Android OneNote and Stylus input

Anonymous

BLUF: OneNote for Android NEEDS support for stylus input for drawing and annotating!

Let me first say that on my IBM X200 with digitizer that OneNote is my most used application. I absolutely love the ability to make rough design sketches then annotate them with information. (Parts lists, notes etc) My favorite feature though is the ability of OneNote to actually improve upon the simplicity of pen and paper. You have the freedom to use it as a simple notepad. But where it excels is with the ability to move and resize drawing and text elements. All though college I used it to take notes in class and being able to move a diagram around was a huge benefit.

Android needs the pen input functinality. I can't stress this enough. I'm not talking about handwriting recognition for text input. I'm talking about being able to use the application like a notepad. Initially I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 to use as my "idea pad". With all of the capability that the table has, the software available for the built in digitizer is abysmal. It does everything well except be a notepad. It's actually pretty horrifying how much trouble to have to go through to even try to use it that way. It was so poor at being a notepad that I returned it. The same is almost true of the Samsung Galaxy Note II I have been using as my phone.

I have found an application published by Asus called Supernote that does a decent job at combining a notepad and drawing application. If the handwrighting recognition feature were enabled it could give OneNote a run for it's money. OneNote still has the advantage with the moving text and graphics around. If it could access the clipboard for the S-pen that would be great too...

The question is, with more and more devices being sold with digitizers and stylus', when is OneNote going to support their input? (Oh, and being able to ignore finger input while the pen in is use is an important aspect of that.)

Thanks for listening,

Michael

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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126 answers

Anonymous

2014-02-20T13:00:54+00:00

The stylus used for inking, drawing etc.
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Anonymous

2014-02-21T23:06:13+00:00

Last update from a Msft employee was in October 2013. Any worthwhile information to share with your fans? OneNote is an incredible product; so is the Android OS. So, what are you guys doing about this?

Scott

It has been so long I've reverted back to using paper.
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Anonymous

2014-02-24T20:46:27+00:00

we dont want to discuss anything i believe. all we want is this feature to be on onenote android app. hope it will be added soon. thanks
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Anonymous

2014-02-26T13:50:48+00:00

Just to add another voice to get handwriting on onenote android. even if you do not do recognition, as long as it is properly synced to the PC all that can be done there...
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Anonymous

2014-02-26T17:18:38+00:00

Girish,

I really wish Microsoft would implemented an easy to access formal feedback / feature request button/menu into all of your software (mobile and pc). I think it would be a great way to get good feedback and assess the demand for features. I understand that a forum with ~50 replies probably isn't going to result in Microsoft taking the initiative to implement a feature, but thousands of replies that are easily quantifiable may be enough to convince decision makers/management on the development teams.

I don't pretend to understand the technical hurdles that need to be cleared to implement inking on different platforms like android, and I doubt most of your customers care either. I just know I can do it easily with other products that have been around for much shorter periods of time than OneNote. I've always considered OneNote to be a killer app for my PC, surface pro 2, android phone etc. It really saddens me to see Microsoft not being the revolutionary force that it used to be in the software business. You guys just seem to adapt so slowly for a company with such immense resources. Maybe some direct feedback would provide some guidance. Hopefully your new CEO will take some initiative in this department.

All of that being said, I still love the application, just disappointed at how long it takes for (commonly requested and available in other app) features to become implemented in Microsoft products. (Google's voice recognition/Siri have been around for years and it sounds like MS won't have a competitor 'Cortana' for at least another year. OCR and inking were available in evernote for quite a while before they worked nearly as well in OneNote. We just got the ability to read OneNote inking in documents maybe a year ago. I just hope you guys will start adapting faster.
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