Handwriting support with S Pen no longer working after 7.8.2

[Tadeas 1]

Hi,

I heavily rely on the "Direct pen input" feature on my Note 4. It's basically let's the users write on screen and converts the handwriting to text in real time. Like this:

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5188700fe4b091a1ff87c3d3/t/54e39843e4b0b87a7419d3cc/1424201798399/

Together with Evernote it makes a wonderful note taking combo, esp. for lecture notes. 7.8.2 update broke this. When I hover the S-Pen on the note area, I can't see the "blue T", starting the direct pen input feature. I can still use it on the note title though. 

Any ideas how to get it back? Or, could you, please, fix it in a next version? 

Thanks, Tadeas

[Abhijit Kardekar 0]

Evernote is the best notes taking app. I use to swear by it, made my phone (note 4) a notebook for every meeting and conference. Till I updated it.

Now the Text Note no longer support the stylus input. Earlier I was able to hand write, and it was converted to text. That feature is no longer available.

It was one of the most useful features as it let me take notes which in a lecture or meeting. Typing on a small keyboard is not that fast

Can you please bring back that feature, the handwriting notes don't give you the same resolution as text note as the later use to convert it into the typed font.

Please help if I am missing out on some option to turn on the stylus input for text note.

Regards,

Abhijit Kardekar

[Matt W. 174]

Hello @Tadeas

Thank you for posting and welcome to the forums. We are currently looking into this and I will keep you in the loop once I know more.

[HFunk 0]

Have the same problem. Just getting used to write  my notes by hand on the screen and see them transformed to typeed letters later, it's not working any more.

It works wel in te title of the note. But in the main text field the little T icon didn't show up.

Hope it wil be fixed soon

Thanks

[ExNihilo 26]

After a recent android update, my Samsung Note 4 no longer can take pen input for notes.

When I create a new note, I'm able to activate the pen to enter the note subject, but after entering the subject by clicking on the checkmark, I cannot activate the pen in the note input field, leaving the keyboard as the only means of text entry,

Please advise/fix. 

[Matt W. 174]

Hello all,

Our new editor uses an embedded version of Chrome for Android. Samsung’s handwriting function found in devices using the S Pen/handwriting feature do not work in Chrome. This is the reason it is not currently working. If Samsung were to release an update to support Chrome's editor, then it would work again with Evernote (as well as Chrome).

[kbee 0]

Hi,

 

I'm really upset that my s-pen doesn't work on new Evernote release. I rely heavy into this note taking app and was going to include in our organization as technology architect. But now I'm having second thoughts on my decision.

 

[Abhijit Kardekar 0]

 Hello Matt!

Thanks for the reply, is there a way I can go back to the previous version of evernote where it supported the stylus input. Is that version still supported

Regards

AK

[Matt W. 174]

Hello @Abhijit Kardekar,

Once updated through the Google Play Store, there is not a way to revert to a previous version unless downloaded from a source outside of the Google Play Store in the form of an APK file.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

This is a shame. Would it be possible to indicate what advantages are gained by using the embedded version of Chrome in the new editor?

I haven't done this update yet, and may wait a bit now. I did just try using the Samsung keyboard as my input keyboard, and selecting handwriting from the options, to see whether it would be a viable alternative to direct S-pen input. Ugh. Slow (one word at a time) and very inaccurate.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

Hmm. I just went ahead and updated to v. 7.8.2. According to the Google Play listing, this update should include "Many enhancements to the editing experience.... Support for strikethrough, subscript, and superscript text styles." Some of the other items mentioned on Play (Ability to mark up images and PDFs; Select multiple notes at once) are working. But I don't see any evidence of strikethrough, subscript, and superscript; and OTOH I can still use my S-pen for direct input. This is on a Samsung Note 4 Edge, with Android OS as indicated in my signature. Did I only get half an update or something?

[Matt W. 174]

Hello @Dave-in-Decatur,

With the 7.8.2 update, you are able to do the handwriting function in Evernote and also do Samsung's Direct Pen Input option in the title of the note. However, the Direct Pen Input function does not work in the note editor itself.

You should see the options for strikethrough, subscript, and superscript in the formatting option in the note editor. I have attached a screenshot for you to see these options highlighted.

