iPad Apple Pencil and Notability

[diane143]

I bought Notability many years ago to use with my first iPad (3 Retina 2012) and happily used it for years with that and my 2015 MPB running Sierra. They stopped syncing after an upgrade but I've since bought an iPad 9 (2021) and have a Mini running Monterey and I'd like to get them working together again.

One thing I never used much was a stylus. I had gotten one from ZooGue but my writing was too large and kind of messy. After watching someone use an Apple Pencil recently I pulled the stylus out again and I can't get it to convert to text - so that is my first question. Can any stylus convert to text or is that just an Apple Pencil thing? I may also need to update Notability on the iPad as well.

My research shows I can only use the original Apple Pencil on an iPad 9. Will this be able to convert handwriting to text in Notability (or Notes even?). Are they a pain to charge? Do the original Pencils magnetically connect to the iPads?

 

[LibbyLA]

I just tested using an Air 4 and Logitech Crayon and was able to convert to text. After selecting the text, I tapped within the selection box and chose Convert and it worked fine. I also have some inexpensive third-party styluses from Amazon ($25-30) but I don’t have them here at the house to test. However, I expect that they will work the same as the crayon does. (Notability 14.7.2)

Were you able to write text in Notability with the stylus you have? Were you able to choose the text? If so, the stylus is working and you should be able to convert to text. Did you tap inside the selection box?

If you don’t need pressure sensitivity, you can probably use what you have (if you’re able to write with it) or get a third-party one from Amazon (or your favorite online retailer). The Apple pencil 1 isn’t a pain to charge, but if that’s the route you go, there’s a little connector that has a female Lightning socket on both ends that you plug your Lightning cable into one end and the pencil into the other end so you don’t have the pencil sticking out of the iPad.

Pencil 1 is not magnetic and the iPads that use them probably aren’t either.