iPad Handwriting on the iPad

[markom]

Originally Posted by xendula

I meant non-rechargeable pen. I like how the Bamboo Finepoint has a micro USb port on one end.

I know, just info for those who don't like idea of buying new AAAA batteries every month or so.

Edit:

They say it's one AAA battery, though, so even easier to get rechargeable battery and recharger, if only its somewhat lower 1.2 V voltage is good enough.

[WT Sharpe]

I think a fingertip-mounted mini-stylus would be a great invention. Maybe it's the way I hold them, but pencils, pens, and styluses of all types cramp my hand after only a few minutes. Hence I do all my writing with my index finger.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by xendula

I was having the same hopes when I got my Note2. The problem is the ecosystem: there are zero good handwriting apps on the Android or Samsung app store at the moment. Bamboo paper finally put out a version, with only a single notebook you can use, and Moleskin as well, but they don't come close to the really good iPad apps. I also bought all the other higher end handwriting apps, but again, they don't compare to the iPad apps. It makes me really angry, and keeps me in Apple's shackles. The native Samsung app, SNote, is not bad, but not great either. To make sure this wasn't a phone specific issue, I checked out all the apps on the Nexus 7 as well, with the same results.

The good news is that Noteshelf finally announced an Android version of their app, and they are actively looking for developers on their FB page. Noteshelf and the SPen would be killer!!

Thanks for the info! Interesting about Noteshelf being developed for Android.

But anyway who am I kidding, I am stuck with Apple. I've had Apple computers at home since 1995 or whereabouts, and now I have an iPhone and iPad. If I wanted to change I'd have to relearn and rebuy everything. I'd have to be a lot more angry at Apple than I am to do that.

Plus, I doubt that a phablet would be of much use to me. I tried buying an iPad mini to carry in my handbag and leave the big iPad at home, but it was just too much bother and I got rid of it. I prefer the big iPad for most things, except reading one-handed on the train, which I can do on my iPhone. If I got a Galaxy Note I probably wouldn't do much more than that, and I'd have to do it the Android way which I'm not used to.

But the S-Pen is still a great idea

[xendula]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Plus, I doubt that a phablet would be of much use to me. I tried buying an iPad mini to carry in my handbag and leave the big iPad at home, but it was just too much bother and I got rid of it. I prefer the big iPad for most things, except reading one-handed on the train, which I can do on my iPhone. If I got a Galaxy Note I probably wouldn't do much more than that, and I'd have to do it the Android way which I'm not used to.

But the S-Pen is still a great idea

Same here: I prefer the 10 inchers, and a Mini would never satisfy my needs. I am actually holding off on replacing my phone until something really small and really good hits the market. So sick of large phones, and I never utilize their screens, because I do everything on my iPad. Samsung will be selling the Gear S, a smartwatch that is also a phone this year, alas, it doesn't have a camera, so would never be a full replacement, and it is not Android.
Their large Note tablets would be great with the SPen and Noteshelf, but I prefer the iPad's 3:4 screen ratio to the more common 16:9.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by xendula

Same here: I prefer the 10 inchers, and a Mini would never satisfy my needs. I am actually holding off on replacing my phone until something really small and really good hits the market. So sick of large phones, and I never utilize their screens, because I do everything on my iPad. Samsung will be selling the Gear S, a smartwatch that is also a phone this year, alas, it doesn't have a camera, so would never be a full replacement, and it is not Android.
Their large Note tablets would be great with the SPen and Noteshelf, but I prefer the iPad's 3:4 screen ratio to the more common 16:9.

There is a Note tablet with sPen I believe (Note 10.1), but the reviews I read were lukewarm. And I am not giving up my iPad!

[markom]

DotPen



Product Description
" DotPen redefines drawing and writing on tablets and smartphones. DotPen actually feels and writes just like a pen, does not require special software, and works with any iOS, Android, and Windows touch interface device. At 143 mm long and 11.9mm in diameter, DotPen feels like a real pen and features a unique 1.9 mm Active-Quill tip producing amazing fluid pin-point writing accuracy. Powered by a single AAA battery (included), DotPen provides up to 12 hours of continuous latency-free drawing and writing. Powered by "MagicTouch" technology, DotPen does not rely on special pre-installed software or specific apps. With a touch of a button, DotPen instantly activates to work across any device using capacitive touch. DotPen works independently of special software or special settings in apps. So it virtually works with any app, including popular apps such as ZoomNotes, Evernote, Paper by FiftyThree, ProCreate, and many more. Many capacitive touch pens have cheap rubber tips that easily fall off and feel mushy and sluggish. DotPen introduces a unique Active-Quill writing tip. Crafted from a durable thermoplastic, the Active-Quill tip has an extremely low coefficient of friction which glides effortlessly over glass displays with zero latency. This precision fine point tip feels remarkably like a real pen and provides stunning clarity of resolution for both drawing and writing. Dot-Pen is made of precision CNC machined anodized aluminum alloy and a durable soft-touch rubber writing grip. Built to last and built for effortless writing and sketching. www.dot-tec.com "

http://www.amazon.com/DotPen-Android...eywords=dotpen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiZfz1cSsfI