The embedded version of Chrome found in our editor allows for more functionality across all platforms with less formatting errors. Whether that be on the Evernote website, the Evernote applications found on desktop, and the applications on mobile; we want that same experience of formatting across the board. This is helping us reach that point.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

Very curious. I'm using 7.8.2 (see first screenshot). But I don't have strikethrough, subscript, or superscript (see second screenshot). And, for good measure, I do have S-pen direct input in the note text editor area (the blue-circled T in the third screenshot).

[quickstudy 0]

Hey - this is really, really inconvenient not being able to have pen input to convert handwriting to notes.  I talk about how great Evernote is all the time and today I'm not happy with it at all!

[Tadeas 1]

@Dave-in-Decatur Wow that's weird. Anyway, the update really did bring a lot of important improvements (to those of us to whom it works). Not only to the editor but in viewing mode too.

[Matt W. 174]

Hello @Dave-in-Decatur,

That is definitely strange. Does it allow you to do handwriting when tapping on the bubble in the note editor?

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

Yes, the handwriting works fine. I've tried closing EN and restarting it, and restarting the phone (twice), with the same result. Obviously the S-pen issue is only an issue for people with Samsung devices that use it. I actually don't use it that much in EN. I would probably take the strikethrough, subscript, and superscript functions over it. To paraphrase Will Smith in Men in Black, this is about an 8 or so on my Weird-****-O-Meter.

[Matt W. 174]

Hey @Dave-in-Decatur,

I hear you on that one. It is strange that you would see the the S Pen functionality and not the subscript, superscript, and strikethrough functions. Did the Evernote application come preinstalled on your Note Edge?

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

No, I installed it when I installed all my apps when I got the phone last year.

What do you think about trying this: uninstalling Evernote from the phone, then reinstalling it from the Play Store? That should install the latest version clean. I presume the newly installed EN on the phone would then sync all my notes, and I'd be all set up without loss of data. I also presume that uninstalling it from the phone would not have any effect on notes--i.e., they wouldn't all seem to be deleted, and get synced to the EN servers as deleted. Would that be worth a try?

EDIT: I'll be away for a few days and probably not checking this forum; so, Matt, if you respond to this it may be next week till I take it up.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Dave-in-Decatur

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

OK, I went ahead and tried uninstalling and reinstalling (as reported here, and only after someone else said that it worked!). And indeed I now no longer have S-pen direct input in the note text editor area; but I do have strikethrough, superscript, and subscript. And I do have all my notes intact.

[Cresta 0]

Can you provide an older version apk for us to download? I really need this feature for my note taking during meetings.

[Didicide 0]

If your tablet or phone came with evernote pre-installed, all you have to do is go to the Google play store, select my apps & games, scroll down to Evernote, select it and click 'uninstall'. This will restore evernote to the version that came pre-installed on your tablet/phone, which incidentally allows the use of the S-Pen. Make sure to uncheck the auto update checkbox to stop it from  updating to the newest version. The trade off is the new features, but seeing as being able to write notes with the S-Pen is the biggest advantage on a note device, I guess it's worth going back to the earlier versions until evernote figures it out.

[Alicia B 0]

Please fix this feature!

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

Just to report that I upgraded to Android v. 7.9.2 yesterday. I find that I still do have S-Pen access in the note title, but not in the body of the note. Strange that it works one place and not the other. I presume that's because a different editor is actually used in each place. It would be nice to get it back in the note body; but since it's so device-specific, and given the new Chrome-based editor, that seems unlikely.

[Matt W. 174]

Hello @Dave-in-Decatur,

You are correct in that the title uses a different editor than the actual body of the note. I am hopeful that Samsung will include the ability to support the chrome-based editor in an update to TouchWiz UI.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

4 hours ago, Matt W. said:

Hello @Dave-in-Decatur,

You are correct in that the title uses a different editor than the actual body of the note. I am hopeful that Samsung will include the ability to support the chrome-based editor in an update to TouchWiz UI.

Thanks, Matt. I hope so too. I believe they have an incentive to do so--the S-Pen is a super device, a genuine game-changer IMO, and they will hopefully want to keep it functioning for as many people as possible. It's a reason to buy Samsung rather than another brand. OTOH ... people here think Evernote updates are a long time coming; it is as nothing compared to UI updates like this.

[hhagell 0]

I bought the Samsung TAB A because of the handwriting to text available in EN. 

I like to write using pen and paper.  Then the laborious task to type into EN.   While the Samsung is a great device, they took away the rationale to own it.  When you spend money for a feature, you feel cheated when they remove the feature,

*SIGH*

Thanks to EN staff (Matt) for keeping on top of this.

