on a desktop. Similarly, the reverse also applies: working on a desktop paired with a graphics tablet (e.g., Wacom Cintiq) should offer the same benefits as working on a standalone tablet. Mockups Here are a few exploratory mockups showing how the UI and the interaction could look like on iPad. They will change in the future, but are presented as a snapshot of the initial direction the team is taking. The current mockups try to convey how Blender could adapt to run in a “single area”, with temporary context made available through floating regions. While this partially contrasts with the non-overlapping design paradigm, this is a good compromise between providing sufficient workspace and quick access to essential editors. Object Manipulation This mockup illustrates kit-bashing making use of an asset library. While not a typical day-to-day scenario, this demonstrates the power of being able to view files prepared on the desktop while on the go. This demo shows: Custom application template. Wheel menu window overlay (Ctrl/Cmd, Shift, Alt, Quick Favorites). Sidebar tabs use icons. Quick access to the Outliner and Properties Editor in the 3D Viewport. Sculpting This mockup explores the concept of single-window mesh sculpting. Interactive mockup. In this demo, you can additionally see: Menus collapsed by default. Helper overlay with curated shortcuts. Tool panel, moved from the sidebar tab into a floating pop-up. Tool Settings header has been removed: Tool-specific settings are shown in the floating Tool panel. Mode settings/options moved to the sidebar. Additional design explorations are available at projects.blender.org. Development The goal is to implement new core features in Blender while designing a custom application template tailored for devices like the iPad. Many of the usability improvements will also benefit the desktop version of Blender. For example: Quick Favorites editor. Helper overlay with curated shortcuts. Icon support for sidebar tabs. Togglable sidebar tabs (already in Blender 5.0 alpha). Some features will be specific to tablets and other touch devices: Multi-touch events and gestures. Handling multiple active editor/regions. Wheel menu. Interactive Status bar (i.e. tap on the shortcut labels to toggle). The tablet-specific application template should be available in both the desktop and tablet versions of Blender. Tablets and iOS Development will take place in a separate branch. Developers with extensive experience in this area who are interested in contributing are encouraged to reach out via chat.blender.org or DevTalk forums. iOS-specific welcome contributions: Building Blender Touch events and gestures support File System / iCloud / AirDrop support OpenSubdiv Follow the development at projects.blender.org. Most of the multitouch UI/UX development work is device-agnostic, anyone experienced in this area is welcome to contribute! Next Steps A tech demo will be available at the Blender booth at SIGGRAPH 2025 in Vancouver, showing Blender running on iPad Pro. Shortly after, a workshop will be held at Blender HQ in Amsterdam to revisit the current design and workflows. The outcome of the workshop will be shared here, on the development channels. You may also find live demos during Blender Conference 2025.