All iPads Adonit Jot Script information and discussion thread

[Cptnodegard]

Thought I'd make a dedicated thread for this thing rather than continue hijacking a comparison thread.

What is it?
The Jot Script is a $75 Bluetooth enabled stylus. It uses its single AAA battery to create a capacitive field at the 1.9mm plastic tip, thus getting around the need for a certain radius nib/disc/whatever to work with capacitive screens. The Bluetooth part of it is optional but allows it to connect with supported apps for palm rejection and better accuracy.

Does it work?
Yes and no. Based on my conversation with Adonit's CS, the iPad (and other capacitive screen devices) offset the touch point a bit to compensate for finger use. When then faced with the Script's very different technology, the device's offset actually means the Script might end up drawing lines that are quite a bit off from the tip. This problem varies depending on device and orientation. On some devices this doesn't seem to be a problem whatsoever. On both my rMini and my Galaxy S3 the Script ends up being very accurate in landscape mode, but not so in portrait mode.

The intended solution to this problem is the SDK, which Adonit is working with developers to get implemented into apps. This will essentially compensate for the offset in software, hopefully fixing this issue. The Script is very, very new, so very few apps do this now. The official partner of the Script, Evernote's Penultimate (hence why the Script is being sold as Evernote Edition), and Noteshelf are the only two I'm aware of right now. I got the distinct impression from Adonit that they're not happy with Penultimate's implementation right now, and I frankly think it's horrible at the time of this writing.

The bottom line is that the Script is either borderline as accurate as a digitizer pen, or very inaccurate - it all depends on the situation.

Accuracy test, iPad mini 2 in landscape mode with Goodnotes, without SDK integration:

 

[Commy1]

Thanks for the information, I've been hoping that a stylus maker would come out with a ball-point style stylus for awhile now. Hopefully the software issue gets fixed quickly, I'll continue to consider this for later, maybe if they make a V2 or something.

 

[Fireproof!]

I have it and it works pretty well with Penultimate, for which it was designed. It's not perfect - there's a little lag to it. But I'm not experiencing a big visual offset like the OP mentioned. I wouldn't say it's horrible, but it's definitely not awesome (yet).

I also have the Adonit Jot Touch 4. It seems to work better (and with more apps) in terms of lag and offset, but I don't like the disk-tip very much. Just feels weird to write with and it's popped off a couple times and I'm afraid I'll lose it.

Anyway - I have no doubt that the Jot Script algorithms will be improved for Penultimate, and I'm sure it won't be long before other apps have it integrated as well.

Both are definitely a lot better than the fat rubber tips of normal styli.

 

[Johnny Steps]

Does it work with notability?

 

[Cptnodegard]

Does it work with notability?

It works with any app but there's no SDK integration, at least not yet. Notability hasn't been updated since mid-october, and it doesn't seem to include support for any of the styluses that are already out there (which other apps do), so I frankly would look for a different note taking app if I were you. In their own words:

"Please note Notability is not currently integrated with any kind of Bluetooth styli, though we will explore these options in the future.)

What I read from that:

"We're morons who don't understand the importance of palm rejection, button features and precision for note taking"

----------

Added an accuracy test video to the first post

 

[Johnny Steps]

Why is shipping for this stylus 4-6 weeks?

 

[ZBoater]

It works with Noteshelf, which is a pretty nice app. It did not want to play nice with Notability, at least not in my limited testing. Noteshelf has specific support you need to turn on and it talks to the pen via bluetooth. Notability does not.

I still can't get over the feeling of writing on glass. Handwriting is unfortunately becoming a dying skill. It's a shame. I really like the different pen styles in Noteshelf, so for drawing quick diagrams it's great. For taking notes? It is still not growing on me.

 

[Cptnodegard]

Why is shipping for this stylus 4-6 weeks?

They're clearing a backlog of pre-orders

 

[Johnny Steps]

Oh okay then. So the Script works with all apps universally, but only offers palm rejection with apps that support its SDK?

 

[Cptnodegard]

Oh okay then. So the Script works with all apps universally, but only offers palm rejection with apps that support its SDK?

Correct

+ possible offset issue depending on device and orientation

 

[Han Solo 1]

Shoot. I was hoping this would finally be it.

I just got rid of my 2014 Note 10.1 because I couldn't stand the lagginess inherent to Android tablets, and went back to the iPad. Now using a retina Mini which I love, except for the crappy selection of styluses (I have about 20 of them, ranging from very cheap to very expensive, and all of them are garbage compared to the Note 10.1's seemingly flimsy S-Pen).

I don't know why Apple doesn't admit that the stylus experience is important and build a digitizer into the iPad.

Gah.

 

[Cptnodegard]

Shoot. I was hoping this would finally be it.

I just got rid of my 2014 Note 10.1 because I couldn't stand the lagginess inherent to Android tablets, and went back to the iPad. Now using a retina Mini which I love, except for the crappy selection of styluses (I have about 20 of them, ranging from very cheap to very expensive, and all of them are garbage compared to the Note 10.1's seemingly flimsy S-Pen).

I don't know why Apple doesn't admit that the stylus experience is important and build a digitizer into the iPad.