Herb

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

Just to report in, my Note 4 Edge updated to Android 6 Marshmallow the other day; and Evernote updated to v. 7.9.3. But there is still S-Pen access only in the title area, not the text area. I echo hhagell's *SIGH*. Presumably this issue arose (if it arose for Samsung at all) only after the configuring of Marshmallow was complete. (And it seems to be a good bit different in TouchWiz than in standard Android.) Maybe Nougat.... Maybe Ovaltine.... Maybe Peppermint.... (or whatever; I'm making those names up!).

[JSullinger 1]

You guys made the decision to move to Chrome for your new editor, not Google or Samsung. Crippling a major workflow for users in this fashion and telling people it's up to Google to support it is meh. Google didn't break it, it was your choice. 

 

Between this, the new device limits and other annoying issues, it looks like it's time to just move over to OneNote finally. Sigh. 

[cottinghamm 0]

Me too, this is one of those "improvements" that just isn't, where something is changed and breaks other functionality this isn't an improvement, there's clearly been a decision that this function wasn't important enough.

I've applied for a refund on my premium subscription - I can't stand this sort of thing.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

Well, but the S Pen is unique to Samsung, and Evernote's decision to move to Chrome had to be made with all types of devices in mind. If Google and/or Samsung chose not to play nice, WRT using S Pen in editing areas, there still may have been enough improvements to justify the change across the board.

[JSullinger 1]

21 minutes ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Well, but the S Pen is unique to Samsung, and Evernote's decision to move to Chrome had to be made with all types of devices in mind. If Google and/or Samsung chose not to play nice, WRT using S Pen in editing areas, there still may have been enough improvements to justify the change across the board.

What do you mean "play nice"? They didn't change their hardware or software. It's been the same for years. Evernote broke support, not Samsung or Google. The S Pen "plays nice" with other cross-platform apps, such as OneNote.

Evernote made the decision to use Chrome and break an existing feature vs using a different framework/component in order to try and continue supporting a feature some of their customers depend on. It's not fair to blame Google or Samsung for a feature that has not changed in years, and worked in an existing app, yet the existing app chose to use a different tech. 

As a developer, I understand the desire to make an app that runs cross-platform with as much code sharing as possible. Easier to maintain, faster across-the-board updates for your users etc. that having been said, Chrome is not the only thing out there that could have been used.

[JSullinger 1]

I've got thousands of notes in Evernote. Years of data that I've collected. It's frustrating when you pay a company for years, for their services, and have so many notes it's almost impossible to easily move them to someplace else and keep your organization, that they break what some consider a huge feature. 

Not everyone will consider it important; everyone finds different pieces of Evernote important for their way of capturing things. For me, this makes me a sad panda. 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

If the S Pen doesn't work in this Chrome-based editor, presumably it doesn't work in any Chrome-based editor. That would be an issue between Samsung and Google, it seems to me. (I speak from very limited technical knowledge, I admit!) Whatever the reasons EN had for switching to the Chrome-based editor, they were presumably global, not specific to S Pen-using Samsung products. Those of us who use and love those products are unhappy about losing the functionality (I know I am), but I do think we need to consider the wider universe of Android devices for which EN is intended. And it does seem to me that it's Samsung that has to do the work to make S Pen work with Chrome-based editors.

As an aside ... S Pen / Sad Panda ... both S P ... coincidence? 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

UPDATE: I just installed v. 7.9.4, now available in Google Play. This adds the capability of adding a quick note from the Android notification bar (In the Evernote app, Settings > Notifications > Add notes from notification bar). That's convenient in and of itself; but to my delight I found that when writing such a quick note, the S Pen works, not only in the title but in the note area itself! It's still not working in regular text notes, but this should be some relief.

[jmesseder2 1]

I've always been frustrated by software publishers who put out an update, discover something doesn't work -- especially something as important to users as S-pen handwriting-to-text appears to be -- and then blames another publisher for the incompatibility.

The feature is important to me as a journalist. It allowed me to take notes in the field which then were easily imported on the desktop to a word processing application. Suddenly, I'm back to pen and paper, followed by transcription. A major benefit of Evernote has been lost here. Evernote should make an older apk available for those of us who have come to rely on that feature.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

5 hours ago, jmesseder2 said:

I've always been frustrated by software publishers who put out an update, discover something doesn't work -- especially something as important to users as S-pen handwriting-to-text appears to be -- and then blames another publisher for the incompatibility.

