Now that all iPads are compatible with an Apple Pencil, handwriting recognition becomes a central feature of iPadOS

Scribble is a new core ability of iPadOS. Almost anywhere you’d expect to enter text with the keyboard, you can now write with your Apple Pencil, and your scrawl is recognised as characters.

This also works with direct Apple Pencil alternatives like the Logitech Crayon, but may not with other thirdparty styluses. The Notes app goes further, storing handwriting both graphically and as text.

Scribble analyses how you make strokes, not just the end result. This helps to make it surprisingly accurate, even with cursive (joined-up) writing. Forming letters idiosyncratically can trip it up, though: if you draw a clear A, but from right to left, it won’t be recognised. So far, Scribble only works for English and Simplified Chinese, and trying to write in another language exposes how heavily it’s relying on autocorrect to recognise words. If you form Roman characters separately and clearly, however, they should be recognised whether or not they make sense.