The interface is designed brilliantly with a little plus icon at the top left indicating a new document.
The brilliance doesn’t stop there, with a host of easy to use gestures like making a right angle J shape to gesture the enter command. As well as the very easy shorthand tools like putting in the date in your document, all you need to do is write the word date with your finger and then put a circle around it. It even has a built in calculator that you can write simple or even complex mathematic equations and it will calculate it and then put it into your text area.
I’m going to come right out and say it. I absolutely suck at typing on the iPhone keyboard. I know there are many people who absolutely love it but I’m simply not one of them. I have large fingers (I guess) and find myself making mistake after mistake, back spacing, rewriting, over and over again. When I was asked to have a look at WritePad, an iOS app that actually turns your handwriting into text, I happily agreed – anything to avoid the keyboard. Although at its most basic level WritePad is a basic handwriting recognition app – it actually does much, much more.
WritePad offers something we have all been wanting – handwriting recognition on our iPad and iPhone devices! Using a stylus or your finger, write directly into WritePad to take notes with ease
WritePad offers something we have all been wanting – handwriting recognition on our iPad and iPhone devices! Using a stylus or your finger, write directly into WritePad to take notes with ease.
What I liked about WritePad was the ability to include and exclude specific shapes for each character, this enables you to tailor the app to how you write. The shorthand option is useful for regularly used snippets of content such as addresses and lists. The custom words is a great inclusion allowing you to insert words which aren't in the default directory.
If you feel more comfortable writing then typing, WritePad could be just what you're after. The version reviewed reflects the development and work which has gone into building this app, the amount of customisation available is impressive and ensures the WritePad can be setup for customised to cater for everyones style of writing.
We’ve covered WritePad quite a bit here on the pages of GBM and I personally think that if handwriting recognition is your thing, and you own an iPad, you can’t do any better than this App on that platform.
Entering text into a tablet can be a troublesome affair – especially when you don’t have an external physical keyboard, and you dislike typing on the touchscreen keyboard. Well the folks over at PhatWare have developed an app called WritePad that attempts to alleviate the situation. What if you could write your text instead of typing on a non-tactile keyboard?
This handwriting-recognition app definitely earns a place on my must-have Android app list. I'm going to be using this app 24/7. The app also has autocorrect, an editable user dictionary, an easy-to-use calculator function and one press of a button takes you back to keyboard mode, if you so choose.
WritePad for iPad is all about handwriting recognition and can be especially useful when utilizing a stylus, which is why its new palm rest option is so important. Instead of having to constantly hover above your iPad to take notes, the app now allows you to comfortably rest your hand right on the screen without resulting in any accidental inputs. The option works for either left or right hand users, as long as your hand is resting below what you are writing.
PhatNotes is a big, bold drought of note taking. On the surface, it’s covered in icons and colors. Under the hood you can organize “thousands” of notes in folders and groups. It also supports handwriting recognition so you can scribble your note on the screen and Phatnotes will OCR it and turn it into editable text. (A process which works pretty well (and yes, internet, it does OCR and print curse words without any censorship).
You can sync PhatNotes for iPhone with the PhatNotes for Windows desktop client (no Mac client… yet?). Given the price tag, PhatNotes will most likely appeal to hardcore on-device users who want to do as much as possible on their mobile, especially if they already use PhatNotes on the PC and see the sync as a bonus.
For those who like the handwriting recognition but don’t want the higher price and fuller organizational features, the same developer offers WritePad [$1.99 - iTunes link]
The Apple iPad is still over a month away from release, but many companies that make iPhone apps are already looking into creating software for this tablet computer.
Although it will run the iPhone OS, the difference in screen size and resolution between this upcoming device and Apple's smartphone and handheld will bring challenges but also new opportunities for developers.
Electric Pocket has added an iPhone version of its PhoneFace photo speed-dial app, already available for BlackBerry and Android users. PhoneFace users can select any photo or avatar for their contacts, take a photo with the iPhone's camera, or let the app automatically locate and update the pictures of contacts with their most recent Twitter profile picture. PhoneFace will launch phone calls, text messages and emails with a simple click on a contact's photo or avatar. PhoneFace is available from the iTunes App Store for an introductory price of 99 cents.
PhatWare has released WritePad Professional Edition, a combination of its WritePad Affairs, Events, and Notes apps that were launched back in May. WritePad now supports Voice Notes, allows multiple folders of each kind, and uses new OS 3.0 features. It also allows users to transfer individual items between several iPhone devices via Wi-Fi, and Affairs now has a reminder feature implemented using the PhatWare provider server. WritePad Professional Edition is available on Apple iTunes for $9.99.
Chacun d’entre nous est à la recherche de l’application ultime, pour créer et gérer ses notes, qu’elles soient personnelles ou professionnelles. Writepad Notes [AppStore, 3,99€] est une de ces applications proposant la gestion de Notes, avec une petite originalité par rapport à d’autres. Cette particularité est que Writepad propose la reconnaissance de texte (anglais uniquement pour le moment), dessiné du bout du doigt. Est-ce vraiment un plus? Nous allons le découvrir.
Phatware has been making handwriting recognition and note taking software for [what were called at the time] pocket PCs and smartphones since 1997. I’ve used PhatPad on my Windows Mobile devices for quite a few years now, and it’s often one of the first things that I install when I get a new device. When they announced their first products for the iPhone at the end of May, Phatware offered Gear Diary an opportunity to review their first three programs: WritePad Notes, WritePad Affairs, and WritePad Events. All three programs feature PhatWare’s handwriting recognition software for the iPhone, WritePad.