The feature is important to me as a journalist. It allowed me to take notes in the field which then were easily imported on the desktop to a word processing application. Suddenly, I'm back to pen and paper, followed by transcription. A major benefit of Evernote has been lost here. Evernote should make an older apk available for those of us who have come to rely on that feature.

Just to be clear, it wasn't Evernote pointing toward Samsung and Google as bearing some responsibility, just me. I don't work for them (which keeps things from being worse than they are).

[RonRoss 0]

Automatic translation of handwriting to digital in the body of Notes on Samsung under Evernote is the most useful Evernote feature for me. If it's not fixed soon, I'll need to look for alternatives. Too bad. I really like Evernote.

[martyatias@gmail.com 0]

For what it's worth,  direct pen input works in input fields,  such as the title field.  Evidently the text input area does not appear to the pen as an input field.

[martyatias@gmail.com 0]

On 08/23/2016 at 7:23 AM, Dave-in-Decatur said:

UPDATE: I just installed v. 7.9.4, now available in Google Play. This adds the capability of adding a quick note from the Android notification bar (In the Evernote app, Settings > Notifications > Add notes from notification bar). That's convenient in and of itself; but to my delight I found that when writing such a quick note, the S Pen works, not only in the title but in the note area itself! It's still not working in regular text notes, but this should be some relief.

 how does that help you work in EN? Are you then taking the extra step of importing the Samsung note into an EN note?

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

1 hour ago, martyatias@gmail.com said:

For what it's worth,  direct pen input works in input fields,  such as the title field.  Evidently the text input area does not appear to the pen as an input field.

That's very helpful to know. It certainly seems peculiar that this input field would not show up as an input field; I hope whoever can fix this will do so soon.

2 hours ago, martyatias@gmail.com said:

 how does that help you work in EN? Are you then taking the extra step of importing the Samsung note into an EN note?

These quick notes are Evernote notes, not Samsung. Perhaps EN uses a different, non-Chrome editor in them. After activating the capability in EN Settings (Notifications > Add notes from notification bar), you have an EN icon when you pull down the notification screen. Tap that, and you get a little popup note in which you can write a title and some text, with the keyboard or the S Pen. (See the screenshot below.) These notes are saved automatically to your default Evernote notebook. It's all happening in Evernote, so there is no extra step.

[gazumped 11,656]

Believe it or not this is the first time I actually used the S Pen in Quick Note,  and I love the possibilities!

• Start Quicknote
• Hold the S Pen over the title field until you see the "T" menu.  Tap the menu with the pen.  Handwrite your text (carefully) and see it converted into typed characters.
• Hold the S Pen over the note body until you see the "T" menu.  Tap the menu with the pen.  Handwrite your text (carefully) and see it converted into typed characters.
• Tap 'Done' - get a note....

I didn't realise any of this was possible until now... 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

2 hours ago, gazumped said:

Believe it or not this is the first time I actually used the S Pen in Quick Note,  and I love the possibilities!

• Start Quicknote
• Hold the S Pen over the title field until you see the "T" menu.  Tap the menu with the pen.  Handwrite your text (carefully) and see it converted into typed characters.
• Hold the S Pen over the note body until you see the "T" menu.  Tap the menu with the pen.  Handwrite your text (carefully) and see it converted into typed characters.
• Tap 'Done' - get a note....

I didn't realise any of this was possible until now... 

Yeah, the S Pen is a terrific accessory--really not an accessory, totally integrated with the device. Samsung has got me for life.  Great for doing Quick Notes; and I hope that eventually it will be working again in the body of regular EN notes.

[jmesseder2 1]

It's amazing that the S-pen works to "add note" from the notification bar but not creating a note the regular way. I'd never tried it because I figured the notification was just a shortcut to the Note creation buttons already available in the app. Funny it would work in one place and not the other, but this discovery does help part of my problem.

 

I can't edit a created note with S-pen, but at least I can create one. Now I wonder whether there is a length limit to the quick note from the notification bar.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

18 hours ago, jmesseder2 said:

It's amazing that the S-pen works to "add note" from the notification bar but not creating a note the regular way. I'd never tried it because I figured the notification was just a shortcut to the Note creation buttons already available in the app. Funny it would work in one place and not the other, but this discovery does help part of my problem.

 

I can't edit a created note with S-pen, but at least I can create one. Now I wonder whether there is a length limit to the quick note from the notification bar.

