Canva has officially launched the Affinity app designed for the iPad, offering a comprehensive and completely free design suite for Apple tablets, alongside the launch of the new Sketch Studio designed specifically for interaction with touch and the Apple Pencil.
This release follows the relaunch of the desktop app last year, which combined the previous Affinity Designer, Photo, and Publisher applications into a single integrated app for Mac and Windows systems. The company stated that the desktop version has achieved more than seven million new registrations since its launch, with a prior commitment to providing a dedicated version for tablet devices.
What does the new Affinity app offer on iPad?
The new application combines illustration, vector graphics, photo editing, and page layout into a single workspace that allows users to smoothly switch between drawing, vector, pixel, and layout studios, while working on the same (.af) design file format which can also be opened on desktop computers.
- Sketch Studio: Allows freehand drawing via a dedicated brush library, with a feature to convert hand-drawn shapes into editable vector graphics.
- Photo Tools: Includes RAW file editing, non-destructive adjustments, and an advanced mask tool that helps trace difficult edges like hair and fur using the Apple Pencil.
- Layout Tools: Supports multi-page documents, master pages, and print-ready outputs.
The user interface has been specifically designed to suit iPads rather than simply scaling down the desktop version, with full support for Apple Pencil Pro features such as pressure sensitivity, tilt, roll, squeeze, and hover.
Pricing and Business Model
Basic drawing, vector, photo editing, and layout tools are available for free to individuals, with a free Canva account required to use the app. In contrast, paid features are limited to AI tools available exclusively within the Canva Pro plan, which include generative expand, image upscaling, noise reduction, and splitting images into editable layers.
What is missing from the iPad version at launch?
Despite sharing the same common file format, the official website's list indicates the absence of some desktop features in the first iPad release, such as Book management, Batch processing, Data merging, Quick grids, Macro recording, and the Astrophotography studio, with more features to be provided gradually in upcoming updates.
The app requires iPadOS 18.0 or later, and is available for free download via the App Store with in-app purchases available for advanced features.