3 Apps that allow users to handwrite on their iPads using a finger or stylus have become increasingly popular, which suggests that the iOS keyboard is not always the best tool for a job, and that typing may not have fully eroded the need for decent handwriting. Since the iPad wasn't designed for use with a stylus or handwriting, developers have had to create work-arounds such as a "palm rest" that prevents the app from registering your palm on the page as you write. Many of these "innovations," while clever, have not been completely successful, and the resulting apps don't function as expected. Therefore, this AppGuide will advise you of the apps that are most likely to facilitate fast, smooth note-taking with handwriting that looks the same as it would on paper.
Notability - Take Notes & Annotate PDFs with Dropbox & Google Drive Sync
Notability - Notability's combination of numerous features, an intelligently-designed interface, a fluid, readable handwriting experience, and value is enough to make it unbeatable. Notability has virtually every feature available in other notetaking apps (aside from text conversion) and they are virtually all implemented in a highly intuitive, user-friendly manner: pencil, highlighter, a palm rest that works, a zoom mode that advances the text as you type, a typing mode with extra keys on the keyboard and the ability to type in the body of the note, a voice recording function that syncs recordings to the text typed at the same time, import from and autosync to Dropbox, any WebDAV server, or iDisk, an outline format, the option to turn and use any page in a notebook in Landscape or Portrait mode, pdf annotation, a left handed writing mode, and even the elimination of the need to turn the page by automatically adding a new page at the bottom of the last one. The one hiccup is that it hasn't been updated for the new iPad yet, but the developers have announced that an update is imminent.
Smart Writing Tool - 7notes HD Premium
Smart Writing Tool- 7Notes HD Premium is the essential app for those wanting to use their iPads to handwrite notes and then convert them to text. The app makes this often tedious act as easy as possible through a thoughtfully-designed, flexible interface. Users can choose whether to convert the writing into text as they write, or use the app as a traditional handwriting app and convert the writing at a later date. The flexibility extends to the recognition engine, as it allows users to select a suggested word or delete the writing and try again, which is a very useful feature. More impressively, 7 Notes HD Premium actually learns your handwriting and gives you more accurate results the more you use it. Handwriting with 7Notes HD Premium is smooth and responsive, but it's not the app to choose unless you want to convert handwriting into text, as you can only write in a zoomed area and not full-screen.
Paper is not technically a note-taking app, but its free version features a fountain pen that offers one of the smoothest handwriting experiences available. Your words may never have looked more beautiful with less effort, as the pen turns your letters into calligraphy. More, Paper is the only app that truly translates some of the little nuances of ink into the digital realm. For example, leaving your "pen" in one place for an extended period makes more ink come out and "bleed" onto the page. Fair warning: Paper could prove to be very expensive, because the other tools are in-app purchases that you may find difficult to resist.
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