The reason for the difference is that the quick notes use a different editor than the main Evernote app; see this post, the links there, and @Matt W.'s following reply.

As to length limit ... there is only one way to find that out.  Please let us know what you discover!

[Neokhanh 0]

I just bought a Note 5 today and was so excited about the ability to use the stylus to write out notes in Evernote.   So much so that I paid the $75 to upgrade to your premium version.   

Now I find out that it doesn't work in the notes. This sucks  guys.   I've been using Evernote for 10 years and this feature is the only reason why I went to the premium version, in anticipation of using Evernote a lot more bc  of the stylus.   

Please send up to your chain of command that this is one of the top features for your customers. 

[jmesseder2 1]

On 9/1/2016 at 0:05 PM, Dave-in-Decatur said:

That's very helpful to know. It certainly seems peculiar that this input field would not show up as an input field; I hope whoever can fix this will do so soon.

These quick notes are Evernote notes, not Samsung. Perhaps EN uses a different, non-Chrome editor in them. After activating the capability in EN Settings (Notifications > Add notes from notification bar), you have an EN icon when you pull down the notification screen. Tap that, and you get a little popup note in which you can write a title and some text, with the keyboard or the S Pen. (See the screenshot below.) These notes are saved automatically to your default Evernote notebook.  ...

 

Unfortunately, they are not saved "automatically." I attended a meeting tonight at which I took notes on the proceedings. Length of the note was pretty long -- but during a lull in the action, while I was not looking, my screen locked. When I unlocked it, my note was BLANK. I tried again, taking notes, then letting the screen lock. Again a blank note.

Unfortunately, if you save the note, you cannot continue editing it; you must start another note to continue taking notes.

And anything you do that superseded the note; e.g. pull the notification bar down to control the recorder or to look at the email notification, also blanks the note.

Color me one very unhappy long-time Evernote user. I may go back to an earlier version. That would be find, except I'll have to be very careful to avoid letting Google Play Store update the Evernote app.

This was such a wonderful feature. I was spoiled. Now I'm in a position of thinking Evernote is a wonderful app ..but it won't do handwriting-to-text. And that capability is important.

 

[jmesseder2 1]

Now that I've calmed down, transcribed my recording of the meeting, and written up my report ...

I have a copy of v7.8.2

I uninstalled the non-working 7.9, rebooted the Note 3, and installed 7.8.2 ...

And it doesn't work either. Have I missed something?

[ianmurph 3]

After spending a few hours ranting about the removal of this feature (the combination of the S-pen and Evernote has allowed me to be truly paperless in my note taking for the last year), I've found a way of handwriting into the body of notes.

The keyboard has a button to the immediate left of the spacebar that has 4 options, one of which is to enable pen entry. This option is the one that looks like a 'T' with a pen at the bottom. If this isn't the one the button shows, hold down the button to see the 4 options and choose pen entry.

When you hit the pen entry button the keyboard disappears and you have a pen entry area. Your handwriting will be converted into text in the body of the note!

Hope this works for other people.  

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

12 hours ago, jmesseder2 said:

Now that I've calmed down, transcribed my recording of the meeting, and written up my report ...

I have a copy of v7.8.2

I uninstalled the non-working 7.9, rebooted the Note 3, and installed 7.8.2 ...

And it doesn't work either. Have I missed something?

The notification-screen quick note tool was added only in v. 7.9.4. From your earlier post:

14 hours ago, jmesseder2 said:

Unfortunately, they are not saved "automatically." I attended a meeting tonight at which I took notes on the proceedings. Length of the note was pretty long -- but during a lull in the action, while I was not looking, my screen locked. When I unlocked it, my note was BLANK. I tried again, taking notes, then letting the screen lock. Again a blank note.

I guess I should have said that when you save them, the quick notes are automatically placed in your default notes folder. From your experience, it appears that if the phone shuts down, any in-process quick note goes away. So it may be a good idea to save and start a new note periodically, or at least when there is a break and you're not interacting with the phone long enough for it to lock.

[jmesseder2 1]

Ah! Small lack of clarity on my part. I was still on 7.9.4 when I used -- and lost -- the quick note to the screen locking. It's an easy thing, as a workaround, thing to write several quick notes, saving each during a break in the action, then cut-n-paste to make a single note when I get to my desk. The pain is not crippling ...

