You've read of those that say, "That's right, I don't carry a keyboard with my iPad. That's not what a tablet is for!. Go use a laptop or something if you want retro keyboard input!" Perhaps that's a bit of a exaggeration. As much as I love my keyboard, being able to switch from handwriting to text on an iPad would be pretty neat. I hadn't given it much thought until a friend called me up and asked if it was do-able. It was also important because I saved up for months to get an iPad and my wife said, "Ok, that's your last piece of technology for awhile!"
;-)
My colleague, who often asks questions that result in blog entries, inquired, "What's the best iPad app that works with a stylus?" She then expanded on her needs: "I need something that will allow me to write (with a stylus) comments then email that out." You know, I love specific questions like that.
At a certain point as a blogger, having asked many questions myself, I find that I'm in search of questions like this. Although the Internet is full of responses to how-to questions, and that quantity sends me the message that what I write is worthless because it is easily accessible, I find it fun to do...like a gardener who doesn't hope to feed the world, just enjoy the simple pleasure of hands in the dirt.
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| Source: http://goo.gl/4AfiY |
Over the last few days, several folks have responded to my initial question with these suggestions:
- AudioNote ($4.99), although it's also available as a free "lite" app, that allows you to take notes and record audio at the same time. What's neat about AudioNote is that it synchronizes your typed or handwritten notes with the audio...and you can jump forward to that portion of the audio by tapping on the text. The audio file it creates can be sent to a computer then edited with a free open source software program, Audacity.
- Penultimate ($.99) - One of the main benefits of Penultimate, which I own, is it's connection to Evernote, how easy it is to embed images from your Camera Roll. The only thing I don't like is that it lacks AudioNotes recording ability, making it a "why bother?" app. I can only hope it will improve with time.
- Notability ($.99) - Watch this review via YouTube
- Paperport Notes (Free) - It's OK, but not something I'd use every day.
- Ink Flow (Free with limited options) via Jfro_Z - I have to admit, I liked this one the most although it can only export to JPG/PDF via email. Still, quite nice.
- Course Notes ($3.99)
- Update per Comment by Alison: WritePad ($3.99) - From their web site: WritePad is a text editor for iPhone that utilizes advanced handwriting recognition input for the English language as well as iPhone keyboard for text entry, and includes spell checker, context analyzer, and standard editing operations such as copy, cut, paste, etc. WritePad’s primary handwriting recognition-based input method integrated with the text editor and developed specifically for iPhone and iPod Touch. It recognizes cursive, PRINT, and mixed handwriting styles.
There are other apps, but right now, AudioNotes is my favorite if you need to record audio, while Penultimate is great if you want to include notebooks with pictures/images from your iPad's Camera Roll. Of course, this doesn't really get at the handwriting recognition my colleague was looking for. Some apps that might address that include:
- Smart Writing Tool ($8.99) - Ouch, quite expensive.
- MyScript Memo
(Free) (check video below) - From their web site: With MyScript Memo, take your notes on the go using your handwriting and convert them to digital text that you can export and share with Evernote®, Facebook®, Twitter®, Gmail or copy/paste to any other text application. MyScript Memo is available in 31 recognition languages (including Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, English, Spanish, French and many more).
The winner overall that meets the needs of my colleague? MyScript Memo! Check out these screenshots:
What note-taking app with handwriting recognition are you using?
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