By Ishant Gupta
There was a
time when every mobile device came with a stylus. Now, the stylus isn’t popular
anymore. However, there are some devices and apps that are making very good use
of stylus.
Using stylus
you can accomplish many creative tasks. From being used only in touchscreen
devices before, stylus is now used with tablets as well as with smartphones.
Want to buy a stylus..
Your phone or tablet came without a stylus? No problem, you can always buy one separately. Capacitive screens do not work with regular plastic stylus. You have to buy a capacitive screen stylus which has a special foam tip. The tip of such a stylus is thick and is not very good for your handwriting or notes. However, you can use it for drawing, sketching and normal navigation.
About five years ago, no one could have thought of mobile phones working without a stylus. Be it a Windows phone or a Symbian or Palm, a stylus was used to get good interface control. Everyone was impressed with the style of stylus! But with time, stylus faded away.
In 2007, everything changed with the arrival of iPhone. Its capacitive touchscreen and interface was designed in such a way that it was easier to operate using fingers. Thus, fingers replaced the stylus.
Till some time, Nokia and Microsoft maintained their mobile phones stylus-friendly but after a while they too switched to capacitive touchscreen with Symbian 3 and Windows phone. But stylus has not disappeared completely and is in fact still favourite with those who like writing with hands rather than typing. Today, in the world of tablets, stylus is ready to awe you with its new form.
If you are not used to working with onscreen keyboard, using stylus can make your work easy. Do you know that stylus can be used fabulously with new devices and apps?
Stylus
tips
-While
writing, try to keep it simple and clear instead of making it stylish.
-You often
have to patient. Most of the apps take time to recognize the matter you are
writing. If you write faster you tend to make more mistakes.
-Keep the
stylus tip and touchscreen surface clean. Scratch and dust can lead to errors
in writing.
-Do not
exert too much pressure while writing with stylus as it is not required. You
can get clear writing.
-If you ever
have to choose between heavy stylus and light weight stylus, always opt for the
heavy one as it will make writing easier for you.
-The shape
of the stylus matters too. The longer it is, the better it will be for writing
as it will work like the usual pen and pencil.
Apps
which work with stylus
Graffiti
Before
iPhones were introduced, people used Graffiti in order to enjoy writing with
stylus. In this app, a set of symbols are used to represent alphabet. A similar
kind of handwriting recognition is available free for Android devices. It takes
care of your keyboard problem. It works well with all apps that involve use of
keyboard. But one of its major problems is its speed. It is slow on Android but
works fine with Palm OS devices. If you want to buy it you can search for it on
Android market.
WritePad
You can get
WritePad by paying 9.99 USD. It claims to have a state of art technique which memorizes
your style of writing. Even though it is not 100% accurate, it has a good
performance. This application gives an option to write anywhere on the screen.
You can also write in any specific section if you want. You can even save your
work in PDF form. Additionally, you can share your work on Twitter or Facebook.
Alternatively, you can even send it to Google Docs. Another interesting point
is that it corrects spelling mistakes. Apart from this, it lets you write in
different fonts and provides options to cut, copy and paste text. You can buy this
app from iTunes store or Android store.
7notes
If you
prefer your own handwriting for writing notes, this app is made for you. It is
a free app and its premium version costs 8.99 USD. If you are making important
notes you can buy the premium version. Using this, you can write notes, and
change them to text later. You can also add webpages and images to them. If you
wish, you can also save your notes on Evernotes and Dropbox. You can also save
your notes on Facebook and Twitter. It is available for iOS as well as Android.
The recognition level is not as good as that of WritePad but nevertheless, the
app is very useful. You can get it from iTunes store or from Android market.
PhatPad
It is
created by makers of WritePad but it is an app with varied options. You can
make notes in your handwriting, you can draw and also insert pictures. You can
also add an audio clip. If you want to add typed text, the handwriting
recognition feature opens an input area. It will change your handwriting to
typed text. You can change the resulting text into a PDF, upload it on Google
Docs and send it to Evernote too. However, it does not have the option to
upload content on social networking websites. You can buy this app from iTunes
app store for 4.99 USD.
MyScript
Memo
Good
handwriting recognition is a crucial factor for a good application. But most of
the times you have to spend money for it. That is why MyScript, a free app, is
considered as an amazing app. It provides the option to either save it safely
or to change it to image or text. It works much efficiently compared to WritePad
and 7notes. Using it you can create effects, insert images and upload the final
work on Twitter, Facebook or Evernote. For buying this, go to iTunes app
store.
Stylus with Tab
Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet
This 10.1 inch Android tablet comes with a tablet pen, which changes the handwriting to typed text. It has a fine tip for better writing.
HTC Flyer
Flyer is the first 7 inch tablet which came with a stylus. It has two buttons- first one is for highlighting and the other one, for erasing. You can use this stylus to write, highlight and draw.