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by markom

DotPen



Product Description
" DotPen redefines drawing and writing on tablets and smartphones. DotPen actually feels and writes just like a pen, does not require special software, and works with any iOS, Android, and Windows touch interface device. At 143 mm long and 11.9mm in diameter, DotPen feels like a real pen and features a unique 1.9 mm Active-Quill tip producing amazing fluid pin-point writing accuracy. Powered by a single AAA battery (included), DotPen provides up to 12 hours of continuous latency-free drawing and writing. Powered by "MagicTouch" technology, DotPen does not rely on special pre-installed software or specific apps. With a touch of a button, DotPen instantly activates to work across any device using capacitive touch. DotPen works independently of special software or special settings in apps. So it virtually works with any app, including popular apps such as ZoomNotes, Evernote, Paper by FiftyThree, ProCreate, and many more. Many capacitive touch pens have cheap rubber tips that easily fall off and feel mushy and sluggish. DotPen introduces a unique Active-Quill writing tip. Crafted from a durable thermoplastic, the Active-Quill tip has an extremely low coefficient of friction which glides effortlessly over glass displays with zero latency. This precision fine point tip feels remarkably like a real pen and provides stunning clarity of resolution for both drawing and writing. Dot-Pen is made of precision CNC machined anodized aluminum alloy and a durable soft-touch rubber writing grip. Built to last and built for effortless writing and sketching. www.dot-tec.com "

http://www.amazon.com/DotPen-Android...eywords=dotpen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiZfz1cSsfI

Thank you. I'm intrigued!

[xendula]

^ I thought I saw a similar looking one and users were complaining about the tip wearing out very quickly, but I can't find its product page at the moment.
Hmm, I may give this one a shot, after the 10/21 event, in case a new iPad with pen support will be announced.

[FlorenceArt]

I didn't know about ZoomNotes. I installed the lite version. It looks OK, but the most interesting feature is nested pages which is a paid feature. There are very few apps that tried to do this. I was very excited about it when I tried Pento (good idea never really developed IMO) and later Scrapnote (better but handwriting quality not good enough) but I ended up abandoning both apps. I wonder if I would actually use this functionality if it came in an app with good handwriting and a decent interface.

Handwriting in ZoomNotes is not bad at all. Not on the level of Noteshelf but comparable to Notes Plus or Bamboo Notes. The interface is not great to look at but tolerable. I haven't yet used it enough to judge if it's efficient. Gesture editing looks OK but maybe not as good as Notes Plus or especially Smart Notes.

Another app that I will probably end up buying and not using

[Jessica Lares]

The handwriting space is going to get interesting very quickly over the next few months. I don't blame you if you want to hold out. I just bought three iOS 8 launch titles myself and am really trying not to buy the other cool stuff.

[FlorenceArt]

Are there really believable rumors about an iPad with a stylus? I find it hard to believe. Is there really a market for it? The Galaxy Note phablet seems very good, but what's its market share in the Samsung product range?

[markom]

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Are there really believable rumors about an iPad with a stylus? I find it hard to believe. Is there really a market for it? The Galaxy Note phablet seems very good, but what's its market share in the Samsung product range?

Probably next year if expected iPad 12" gets one beforehand in Q1/Q2 2015.

[Jessica Lares]

Doesn't matter what Samsung's marketshare is. What matters is that the iOS stylus market is booming and they're trying to fix the problems associated with only having a capacitive screen to work with. These companies could be focusing on making nice pens that are easy on the hands and functional if they weren't having to figure out how to make a battery fit at the same time.

So many case uses for a stylus too. It wouldn't just be the drawing and handwriting guys who would be happy with it. I actually use my small Intuos as my mouse on my machine. I use it to 3D model and sculpt, work with photos, and the usual drawing stuff. Of course I can also do the OS X gestures on it too.

[FlorenceArt]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

Doesn't matter what Samsung's marketshare is. What matters is that the iOS stylus market is booming and they're trying to fix the problems associated with only having a capacitive screen to work with. These companies could be focusing on making nice pens that are easy on the hands and functional if they weren't having to figure out how to make a battery fit at the same time.

So many case uses for a stylus too. It wouldn't just be the drawing and handwriting guys who would be happy with it. I actually use my small Intuos as my mouse on my machine. I use it to 3D model and sculpt, work with photos, and the usual drawing stuff. Of course I can also do the OS X gestures on it too.

My question was how well the Galaxy Note sells compared to other Samsung products. But yes, it seems that every month there is a new stylus claiming to overcome the drawbacks of capacitive screens, so you may be right that there is a market. I would certainly consider buying an iPad with a good stylus... provided it's not too big. The rumors seem to be connected to an iPad pro with a 12" screen or so. That's huge compared to the 9.7" of the iPad Air. I would need an ever bigger shoulder bag!

[xendula]

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

Doesn't matter what Samsung's marketshare is. What matters is that the iOS stylus market is booming and they're trying to fix the problems associated with only having a capacitive screen to work with. These companies could be focusing on making nice pens that are easy on the hands and functional if they weren't having to figure out how to make a battery fit at the same time.

^ This.

The amount of iOS handwriting apps, styli and especially the growing market for digital styli just shows that Steve was wrong: people do want to write with a stylus, rather than their fingers. He was wrong about cell phone screen sizes, and he was wrong about small USB MP3 players, and the outcome is that Apple has already given in to two of theses users' needs.

It could be that they will reserve native digitizer capability for the 12 inch tablet next year, or that they will just change the Macbook Air to work with a digitizer (the recent Surface Pro vs Macbook commercials featuring Photoshop are dead-on, considering how many graphics professionals favor Mac OS over Win).

I know chances are slim that the new iPad Air will have this capability, but I can't help hoping for it. And, yeah, I would never want to lug a 12 incher around with me, but if I had unlimited funds, I would get one for home use only, in addition to my regular Air.