 

As for the 7.8.2 problem, I have an apk that claims to be 7.8.2 which I thought to use while I waited for someone to figure out a fix for the 7.9 S-pen problem. I uninstalled 7.9.4, rebooted (hoping to clear any memories) then installed the 7.8.2 apk. Alas, the new formatting buttons appear at the bottom of a note, along with the A-menu at the top. I didn't expect that, and its existence may be related to why the S-pen does not work with the older version.

So now I'm wondering what could make the new features exist after the newest version has been uninstalled.

 

 

[ChrstnMchl 5]

On 9/7/2016 at 10:49 AM, ianmurph said:

After spending a few hours ranting about the removal of this feature (the combination of the S-pen and Evernote has allowed me to be truly paperless in my note taking for the last year), I've found a way of handwriting into the body of notes.

The keyboard has a button to the immediate left of the spacebar that has 4 options, one of which is to enable pen entry. This option is the one that looks like a 'T' with a pen at the bottom. If this isn't the one the button shows, hold down the button to see the 4 options and choose pen entry.

When you hit the pen entry button the keyboard disappears and you have a pen entry area. Your handwriting will be converted into text in the body of the note!

Hope this works for other people.  

I was just about to post the same thing.  I have used this method of text entry with the S Pen since the Note 2.  I don't really know the difference between the two methods.  I think you can even default the screen to pop-up with the handwriting line instead of a keyboard if you have the S Pen out.

[ChrstnMchl 5]

Yup - just finally changed it in my Note 5.  Here is how to make it default to pen entry:

 

1. Click in the note so the keyboard pops up.
2. Hit the "T" button. That will change it the pen entry mode.
3. Long press the keyboard button so the options with the gear icon shows up.
4. Hit the gear icon
5. Scroll to the bottom of the Samsung Keyboard settings and turn Pen detection on and back out.
6. Viola! When you go to type in a note, the default will be to have a handwriting line if you have the S-pen out of its hidey hole.

I know that isn't exactly the same but I hope it helps.

[jmesseder2 1]

The text input works well though a little slow when you have to wait for the line to move left before continuing to write. I'm sort of getting used to it, but I fear it will never quite equal what we've lost.

Still, thanks for the hint.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

@ianmurph, @ChrstnMchl -- THANKS! I normally use Smart Keyboard Pro, which is great for typing in multiple languages. It never occurred to me to try the default Samsung Keyboard, but sure enough, it works just as you describe. Only takes a moment to switch to it, so now I've got that as an option, until the day when S Pen input works directly in the Chrome-based note editor.

[Matt W. 174]

Great find @ChrstnMchl and @ianmurph for this workaround!

[emailjosephsaenz@gmail.com 0]

I was using swiftkey keyboard but discovered by using the Samsung stock Keyboard and selecting the handwriting option (to the left of spacebar) It WORKS and can now use the S Pen in the body of the note. See link https://goo.gl/photos/HVvjgXvkNS2V8rZn7

[DiggingEvernote 0]

I wouldn't image doing it, but I have heard the 7.7.1 apk works fine.

Combined with the Note 5, s-pen and the much faster writing recognition mentioned at the top of the string this is a very slick solution.  I use a not samsung keyboard so the work around above wasn't an option.   A bit short sited of Evernote to remove this feature.  And pretty meh of them to blame it on a partner product they made the decision to integrate and role out.  Matt seems like a good guy, I'm guessing it hurt him a bit to have to type that.

But until evernote, or google or samsung or whomwever you want to blame fixes this, it seems there is at least one other option.

[Australian with a Note 5 1]

I know evernote has it's market difference,  but basically to my workflow, it's totally unusable without being able to sketch and write notes with the S-Pen in the body. 

I hate being in the 'walled garden' of a particular vendor which is why I explored alternatives to OneNote, and S-Note, so I thought Evernote who should only care about their core product, their one note-taking service would be ideal. I was wrong, since these other applications have the ability to work on all my devices like Evernote does, except have the benefit of more than simply text. 

I hope you revisit this issue, even the iPad pro has a pen. You need to be able to immediately install your app, and be able to draw. Note taking isn't about writing down text. It's often also a way to log very quickly simplified network diagrams on a tablet, phone or whatever you have handy. Otherwise it's simply I bring a notebook, sketch it up with a pen, and then take a picture to put it to evernote. That's just stupid. 

Long story short, when Samsung's two second hacked together app to justify adding pen to a tiny selection of their mobile devices does more than your product, you should revisit what you're doing. 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,950]

On 3/1/2017 at 8:30 PM, Australian with a Note 5 said:

I know evernote has it's market difference,  but basically to my workflow, it's totally unusable without being able to sketch and write notes with the S-Pen in the body.

