SonarPen is working in Krita 5.2.2 on Android phone and Tablet

[elton]

After months of hard work, we have completed a version of Android Krita 5.2.2 that is compatible with SonarPen. Now everyone can use their favorite drawing app, Krita on their Android phone and tablet with a super affordable pressure sensitive stylus, SonarPen.

Pressure works out of the box. However, you might want to adjust the pressure response curve according to your drawing behavior.

Short cut button on the SonarPen is mapped to the “Tab” key, which will toggle between full canvas and the normal UI. Since Krita is not yet optimize for small phone and tablet screen, we thought it is the best solution in the mean time.

Palm rejection is not implemented in this version.

see how it works: https://youtu.be/rA4vnbOGqiU

@halla as you have suggested, all changes are made to QT library but not to the Krita code. The GPL v3 license allow us to distribute the our version. However to eliminate confusion, we are hopping to have the changes included in the official Krita release, so everybody can use SonarPen with the Krita downloaded from the Play store. Can I send you a copy of the SonarPen, so you can try out our build? I can also share modified source code with the team.

If you already own a SonarPen feel free to download the apk and install it on your Android device.
Download the apk that fits your device:

for ARM64 devices: Dropbox - krita-arm64-v8a-5.2.2-release H 20240505.apk - Simplify your life

for ARM devices: Dropbox - krita-armeabi-v7a-5.2.2-release H -20240505.apk - Simplify your life

for X64 devices: Dropbox - krita-x86_64-5.2.2-release H 20240505.apk - Simplify your life

for X86 devices: Dropbox - krita-x86-5.2.2-release H 20240505.apk - Simplify your life

Comments are welcome.

Elton

P.S. For Android phones and tablets with small screen, we recommend to enable custom interface font. It can be enabled by go to Settings menu > Configure Krita > General > Window tab > enable custom interface font > OK. You may need to rotate the device between landscape and portrait to access the button that is outside of the screen.

Here is the result:

peca CrazyCatBird though you might be interested to know.

[Michelist]

If you want users to get noticed about whatever, you simply have to put an @-sign in front of their usernames, the way you have chosen won’t work. So I ping @peca and @CrazyCatBird for you.
Please keep it in mind for future pings.

Michelist

[BeARToys]

Oh… one reason more to redesign the interface for android-user.

[halla]

I would be happy to play with this. Since we build our own patched Qt we can include your patches in our builds even if you haven’t upstreamed it yet.

[halla]

I did start on a prerequiste for this: the initial port of Krita to Qt6. However, since I am really sick with longcovid, progress is pretty slow.

[CrazyCatBird]

I hope you get better soon, @halla!

[BeARToys]

Please take your time and recover from it.

I just wanted to say, that the UI redesign will be necessary for Sonarpen users, if they properly want to use it.

[halla]

Yes, we know, and we’re planning on adding a mobile UI to Krita. It is not easy, though, because of some fundamental work we need to do first.

[kaichi1342]

The foundations, rarely seen, quite slow at the start but oh so well needed before starting any crucial work.

Get well soon and take your time halla.

We are just gonna try brainstorm some wishlist and stuff and hopefully something come out of that - that can be helpful in the future.

[elton]

Sorry about your long Covid, I just recovered 2 weeks ago.

Please email to me, so I can send you a SonarPen.

[elton]

Krita has updated to 5.2.2.1, so here is the new apk:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1gpdywqvjw41796exj5k3/krita-arm64-v8a-5.2.2.1-release.apk?rlkey=8hgcumpicav1r8z224mc60w26&dl=0

A little update on SonarPen support activatation. Microphone permission no longer requested at start of the app. In Krita, after plugin your SonarPen to the phone, click the shortcut button on the SonarPen, and Krita will ask if Microphone access is allowed. Once approved, SonarPen support will be activated. Non SonarPen users will not be asked for Microphone permission and the SonarPen support will not be loaded.

[GreenWingSpino32]

Trying to install the app with the SonarPen support on my 10 inch Samsung Tab E tablet, but it keeps on saying “This app isn’t compatible with your phone”

I know for some reason my tablet gets referred as a “phone”.

Shame since I’ve been waiting to play around with my SonarPen in Krita.

[elton]

Hi GreenWingSpino32,

Did you get the same “detected as phone” issue with the official release of the app? if yes, then please report it directly to the forum with your own thread. On the other hand, if it only happen to the apk that added SonarPen support, we are happy to look into the problem for you.

We didn’t change any Krita code but only added SonarPen support to the QT library which is used by Krita.

Elton

[BeARToys]

How was the sonarpen support tested? Did you use a tablet on the list of tablets, where krita is supported, or did you test it on a different one? Tablets with krita support do not really need sonarpen I suppose, as they have their own pens.

I think the detection of the sonarpen and disabling the whitelist should also be done by you, as you want users to use the sonarpen with krita. Without sonarpen krita is not usable for those tablets, so there is no need for krita devs to actively change something. Although they will be eager to help you.

[elton]

@GreenWingSpino32

This app isn’t compatible with your phone

can you tell me if the error message “This app isn’t compatible with your phone” is displayed when you install the apk or when you run the app?

[GreenWingSpino32]

Yes, so it isn’t just me who got that message when I tried to install the APK with the SonarPen support it is that correct?

[GreenWingSpino32]

When I tried to install the APK itself.

[elton]

To be honest, I don’t know the rule that blocking the installation of the apk to your Samsung tab E tablet. We don’t just test the apk on tablets that we have in the office, we are also able to install the apk onto phones that only has a 6 inch screen with 720 x 1520 (definitly not a tablet). I too hope your 10 inch Android tablet is able to run the apk.

[elton]

The truth is we never knew there is a Android devices compatibility list for Krita. So we can only test the apk on Android phones and tablets that we have in the office. Other than the Chromebook, all the Android devices are able to install and run the apk.

I can’t agree with you about “Tablets with krita support do not really need sonarpen I suppose, as they have their own pens.” because the number of tablet that have no stylus is much more than that with a built-in stylus.

I think the detection of the sonarpen and disabling the whitelist should also be done by you, as you want users to use the sonarpen with krita. >>> I don’t know what the rule is. Personally, I think there should not be a whitelist, and no one should control the whitelist. I know people who draw amazing art with their finger on a tiny phone screen. So it should be the choice of the user to use an app or not.

Having said that, I can totally understand if the whitelist is setup to prevent the desktop Krita to run in a tiny screen. It can be an unpleasent experience. (that’s why we set the SonarPen button to trigger canvas view and normal view)

[elton]

can you tell me the exact model of your device and the os it is running?

krita only support Android 6+