iPadOS 14.5 Beta Adds Apple Pencil Scribble Support for German, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese

[MacRumors]

Apple in iPadOS 14 introduced an Apple Pencil feature called "Scribble," which lets users write in any text field on the iPad, with the handwritten text then converted automatically into typed text.

At launch, Scribble was limited to the English and Chinese languages, but with iPadOS 14.5 beta that's available to developers and public beta testers, Apple is expanding Scribble support to German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese.

With the beta installed on an iPad, users in these countries can now write in their native languages, and iPadOS is able to accurately translate the text. Enabling a language is done through the "Keyboard" section of the Settings app.

Any supported language that is enabled as a Keyboard option will be listed under "Scribble" in the Apple Pencil settings on an iPad, and that language will be available for use when writing, with special characters supported.

Scribble can be used across iPadOS 14 for writing out iMessages, conducting Safari searches, looking for directions in Maps, creating Notes, scheduling Calendar events, and more. It comes with other features such as Smart Selection for copy/pasting handwritten notes, and there's built-in data detection that converts numbers and email addresses to make them tappable.

Apple's Feature Availability page continues to list just English and Chinese as available Scribble options, but that should change when iPadOS 14.5 sees an official release in early spring.

There are many other changes and feature additions that Apple is introducing in iPadOS 14.5, including support for the most recent gaming controllers, an Apple loading logo that's properly displayed horizontally when the iPad is in landscape mode, new emoji characters, and more, with everything new listed in our iOS 14.5 guide.

Article Link: iPadOS 14.5 Beta Adds Apple Pencil Scribble Support for German, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese

 

[LFC2020]

Now that is innovating right there. 🙄

 

[mrr]

I would like to see Apple bring this to the iPhone.

 

[tzm41]

14.5 is getting better and better!

 

[BWhaler]

I’ve said it before, but 14.5 is looking like it’s epic.

I just hope behind the scenes Apple is stomping out thousands and thousands of bugs. Crush that backlog. We care more about it just works than new features.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Pure innovation at its finest!

 

[Solomani]

Awesome. But does this mean my iPad Pencil will be able to draw foreign accent marks like ümlauts and çedillas?

 

[Ajaxpinch]

Thank god, at last! I really like the feature, but I mostly write in French, so it’s not really useful... for now. Does someone know if it will be supported in all French variants (like, Canadian French) or only France French?

 

[yurc]

I had already using dedicated input software like this since iOS 10, called Mazec (for Japanese text), they even can use finger not limited just with Apple Pencil so virtually compatible with any iOS device not just iPad.

But well still faster to typing normally though, I am use this input method because it nice to have and I think it would useful someday.

 

[nicho]

I had already using dedicated input software like this since iOS 10, called Mazec (for Japanese text), they even can use finger not limited just with Apple Pencil so virtually compatible with any iOS device not just iPad.

View attachment 1732582

But well still faster to typing normally though, I am use this input method because it nice to have and I think it would useful someday.

There's an English-language version too, but I stopped using it as soon as scribble emerged because the palm rejection kind of sucks. There's an option to only accept input from Apple pencil, which was great - but once I switched over to using the logitech crayon, it turns out that it only works with paired Apple pencils (ie the first-party one), which is another reason I stopped using it.

I use scribble from time to time, but most of my handwriting now is into Myscript Nebo. I've found on a 12.9" iPad pro having it side by side with another app works great and writing on the right half of the screen much easier than the bottom half.

 

[hagar]

That’s great. Usually it takes years for Apple to release features for other countries and languages. Hopefully more languages follow soon.

 

[contacos]

Tried but didn’t like it. It’s too sensitive to activate, especially if you use your pencil also as a finger replacement for navigating the interface etc like a stylus

 

[travelsheep]

I'm moving the US. To be able to communicate with the folks there, should I learn Chinese or Spanish?

 

[bryanios]

Awesome. But does this mean my iPad Pencil will be able to draw foreign accent marks like ümlauts and çedillas?

Then what do you think?

 

[miniyou64]

How about swiping, or split keyboard or anything that makes typing actually easier?

 

[PowerMacBook]

...Apple struggled to find a new direction for the Newton, and when Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1997, he killed the product line. He was critical of the device's weak performance, the management of the development team, and the stylus, which he disliked as it prevented the use of the fingers....

Apple Newton - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[hagar]

How about swiping, or split keyboard or anything that makes typing actually easier?

There is native support for swiping and split keyboards.

 

[chriscl]

Happy to see Scribble in German, finally. I switch between German and English so having Scribble in both will be a real boon.

 

[Solomani]

I'm moving the US. To be able to communicate with the folks there, should I learn Chinese or Spanish?

Learn to speak hip hop.

 

[Ortiz83]

I'm moving the US. To be able to communicate with the folks there, should I learn Chinese or Spanish?

Learn from urbandictionary.com. You’ll have no problem communicating with people on Wall Street with that language.

 

[BaccaBossMC]

I'm not sure there is enough screen space even on an iPad Pro to scribble some German nouns. Such wonderful words as Geschwindigkeitsbegranzung (speed limits) surely won't fit. Happy to see the feature for more normal german words though!

 

[Applicator]

Geschwindigkeitsbegranzung

*-begrenzung 😋

[...] Apple is expanding Scribble support to German [...]

FINALLY, thank you!

 

[scsskid]

geilomat

 

[miniyou64]

There is native support for swiping and split keyboards.

Not on iPad Pro

 

[hagar]

Not on iPad Pro

Why not? You can use QuickPath on a split keyboard on the iPad. So you can even enable both features you mention at the same time.

Not in all languages however :-(