Earlier today, Google decided that you needed to ditch the keyboard and get back to handwriting messages to friends and family. No, this is not a 2-week late April Fools’ joke from the company that dominates April 1. This is a real deal app that clearly took some work to get right.
The app is called Google Handwriting Input, and it’s actually pretty neat. You can handwrite in 82 different languages and watch as Google places them as words in a message field for sending or searching or whatever. They even included emoji drawing-support, so you can draw a unicorn or a sun or a simple smiley face. It’s also pretty good at reading the scratchiest of chicken scratch.
Give a shot.
Here is a list of features:
- A useful complement to touchscreen typing or voice input
- A fun way to enter emojis by drawing
- Useful for languages that can be challenging to type on a standard keyboard
- Works across your Android phones and tablets running Android 4.0.3 and up
- If you claim your handwriting is terrible, try it out and see if it can convince you otherwise
This would be great for the Note owners.
Kids need to be taught cursive again too! It’s sad when an entire generation won’t be able to even read it.
Honestly I’m hoping this app will eventually be good enough to read some of the old letters my family has kept around that are unitelligible at times. I could read/write cursive pretty well, but everyone has their own idiosyncrasies. At least I know my bad handwriting is a family trait!
I was taught it in elementary school but had to lookup how to write any letters that weren’t in my first name, middle initial or last name when i was trying cursive.
Pretty cool, this is in the translate app for a while now. They should have given the option to NOT put a new icon (globe) to left of the space bar in the Google keyboard
This needs to be the default response method on Moto 360/Android Wear devices.
*nexus conspiracy theory* next nexus to have stylus to take advantage of this & multi window support?
Nexus Surface
Google, I love you but…
Why?
Now just release a Nexus Note with an N-Pen and Multi Window and were Good! 😉
I tried it on my moto x. Found it slower than just using a keyboard.
Agreed.
For languages that are hard to type with, I can see how this is useful. Aside from that, I think typing and voice input are far superior.
♋♪♪♪♪♋I RECEIVED FIRST DRAFT OF $13000!@ak5:
,,
➨➨➨➨http://RealCareCloud.com/get/0iusb…
It will be great for Google to have a copy of your handwriting for their/government’s future needs.
Because one can’t change their handwriting style?
Habits are the hardest thing to change in a human.
True, but they can still be changed.
I guess if you beat it out of them.
Well I guess it’s a good thing for you paranoid people that you can turn off the Online Recognition.
This seems like a logical step forward for something like Google translate.
Those are beautiful colored headers. Never realized it before
good for the galaxy note I guess