can you convert handwriting to text on ipad mini 5

There are lots of apps in the App Store that will convert handwriting to text. Notes Plus, Goodnotes 5 and MyScript Nebo are ones I know of. There are many more.

Sadly, my handwriting is too atrocious to be converted by most apps so, I'm not a good person to comment on their performance.

Hello,

While Notes on iPad cannot convert handwritten notes to text, Notes does recognize what you are writing. For example, if you hand write a note in Notes you can then search notes for the contents of what you wrote by hand. Notes will transcribe your hand written notes in the background so the content is searchable and indexed.

Write Pad, Noteshelf 2, Notability, Liquid Text and Zoom Notes are others that can do handwriting to text conversion, too!