Is it possible to use a stylus (including the Apple Pencil) with WriteUpp?

iPad and Apple Pencil

Good news! If you're using an iPad which supports Apple Pencil, and you've updated your software version to iPadOS14, you've got access to a feature called Scribble in your iPad settings. Scribble converts handwriting to text directly on your iPad and can be used within WriteUpp when logged in via the browser on your iPad (like Safari or Chrome).

You can read more about Scribble here within Apple's support centre.

Scribble is available on any iPad model which supports Apple Pencil. You can view a list of supported models here.

To turn Scribble on, firstly make sure your iPadOS operating system is up to date and you're running iPadOS14 on your device. Go to Settings on your iPad and choose Apple Pencil, then turn Scribble on:



You'll then be able to write into any WriteUpp field that you'd usually type into and see your writing convert to text!

Here's a quick example showing Scribble in action on a WriteUpp assessment form:

Other tablets and Stylus combinations

If you're using any other tablet or stylus combination, WriteUpp on it's own is not capable of converting handwriting with a stylus into text, as we don't have any built-in handwriting recognition functionality. This includes:

An iPad running on iPadOS14 with a non Apple stylus
An older iPad with a non Apple stylus
Any other non-Apple tablet and stylus

If all you want to do is use your stylus to tap and click just as if you were using your finger, then WriteUpp (either web or app) will work just fine.

However, if you install a 3rd party keyboard that supports handwriting from the App Store or Google Play Store, you will be able to handwrite your notes with your pencil. All you will need to do is login to WriteUpp using a supported browser (like Safari on iOS or Chrome on Android) and switch keyboard so that instead of typing you will be able to use your stylus to handwrite your notes which will then be automatically transcribed into text.

Privacy
If you install one of these apps and allow them "full access", keep in mind that the developer/provider of the app may be able to see everything you enter via that keyboard.

We take privacy and security very seriously at WriteUpp so if you do choose to grant “full access”, aside from the obvious data security concerns, you should also consider the following questions in relation to GDPR:

Do you know where that data is stored?
Do you have a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) in place with the developer

We’re not saying that you shouldn’t use a stylus with a third-party keyboard and WriteUpp but please be aware of the implications. If you choose to install and use a third party keyboard, this is at your own risk and we cannot provide any technical support to assist you in it's use.

Updated on: 14/03/2023