Gah.

And why isnt this "it"? Despite the offset issues I'm quite happy with it on my mini, now that I've learned how to get around it - and that's even early on before apps support it, so it will only get better

 

[Han Solo 1]

And why isnt this "it"? Despite the offset issues I'm quite happy with it on my mini, now that I've learned how to get around it - and that's even early on before apps support it, so it will only get better

Right now there are quite a number of apps that support it.

But an "offset" is a major problem. The point of a stylus is for it to be as close to the paper/pen experience as possible. If it's not accurate, it already failed at its most important task.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

So I just ordered one. It's for sales on Adonit's site and evernote's as well. Evernote had a longer shipping estimate and charges tax, at least in my state. So went with adonit. I watched a lot of YouTube videos first, hope I am not disappointed. The main thing that concerns me is battery life.

 

[iChe]

So I just ordered one. It's for sales on Adonit's site and evernote's as well. Evernote had a longer shipping estimate and charges tax, at least in my state. So went with adonit. I watched a lot of YouTube videos first, hope I am not disappointed. The main thing that concerns me is battery life.

I have news on the battery life. You can see how the stylus behaved when the battery was almost dead in my last video, it was kind of strange… But long story short: I had about 2 and a half weeks of battery life. Adonit told me it's supposed to be 14 hours of “pen down time”, which is the time the tip is actually on the screen. It's a little bit hard to evaluate, but I guess it's coherent with my experience.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

I have news on the battery life. You can see how the stylus behaved when the battery was almost dead in my last video, it was kind of strange… But long story short: I had about 2 and a half weeks of battery life. Adonit told me it's supposed to be 14 hours of “pen down time”, which is the time the tip is actually on the screen. It's a little bit hard to evaluate, but I guess it's coherent with my experience.

Yeah, I saw the video I think that kind of sucks but it is just 1 AAA battery so I can understand. Glad it's not a few button batteries I wouldn't have bought them. I might just break out the NiMH rechargeable and see how it goes.

When I ordered it it says ships 2-3 weeks, but when I picked standard shipping it said estimated arrival Dec 13th. I guess we'll see.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

An update: I ordered this last night at about 10PM EST, it has shipped today.

The 2-3 week shipping time is inaccurate.

Looks like it ships from Amazon?

Greetings,

Thank you for your order from Adonit USA. Fulfillment by Amazon has shipped the following items. This completes your order.

Shipped via SMARTPOST (estimated delivery date: 12/16/2013 PST)

 

[Cptnodegard]

I think shipping depends on location. Mine shipped from Taiwan

 

[TheAppleFairy]

I think shipping depends on location. Mine shipped from Taiwan

Maybe yours shipping from the manufacturing facility. Maybe they have some stock being managed by Amazon now for some location?

I am really happy with the fast shipping. I didn't expect that.

 

[wmkim]

After reading this thread, the Jot intrigued me a bit. I ordered it today. I had also pre-ordered fiftythree's "Pencil". I'm searching for a more "pen-like" stylus, so the Jot may be it (serendipitously since I also use Penultimate for notes now).

Depending on which on feels better to write with in general, I'll probably return or sell the other one...

 

[THFourteen]

Hmmm I was all set to get this but after watching the videos, it makes a terrible clacking sound when you are using it! There is no way I could use this in meetings at work.

Also it seems like the tip is metal? I don't want to rub metal on my screen...

Will to back to my original plan of waiting for the truglide apex I think.

 

[TheAppleFairy]

Hmmm I was all set to get this but after watching the videos, it makes a terrible clacking sound when you are using it! There is no way I could use this in meetings at work.

Also it seems like the tip is metal? I don't want to rub metal on my screen...

Will to back to my original plan of waiting for the truglide apex I think.

The tip is Thermoplastic polymer resin, I don't have mine yet but I imagine in a room with people talking or just ambient noises you won't even notice the sound. Those with screen protectors probably won't have as loud of a clicking either.

 

[Johnny Steps]

Well I ordered mine a bit back and my tracking info says it's out for delivery since 8:42AM (it also arrived to my town earlier today) so I'm just waiting for it to show up.

I'll probably post a quick initial review about that clicking sound since I primarily ordered this to take notes for school.

 

[Carl Sagan]

Love the idea and the design of this stylus but the videos show far too much lag on the screen for my liking...

 

[Johnny Steps]

So I just got it and I'm messing around with it. I can definitely see a bit of an offset on non-SDK supported apps, but honestly overall it's still pretty accurate.

However, I still notice that I write more legibly with my iFaraday firm tip stylus. Maybe it's because I'm more used to it, I'm not sure.

The click sound however, it's pretty... noticeable ha ha. It doesn't bother me to the point that it's annoying.

At this point... I can't really justify the whole $74 pricing I paid for this. Not yet at least.

EDIT: On Penultimate, the way I write tends to make the iPad perceive that I'm writing condensed (using the Jot Script) this doesn't happen with my iFaraday Firm Stylus, which actually is a more accurate representation of my real writing style.

EDIT 2: Wow. It's actually really good.. on Paper