The issue is in the Chrome-based editor that Evernote introduced last year. See these posts:

It's a real pain, and I hope that as they improve the editor they will bring this back. Be aware that the S-Pen does work in the non-Chrome quick note creator in the Notification pull-down; and that the Samsung keyboard has its own built-in handwriting-to-text feature which you can use in EN, as in this post:

 

[Shanni 0]

I see this duscussion was over a year ago! Has there been any progress on enabling direct S-pen text entry yet? Im using a Note 4 and it truly was a most useful feature... one i miss sorely

[Scopestuff 0]

On 9/12/2017 at 1:01 AM, Shanni said:

I see this duscussion was over a year ago! Has there been any progress on enabling direct S-pen text entry yet? Im using a Note 4 and it truly was a most useful feature... one i miss sorely

You are not alone. I'm finding that I'm using Evernote more as a searchable file cabinet than a note taking tool. I'm a premium subscriber and have used EN for many years but I seem to be at a loss when it comes to handwritten note taking ability. OneNote is working hard to capture the pen/stylus/"pencil" input device with an active accessible canvas across platforms. I truly hope this is a market EN intends to be a player. While a leader on indexed and searchable documents MSFT could add that easily with their deep expertise in cloud and database services. Seems like a huge exposure for the EN product.

 

Am I missing something ?  I almost can't take notes on my Samsung Note Devices, or my Surface Pro, without using a keyboard or tiny text stylus only input box.

[gazumped 11,656]

Hi.  I just tried using my Note 4 S-pen in the current Android beta and it seems to work OK;  it's also possible to mix typing and text apparently.  Give it a try.  If this is a beta feature,  it'll trickle through into the production version soon.  (Haven't tried the pen for a while,  but it's now a good option when I need to draw something in a note...)

[Francisco Jaimes 0]

@gazumped How I can get this Beta you mentioned? I would like to try.

[RN-Dude 1]

I just got my Note 8 upgrade from the Note 3 I had been using for years and I'm experiencing this maddening input failure described in this thread.  The entire purpose of having a Note, and the one and only use I have ever made of the S-Pen is for wiring to Evernote all day long.  This thousand-dollar investment in the future has stopped my workflow cold.

[jmesseder2 1]

I hate being a pessimist, but I think it won't be fixed.BUT ...

I use a Note3 and I've discovered the handwriting feature of both the Samsung and Google keyboards works pretty well. They each must learn the user's words -- similar to using, say, Swype, that gets more accurate the more you use it. 

[gazumped 11,656]

On 27/09/2017 at 2:10 PM, Francisco Jaimes said:

@gazumped How I can get this Beta you mentioned? I would like to try.

Hmmn.  Not sure what I was doing when I wrote that post,  but now I come back to look at it again my current Beta 7.14 does not have the pen option in the note body,  just the title line as previously.  Either something in the beta changed,  or I was a little confused,  but I could have sworn...

Anyhoo.  Getting on the Android Beta program involves getting to grips with Google+ (remember them?) instructions here if you'd like to have a look.

I find that it's still possible to use the pen with Evernote - just investigate the S-Note app and add an option (in Settings) to save notes to Evernote.

But unless I was having a very vivid and specific dream recently I have looked at an app that allowed me to handwrite some text,  switch to a keyboard input for a while,  then go back to a handwritten section to add a picture.  Excuse me for a while so I can go wrap my head in a cold towel and try to work out what that was!!!

[nikeshreena@gmail.com 0]

s pen support is most needed.. Evernote should do something

it is possible in quick note widget but not in main app

 

[Financisto 0]

I've just bought Note 9 after Note 4. I have to say that S Pen works very badly in Evernote (Handwritten note). The lag is the same as in Note 4.

Evernote developers!! You must DO something to make S Pen works with no lag and with pressure sensitivity support like in S Note app!! 

[Randle 2]

Yes, I agree. The support for handwriting by the app is very average. I was using the Samsung handwriting keyboard on my Samsung Tab A (2016) with s-pen until it broke in a recent update. https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/116173-samsung-tab-a6-s-pen-handwriting-and-new-line/
 

[BeEfficient 44]

Any news in terms of Samsung S-Pen and pressure sensitivity? I have the Note 20 Ultra and it has 4096 pressure levels. It looks amazingly realistic on the 120Hz screen with, for example, Samsung Notes app.

