An M4 iPad Pro has more horsepower than the MacBook you bought five years ago. The screen is better. The Pencil is a unique input device. And the most popular PDF editor on it is still a stripped-down version of a desktop app.
The iPad Pro deserves better. Specifically, it deserves a PDF tool built for the web — fast, full-featured, no install.
Hardware the iPad Pro brings to PDF work
ProMotion 120Hz makes scrolling through long PDFs genuinely smooth. The Pencil Pro adds barrel roll and haptics — useful for signing and detailed annotation. The Magic Keyboard turns it into a typing machine. None of that helps if the software is a port.
Flint in Safari uses every bit of it — 120Hz scrolling, Pencil pressure on signatures, full keyboard shortcuts.
Real PDF editing in the browser
Tap text to edit it. Drop a signature drawn with the Pencil. Merge, split, reorder, rotate, delete pages. All inline in Safari, no app to install, no subscription wall.
For iPad Pro users juggling client work — quote PDFs, signed contracts, briefs — this is the workflow that finally feels like a laptop replacement instead of a fancy notepad.
Split View as your power feature
Mail on one side, Flint on the other. Drag the attachment into Flint, edit, drag the result back to compose a reply. Or Files in Slide Over, Flint full-width in Safari. The iPad's multitasking only sings when the apps you use cooperate with it — browsers do, by definition.
Pencil-first workflows
Pencil Pro is wasted if all you do with it is sign. Try annotating reviews (circle a clause, write a margin note), or redacting sensitive sections by drawing black bars with the Pencil. The natural input feels closer to marking up paper than any desktop PDF editor manages.
FAQ
Does Pencil Pro's barrel roll or squeeze do anything in Flint?
Pencil pressure and tilt come through for signatures and drawing. Barrel roll and squeeze are Pencil Pro-specific gestures that some apps use for tool switching — Flint doesn't currently bind them, but standard Pencil features (pressure, tilt) all work.
Should I just use Adobe Acrobat on iPad Pro?
If you already pay for it, sure. For most users, paying a Creative Cloud subscription for PDF editing alone is wildly overspec'd when a browser tool covers the same jobs.
Will Flint replace a Mac for PDF work?
For 95% of PDF jobs, yes. The remaining 5% — heavy redaction workflows, complex forms with calculations, very large enterprise PDFs — still benefit from a desktop. But everyday editing, signing, merging, splitting: iPad Pro plus Flint is enough.
If you spent £1,500 on an iPad Pro, don't run a stripped-down PDF app on it. Open Flint in Safari and use the hardware.