Astro HQ has just announced a major update to its iPad mirroring apps, Astropad Studio and Astropad Standard. Both apps are now compatible with Luna Display. Luna Display is a USB-C or Mini DisplayPort dongle that works as a Wi-Fi supported second screen mirroring device for your Mac and iPad. Combining the power of Astropad with the wireless capabilities of Luna Display and you're talking about a seriously powerful system for turning your iPad into a touchscreen Mac.
Once updated, Astropad Studio 2.0 and Astropad 2.4 will support Luna Display. All you have to do is plug the dongle into your Mac's USB-C or Mini DisplayPort port and Astropad will automatically recognize your iPad as a second screen. Done and done.
You're probably wondering how to get your hands on a Luna Display. Don't worry, they're not yet available to the general public. You can, however, preorder one right now for $69.99.
There's one more thing — Astropad will phase out support for third-party styluses by the end of 2018. It's nothing personal. The company simply weighed the difficulties in continuing support for styluses that aren't used as often across its apps versus the Apple Pencil, which is currently used by about 98% of stylus users in Astropad apps. It's really a no-brainer.
As a company, we're committed to ensuring the highest-quality experience for Astropad users — and with that commitment, we can no longer honestly recommend third-party styluses for artists. After careful consideration, we have decided to discontinue support for third-party styluses and optimize Astropad for the Apple Pencil.
You can find out more details about why Astropad is dropping support for third-party styluses on its Astroblog.
The phaseout will roll out gradually over the next few months and will be complete by the end of 2018.
If you didn't get in early for the Luna Display crowdfunding campaign, you can preorder one now with an estimated shipping date of January 2019.
