Is there ever going to be a Glyphs app for the iPad? I think it would fit very nicely on that device. There already is an app called iFontmaker, but it doesn’t give you much control and then you have to use a website to actually create a font file.
I think Glyphs would make for a great iPad app; or maybe something more in line with Glyphs Mini would work. Who knows, I’d love to see something though.
We did some tests and it is not very pleasant to edit bezier paths on a touch screen. You never see what you are doing and because your fingers are in front of it. This might be good for some rough sketches but not to draw letters.
That does not mean that we are not interested in the iPad.
I use iDraw on the iPad all the time, and it works quite well. Sure it can be tricky if you’re zoomed out, but a quick pinch out gesture and you can zoom in and handle bezier paths just fine.
Most drawing apps on the iPad require some zooming in/out, but it does not break the workflow, and becomes second nature rather quickly.
Put together a nice minimal workspace on the iPad screen and you could make it work.
I hope you reconsider!
Please don’t do this. I don’t need an excuse to take an iPad to the gym!
Here’s what I envision for an iPad version of Glyphs:
-a very basic and simple tool set to get you started creating and designing fonts
-a bezier path tool for designers
-a set of tools for non-designers who still want to make a font, with perhaps a brush (rounded line cap), pen (squared line cap), and a calligraphy style pen (chiseled line)
-export as font file for everyday users
-export as glyphs file for designers who already have a version of Glyphs and want to continue their work on their desktop
-export to iTunes, by email, to Dropbox, to iCloud
I think it could definitely work, especially if you add options for everyday users who might not be familiar with bezier paths or font design.
Some things to consider at least. 
Georg mentioned being difficult to edit vector paths on a touch screen as a showstopper for an iPad version. But iDraw (which I also have on the iPad, like jbw), while admittedly weaker than Glyphs in the path editing department, has a couple of tricks up its sleeve to ease things up, namely (1) a round offset window appears in one of the corners of the screen everytime the user moves a path point, displaying what’s happening under the finger and that’s how you see what you’re doing, and (2) constraining the moving of objects on the horizontal or vertical axis is made possible by dragging, then placing a second finger on the axis you want to constrain the movement.
So yeah, I think it’s actually possible to make vector editing workable and even pleasant on a touchscreen. You just have to devise new approaches to do it.
And… if not priced out of the stratosphere, I would definitely buy Glyphs for the iPad
Though I appreciate the interesting solution for iDraw, I’m still not convinced for the case of professional type design. The point is, digital type design is not just like vector illustration. You need to do more node-specific things, across a wide range of glyphs, and with much more precision.
Just one example: nudge two points to the left by 3 units and up 1 unit. For this, the arrow keys on a conventional keyboard are pretty much an ideal tool. You can perhaps solve that on a tablet too, but not in a way that can rival conventional keyboard and mouse input.
Which poses the question, why would one use a ‘good enough’ Glyphs on an iPad when you can have a really good Glyphs on a MacBook? What would be the advantage?
I can see a .glyphs file viewer for the iPad, with the ability to test instances and add annotations, but not a full-fledged font editor.
The iPad obviously has it’s limitations, which is why I proposed a more entry level app, crossed with a professional designer’s sketch tool. Sort of a Mini Glyphs Mini, aimed at people who just want to make fonts, along with designers who want to sketch out some ideas and want to do so away from their desktop.
I don’t know. I definitely fit in the range of something less than a professional designer but more than beginner, so I see a certain level of appeal for such an app, but I can see how maybe pros might not see much use for it.
But OK, maybe at this point further improving Glyphs on the desktop is more advisable than dividing your efforts with a “lite” version for the iPad
The thing about making a Glyphs iPad app that was too professional is that you’d be alienating a huge number of potential buyers. Give the app some tools that both pros and beginners can use and the market expands considerably. With the introduction of bezier paths you may even bring some of those beginners into font design and lead them to the desktop versions of Glyphs. True, I don’t exactly expect font design to all of a sudden catch fire and become the latest craze, but there are artists and designers out there who might not know where to begin and who are intimidated by font design software.
Also, Mini Glyphs Mini, bad name. iGlyphs, much more suitable; it’s Glyphs for the iOS.
Not sure of editing on an iPad, bt I’d definitely love to have my preview window displayed live on the retina iPad’s screen while I work on a Mac
@Jan This $9.99 app may be what you need.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-display/id368158927?mt=8
Rather that doing something for the iPad, support for pen-based input would be very much appreciated… whilst I like the finger-based input an iPad can deliver (and that’s just great for sketching), for precision work I find pen (aka Wacom) is great - moreso when everything can be done via the pen and not through keyboard combinations that even an octopus would find difficult to press.
@George Thomas
Thanks, I have it already.
In fact, if Glyph’s Preview was detachable, it would do the trick. At the very beginning preview ran in an external app called “glyphs external”.
I thought I would revive this thread so I could express interest in an iPad Pro app. For me, anyone who designs type for a living needs a large desktop computer (iMac for me). But I would like to have a companion device that I could use when I’m not in the office. I think an iPad would be a more ideal companion device for a desktop, because you have the added benefit of sketching letters and being able to quickly turn sketches into letters.
IMO, the pencil solves a number of problems earlier commenters expressed. I think you may also need a keyboard to simplify some parts of the process, but again, being able to sketch and design on one device would greatly improve the process, at least for me.
You can sketch already on an iPad Pro, there are plenty of apps for that, and I know a few designers who do that. What we are looking into is a better integration with the apps that provide sketching on the iPad. BTW which one are you using?
The market for people willing to do serious type design on an iPad Pro is still too small to warrant the investment into development, I am afraid. How much would you be willing to pay for a Glyphs on iPad, on top of what you already paid for the Mac Glyphs?
Hello everyone! Now that there are some options to operate iPads via keyboard and/or pencil, I could imagine that the iPad would allow users to do proper typedesign even better than a Mac, since you could do cool sketching as well. Do you have any plans to build a glyphs app for iPadOS in the future? 
Wish you a nice weekend!
We have no plans at that point. But you could try Sidecar or Astropad to use the iPad as an external screen.
Thanks for the info, Georg
Hey Georg, Magic Keyboard with trackpad is almost here, looking forward to making type on my ipad 