But as soon as I start writing on EN... I feel like having a Samsung Note 1 because there is just 1 pressure level and that's it. So you can't do work in a sophisticated way. Maybe just for basic notes, but that's it.

[PinkElephant 8,088]

One key strategy element is to develop an environment in which the v10 client works independently from the platform on which it is running. 

I would not expect a better implementation of a niche product to be a development target. If you want to make use of the abilities of your device, search for Apps that supports these features, probably native apps for the Android platform.

[ehrt74 240]

Just browsing through this thread it becomes painfully clear why v10 was needed.

It's possible the problem with s-pen pressure sensitivity has more to do with the libraries evernote uses rather than evernote itself. I know that Javascript does have support for pressure sensitivity, because it works fine in Google Keep on my Chromebook. This could be worth fixing in Evernote, because the Galaxy Note is one of the most used devices worldwide with a stylus, if not the most used. I imagine, once it works for the galaxy note, it will also work for my chromebook

@BeEfficient could you maybe open a support case about this?

[BeEfficient 44]

@PinkElephant

It is not about niche product. Many other apps like Noteshelf are using the intelligence of the S Pen as well. It is about integrating the intelligence of the S Pen or Apple Pencil through a dedicated interface.

I mean we are talking about EN and about a Samsung or an Apple with their pens. Both brands with the most sold pen integrated devices in the world. And these pens are so sophisticated with all their sensors.

But EN makes just 1 single sensor pressure sensitivity. If we are talking about an note taking app... but the "note taking" is a 1 pressure level story... there is not much about "note taking" anymore in my opinion. There is no way to use EN in order to become a digital/ paperless productive worker as long as there is a simple 1 pressure level thing here.

@BeEfficient

I will write the support.

[PinkElephant 8,088]

Personally I am quite happy with the "Sketch" option build into the iOS client. It is not a handwriting app, but it does the job if I simply want to grab something visual. IMHO it works fine with Apple Pencil - others users disagree, which I understand, because there are better apps specialized on handwriting.

If I want it neat and nice, I use GoodNotes 5, which is specialized in handwritten note taking. Others use Noteshelf, Notability, Nebo etc.

Personally I don't believe in a strategy that tries to fill every niche with "the best" app for this and that. In the end you just create an unmanageable piece of bloatware.

Just to show what I mean: The current EN iOS 10.4 app has 140MB, the current GoodNotes5-iOS-app has 275MB. If EN would try to duplicate what GN5 does, the app size would at least double. And GN5 is iOS (& Mac) only, so it would still not help with Android (and Windows Surface) pen support.

Currently I would be happy if EN focusses on their own field of competence, and get the missing features done.

[ehrt74 240]

13 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

Personally I am quite happy with the "Sketch" option build into the iOS client. It is not a handwriting app, but it does the job if I simply want to grab something visual. IMHO it works fine with Apple Pencil - others users disagree, which I understand, because there are better apps specialized on handwriting.

If I want it neat and nice, I use GoodNotes 5, which is specialized in handwritten note taking. Others use Noteshelf, Notability, Nebo etc.

Personally I don't believe in a strategy that tries to fill every niche with "the best" app for this and that. In the end you just create an unmanageable piece of bloatware.

Just to show what I mean: The current EN iOS 10.4 app has 140MB, the current GoodNotes5-iOS-app has 275MB. If EN would try to duplicate what GN5 does, the app size would at least double. And GN5 is iOS (& Mac) only, so it would still not help with Android (and Windows Surface) pen support.

Currently I would be happy if EN focusses on their own field of competence, and get the missing features done.

I imagine getting this working is just adding a different javascript library or configuring it with another option. It works on my chromebook for other webapps (from google as well, so the code is probably open-source somewhere).

[Mayou36 0]

On 2/2/2021 at 1:02 PM, BeEfficient said:

Any news in terms of Samsung S-Pen and pressure sensitivity? I have the Note 20 Ultra and it has 4096 pressure levels. It looks amazingly realistic on the 120Hz screen with, for example, Samsung Notes app.

But as soon as I start writing on EN... I feel like having a Samsung Note 1 because there is just 1 pressure level and that's it. So you can't do work in a sophisticated way. Maybe just for basic notes, but that's it.

I couldn't adhere more to that: a writing app which can't properly write is so painful. It is a game changer, e.g. for me the reason to use only Samsung Notes (even thought I bought a EN membership).