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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
A family of Microsoft products that enable users to capture, organize, and reuse notes electronically.
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.
I would use OneNote for android all day every day if I could use my pen (Note 3). Because I can't use my pen, I refuse....refuse to use OneNote. Get with the program Microsoft...and give us Inking in OneNote for Android.
Another vote here for Android onenote inking support. I use Onenote extensively at work on a laptop. Being able to supplement these notes with inked ones captured on my personal Samsung Note 8 would be tremendous.
I can appreciate the conflict for Microsoft - hope a weak Android Onenote version drives customers to give up on Android and go windows 8 - but it ain't gonna happen - customers are already invested in Android.
I also wish to have digitizer support for Android!
I was initially going to purchase the Surface Pro 2, unfortunately I found the screen size to be too small to be a good note taking device. Further I even considered getting the Surface 2 (Only because it was cheap compared to a Surface Pro 2), however the digitizer on the Surface Pro 2 for note taking is just so much better than using a capacitive stylus on the Surface 2 hence removing also the Surface 2 as an option.
It should also be noted that I've considered the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 that also have a similar, if not the same, digitizer as the Surface Pro 2, however the Surface Pro 2 pen input felt so much better than the Galaxy note, more responsive and accurate. Don't know if it's due to the processor being so much better in the Surface Pro 2, but nevertheless Surface Pro 2 is superior in my opinion when it comes to responsiveness and accuracy.
So after CES 2014 the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 was announced and that was a size that spoke to me, it had a screen size similar to a regular A4 paper size. Perfect for drawing and taking notes along with a screen resolution that would render crisp and clear text.
I would have love to have purchased a Microsoft device, but I feel that Microsoft is not pushing pen input enough in its products (hardware and software). Therefore I purchased the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 yesterday. Since I am heavily invested in other devices running OneNote I would love for Microsoft to shine through and at least produce a "Premium" version of OneNote for Android. I would even pay good money just to be able to take notes with the S-pen in OneNote. Now I will have to use S-Note that I don't prefer as much, or even invest in EverNote and import those S-Notes into EverNote and then to OneNote which isn't really optimal.
As a side note, I would love to see Microsoft focus its Surface 2 devices more towards students and tailor it to how they would like to use it. If the Surface 2 had pen input, maybe even a bigger screen, it would have been the go to tablet for students since it comes with both Office RT and OneNote (with future pen support for all their note taking from lectures etc). I would buy that product instantly since I feel that Windows RT is superior to any of the other mobile platforms as an OS. Unfortunately consumers are not preferring it to other platforms because of its lack of apps. However, for students, I would say that getting a device that can really function well as a note taking device, with OneNote desktop functionality (especially the audio record feature that tracks notes made at different times in the recording), would weigh heavier than getting angry birds etc.
If Microsoft is not implementing this just because it doesn't want to implement a good feature for a competing platform then make it like $50 in Google Play, I would buy it anyways. Then Microsoft could offer the same functionality for free in the Surface 3, just to give it a bit of extra value.
Sorry for the long post but I just want Microsoft to step up its game and start acting like a company for its customers both in software and in hardware. Start making superb software for the competing mobile platforms to get iPad and Android users to start using Microsoft products again, and hopefully they will at least consider Microsoft hardware in their next mobile purchase to tie those great software products together in the Microsoft ecosystem under Windows. Then maybe developers will finally be willing to start making those sought after apps for the Microsoft store.
This post got a bit off topic but to tie in with the start: Please make pen input available in OneNote for Android, either in the free version or as a premium version!
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
What is a digitizer?