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Handwriting recognition on the iPad?

Hi,

Could anyone confirm whether the new iPad has handwriting recognition?

I am one of the few people who is keeping hold of my Palm Pilot because I think better when writing by hand (rather than typing on a keyboard). As iPad is designed to help people 'create', I can't think of a better feature. (To be honest, it's the lack of handwriting recognition that keeps me from going to the store now to buy one. I came close to buying a Dell Inspiron Duo the moment I saw it, but decided to wait for a lighter version (or an iPad)).

If there isn't the possibility now, is there any chance that handwriting recognition will be added in iOS 5 or as a separate application that can be used with iPad aps?

iMac

Posted on Apr 6, 2011 1:31 PM

Best reply

varjak paw

Level 10

170,200 points

Posted on Apr 6, 2011 1:48 PM

Handwriting recognition is not built into the iPad, no. There are some apps available that offer handwriting recognition; someone else here can probably offer comments and suggestions.

is there any chance that handwriting recognition will be added in iOS 5

There's the possibility of all sorts of things, but no one here will know or be able to say. We'll all have to wait and see. Given that iOS isn't designed around a stylus, and attempting to write with your fingertip yields less than satisfactory results in most cases, I would doubt that iOS will include handwriting recognition as a standard feature, but it could happen.

Regards.

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58 replies

May 26, 2012 1:00 AM in response to IPadforwriting

Nevermind handwriting recognition, I'd just like a workable note taking paper replacement that doesn't require writing in kindergarten sized text with your finger painting finger which fits half a dozen words per page. I love that the ipad doesn't require a stylus, but humans do use tools in the real world for some tasks when it is easier. I just cleaned out an entire book shelf worth of old hand written, drawn and annotated university chemistry notes. How nice would it be to have a paper replacement? I assume there is some technical hurdle to it, because the solutions on the app store aren't as convenient as pen and paper either.

Dah•veed

Level 9

64,663 points

May 26, 2012 7:19 AM in response to amphiprion_ocellaris

It's more expensive than the others, but the Jot Pro is the precision writing stylus for the iPad.

http://adonit.net/product/jot-pro/

Jun 12, 2012 3:16 AM in response to IPadforwriting

Apple's WWDC announcements were promising for handwriting recognition -- if you speak Chinese, that is... iOS 6 will double the number of Chinese characters recognised, but nothing was said about offering handwriting recognition to those of us who speak Englsh. The Chinese handwriting 'keyboards' recognise English characters (but not punctuation) already, so surely it wouldn't be a great leap for Apple to develop an English handwriting 'keyboard'?

They even promote the new Chinese functionality on the web site (look at the bottom part of the page linked below) -- how very frustrating!!

http://www.apple.com/ios/ios6/#accessibility

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Jun 12, 2012 11:54 AM in response to IPadforwriting

IPadforwriting wrote:

Apple's WWDC announcements were promising for handwriting recognition -- if you speak Chinese, that is

You mean if you write Chinese. 😁

but nothing was said about offering handwriting recognition to those of us who speak Englsh.

You mean write English. 😁

Dah•veed

Level 9

64,663 points

Jun 12, 2012 11:58 AM in response to Chris CA

I write English well, with support. My spoken English is another matter. For example, I would never dictate to Siri in English. The one time I tried it, she didn't understand one single word. 😉

Jun 12, 2012 3:21 PM in response to Chris CA

Yes, you're right -- I meant write, not speak! My apologies!

In short, I just wish I could write in English on my iPad as well as people can write in Chinese!

Tony

Apr 8, 2013 10:49 AM in response to IPadforwriting

Steve Jobs explicitly opposed using handwriting... seemed to think typing would be better. Technically, what I want is character recognition rather than handwriting recognition since handwriting recog inevitably requires more processing and will be less reliable and slower. Learning the Graffiti script was easy, particularly with the Tetris-like game they included, Giraffe. The game would drop characters from the top of the screen slowly and they would disappear as you entered the Graffiti for each. It began with letters only. As you progressed, they would drop faster. Then, punctuation and finally special characters. The game made learning the script fast and kind of fun.

Apr 8, 2013 2:10 PM in response to MuggsMcGinnis

I wouldn't mind that, either... The odd thing is that iOS supports handwriting recognition for Chinese, but not English... I created this thread hoping Apple would listen but am about to get a Samsung (either Galaxy Note 8 or Note II)...

sdf_iain

Level 1

8 points

Sep 16, 2013 7:26 AM in response to IPadforwriting

Ahem: https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Carbon/Reference/ink_servi ces_ref/Reference/reference.html

This is the latest iteration of the Newton handwriting recognition system and is fully implemented on OS X (as long as you have a Wacom tablet). It's one of those things that isn't implemented in iOS.

This is probably because there's no way for the capacitive screen to know that you're using a stylus.

Oct 28, 2013 6:32 PM in response to sdf_iain

If only Apple would have implemented the precision stylus recognition of the Samsung Note series.

maloned1

Level 1

0 points

Dec 6, 2013 10:55 AM in response to IPadforwriting

Please Apple, add Handwritting recognition in English.

Dec 6, 2013 11:10 AM in response to maloned1

maloned1 wrote:

Please Apple, add Handwritting recognition in English.

Apple is not reading here. Use the Feedback page:

http://www.apple.com/feedback

Meanwhile, there are lots of note taking programs in the App Store that do handwritng recognition.

Oct 22, 2014 2:14 AM in response to IPadforwriting

Coming with iOS 8, I just installed MyScript Stack - Handwriting Keyboard. It is basically doing the job. Working from all apps. Coming like a keyboard window.

I think it answers the question.

Handwriting recognition on the iPad?