Blender iPad App Development Halted as Android Tablets Get Priority - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Blender iPad App Development Halted as Android Tablets Get Priority

Blender's work on a native iPad version of its open source 3D creation suite has been shelved, according to the development team.

blender ipad pro
Back in July, Blender revealed that it was developing for iPad, with an iPad Pro version of its desktop software coming first, complete with a fully-featured multitouch interface and support for Apple Pencil Pro. No release date was announced at the time.

Now it doesn't look like that's about to happen anytime soon. In January, a status update appeared on Blender's GitHub page for iPad development saying that the project is on hold until further notice.

No reason for the halt in development was given in the notice. However, as spotted by YouTuber Brad Colbow, in a response to a comment offering help on the project, Blender developer Dalai Felinto said that the team was now focusing on Android tablets first instead.

During the fall at SIGGRAPH in Vancouver, Blender showed a live tech demo of the software running on iPad, so there's still hope that the project isn't completely dead and will resume at some point. We'll update this story if we learn anything more about a development timeline.

The latest Blender build for Apple silicon Macs can be downloaded for free from the Blender website.

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Glass Photos Feature

Apple Brings Full-Resolution iCloud Shared Albums to Android and Windows

Monday June 8, 2026 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple today announced an update to iCloud Shared Albums to allow friends and family on Android and Windows to join and contribute photos more conveniently, with support for full-resolution images. The improvement for Android and Windows users removes a notable friction point for mixed-device groups, enabling users outside the Apple ecosystem to participate in shared albums via iCloud.com...
RCS Feature 1

iOS 27 Beta 2 Adds Inline Replies to iPhone-to-Android RCS Chats

Monday June 22, 2026 12:06 pm PDT by
With the second beta of iOS 27, Apple added support for replying to a specific message in an RCS conversation with an Android user. You can now long press on a message to get to the option to reply, and it works the same way that it does with iMessage. iOS 27 also displays tapback/reaction emoji to images and videos properly. In iOS 26, it would use a text descriptor, such as [x loved...
iCloud iPhone 17 Pro

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Get Two New Perks on iOS 27

Thursday July 2, 2026 6:10 am PDT by
If you pay for certain iCloud+ storage plans beyond the 5GB that Apple offers for free, you will receive two more perks on iOS 27 at no additional cost. A summary of the two new iCloud+ perks on iOS 27:Increased daily usage limits for some new Apple Intelligence features, including image generation in the revamped Image Playground app. HomeKit Secure Video cameras receive generated video...

Top Rated Comments

18 weeks ago

Suggestion for the article headline
« Blender is run by a bunch of bozos »
Blender is a free, open source app. They're a non-profit foundation who don't charge for their software. The only have finite development resources and need to be careful about how they spend their time and money.

If anyone's a bozo, it's you not them.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kiro Avatar
18 weeks ago
The 4 people owning an Android tablet are cheering in anticipation…
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nickf Avatar
18 weeks ago
Android tablets are still a thing? Who knew?
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RobDacoder Avatar
18 weeks ago
iPad dominating with much higher market share means this makes no sense whatsoever.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
18 weeks ago
Ah yes, Android. Famously known for stability and widespread use by creatives. 😂
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
18 weeks ago

This is the only explanation that makes any sense. It’s still early days though so I’m not sure what they’re thinking since the iPad absolutely dominates the tablet space, including business use.
Blender's developers have faced heavy criticism for prioritizing iPad development. Furthermore, it's unclear whether the App Store's Terms of Service conflict with Blender's license.
https://devtalk.blender.org/t/blender-and-tablets/41558/126
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)