WritePad – Handwriting Recognition Engine – iPad App Review
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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.
This is an app where no bells and whistles were spared. Once you create your document, the results can be used to email, export as a document (in text or PDF format) or print. There is also support for social networking as you can tweet or post to Facebook from directly within the app. Want to sync your documents with others users? Not a problem, WritePad synchronizes with DropBox, Evernote and Google Docs. There is even a built-in HTTP server so you can share your documents directly with other iPhone and iPad devices on the same wireless network.
The value added functionality of this app includes many features only found in more powerful word processors. A built in spell-checker, word and character counting, autocorrector and context checker come in very handy. All of the standard cut, copy and paste functionality both within the app and device-wide also exist and make using the app very convenient.
Some App Store reviews indicated that they were not able to get WritePad to learn their handwriting style, but my tests were all quite successful. While there were occasional problems with missing a word or swapping out an incorrect letter, overwhelmingly the app worked very well. I also tried varying my writing style and using a finger as well as stylus and had similarly good results. I would suppose common sense should dictate that writing should be clear enough that the average human could decipher it and I would expect WritePad would also be able to. The developer also indicates that this is a progressive process, the more you use it the better the app gets to know you!
What I liked: This app works well and without a lengthy setup or training process to learn your individual writing style. The features available with this app make it very powerful and a weighty tool for personal, school or business use.
What I didn’t like: The user interface is difficult to understand and intuit. It can be quite difficult to navigate through the numerous features of this app, which is unfortunate. The developers do seem to recognize this though, as there is an included tutorial that they recommend you complete before using the app.
To buy or not to buy: This is one of the more expensive apps, but really delivers for the price. If you have need or interest in using your iPad as a note-taking device, this is an excellent choice.
- App Name: WritePad
- Version Reviewed: 5.01
- Category: Productivity
- Developer: PhatWare Corp.
- Price: $9.99
- Score:
