Something I can't remember hearing much complaint about, surprisingly, is the absence of handwriting recognition on the iPhone. There have been various studies comparing the on-screen QWERTY keyboard with T9 and hardware thumb-board options, but seemingly little demand for the ability to write directly onto the cellphone's screen. Well, anybody who has missed such an option can now install iPhone Graffiti; as the name suggests, it's a version of the Graffiti handwriting recognition, as seen on Palm OS devices.
Supporting Latin and Chinese characters, as well as full punctuation and symbols, letters are drawn on the input grid in the lower half of the screen and converted as you write. Since the iPhone doesn't use a stylus, you might find you need to train your finger to make the shapes clearly. Alternatively there are a couple of compatible styli available, such as from Pogo.
iPhone Graffiti is still in early beta form, so the advice is to back up your handset before installing it. Some users are experiencing an issue with uninstalling the app, too, so if you're overly cautious then maybe wait for a version further down the line. Still interested? Add iphonecake.com/src/all as a source to Installer and go from there.
[via ModMyiFone]
This sounds like a good idea for some application situations. Maybe they could port the original Newton Graffiti to the iPhone?
Now we need to see a stylus that works on the iPhone too, .
I’m sure there is a portion of iPhone users who would be interested in a stylus.
I thought that every time an iPhone user saw any cellphone that comes with a stylus, quickly became bent-over-doubled with laughter. What? iPhone users with a stylus. I don’t think so. Why wouldn’t a stiff forefinger work well enough to input text.
The best part of Grafitti is that you didn’t need the stylus. Just use your fingernail. It is surprising anyone has the patience to take out the stylus when most entires are just a few characters.
Big Lou Everbody
Good to find this commentary. I was a loyal Treo user for several iterations. And I liked the ability to take notes using Stylus and software 3rd party. Corporate IT required a shift to Blackberry over past 2 years. Thumbs not nearly as efficient as Jott. And I can’t look at someone while using thumbs, where as I could do that while using a stylus. Mostly the stylus was a 2 point pen – regular ball point and stylus point]. I may get the chance to transfer to iPhone in the next year. It would be great to have the option of direct writing interface again.
I’ll change to Iphone when I can write on screen like I can with Palm.
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I have used Palm’s Graffiti for years (prefer version 1 over v2). I don’t own an iPhone yet mainly because of having to use a keyboard which sucks up half of the display.
Can you also offer a minimal version that does not have all the extra buttons and uses less screen real estate? Provide something like the Middle cap extension on a two zone system so that crossing into the right zone results in capitals while starting in the right zone results in numbers. Also need a show-writing-off option for the pad area.
Just a thought.
Palm’s Graffiti version 1 is without a doubt the most reliable character recognition software I have ever used! I could take pages upon pages of reliable note, quickly download them to my pc and with some minor edits have an excellent product.
I desperately want my iphone to have this capability and would not mind paying to have it!
Yes, it would be great to have an iphone with a built in stylus and the ability to use grafitti for input. It’s the main reason I haven’t switched from my old Treo.
Seconds on Gus’s remark. The keyboard is nice, but a stylus is faster if you are ‘big finger handcapped’ and not a ‘Game Boy Pro’.
Keyboard is impossible with arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome. I started with Kyocera 735 and Graffiti v.1. Verizon staff were astounded that I used my nail as easily as my stylus pen, and atop a screen protector. Adjusted to v.2. Dropped to Palm 100. Two years ago “upgraded” to m500, then last year bought a back-up while it was available. Other handwriting recognition does not match up, and I do need a new phone,usable on Verizon. With only five usable digits, and no Send, I will not be able to wait!
Like George, I wrote lots of notes, though not pages. I still miss having phone, calendar, address book, note pad, and calculator all in one unit.
graffiti on iphone? can’t wait! I resisted like crazy to stay with the treo 700 when the iphone came out, but I am sooooo glad I switched. I love this phone. But my treo had awesome video capability and graffiti.
Which I miss. I used it a lot for my planner and my nails which are’nt that long mess up fast typing on the keyboard. I don’t like it. I could do without the sylus but would’nt mind one.
ok, so now we have the video and a beta graffiti. I am a happy camper. just make the graffiti perfect like it was on the treo and I am all set with my litte iphnone computer man who will now talk to me, follow commands, take videos and heaven know what else.
going on 70+ apps and loving it. Hard to believe it all started with a 5 pound mobile phone I had in my car not to long ago.
Oh yeah, maybe just one more thing. My handspring visor had a awesome TENS unit ( massager) with external pads and wires and a plug in to the unit. It was a awesome feature. Come-on iphone, do it up one more!!
With this facility I will be getting an iphone and yes the Newton Graffiti would be a nice touch
Is this still available? Sounds great but it’s 2009 now and I haven’t been able to find the graffiti app
I was really hoping I’d found graffiti for iPhone! search of app store turned up nothing.
The only thing that keeps me from buying an iPhone is that I can use palm graffiti in my sleep; even on paper I sometimes write graffiti letters!
Agree with Hodag: the graffiti option in iPhone would be an instant sell for me. I’m perplexed at the propagation of such an un-user-friendly input mechanism like the keyboard. I really miss the Palm graffiti input and the ability to create Word documents immeidately from my notes during meetings. on the other hand, attempting to input via keyboard while concentrating during a meeting takes me off the main task of participating in the meeting. Graffiti is very similar to taking notes on paper with the added advantage of expediting publishing of the notes in an electronic form. Duh.
– Guess you did not hear ME complaining LOUDLY at the Apple Store that I can’t use Grafitti alphabet entry on my confounded iPhone!! (LOL)
– Did Steve Jobs forbid use of Grafitti on iPhone? Or is the holdup caused by a legal dispute over who “owns” the Grafitti alphabet? (Look that up, at WikiPedia. That is wikipedia.org)
– Grafitti alphabet was one of several reasons I was more productive with combo of Palm Pilot OS3 Handspring with Symbol barcode reading module, Windows 98 Ricoh Magio netbook, and HP Capshare hand scanner with OCR in the netbook, and all devices linked with built in IR ports. But that hardware wore out, and cannot be replaced.
– Several thousand dollars later, I gotta’ iPhone, MobileMe “cloud” or “clod” and MacBookPro laptop that still can’t do the basics that were routine with the old 1998 hardware. And I purchased Apple one-to-one training, which gives me access to Apple “geniuses” who are clueless.
– Is ANYONE out there integrating this Apple hardware? It really is INSANELY great, as in it has limitless potential, if anyone would integrate it, based on getting things done, in a productive manner. However, the INSANE geniuses at Apple can only tell me what “cannaw” be done.
– It must be the games and pop music that sell these near useless and overpriced devices. It is hard to believe, how far we have REGRESSED, in ten years!
I love iphones just did not get one because it lacks graffiti.
I do not think the opposite would hold “somebody not buying it because it can be used with a stylus”.
Definitely thumbs are not nearly as efficient as stylus. Humans have evolve in part because we use tools.
It did not make sense to lose a feature that many people may like. Whoever does not like it can just forget about it and not even install it.