One of the things I really missed from my T3 when I switched to the Zodiac was the on-screen Graffiti. It’s handy, being able to writ anywhere on the screen (think jotting things down while not looking at the PDA) and it lets you spread out the wear so you’re not deforming just one spot of the digitizer. Actually, I’ve got this problem with my Zodiac, and had it with my Tungsten E and many PDAs before it. While I’ve gotten used to and even grown to like Graffiti 2 it’s a pain to use because of the spurious strokes the digitizer thinks it sees going from the center to upper right of the
lowercase area. (I’ll probably exercise my replacement plan to fix this.)
So when I saw that a new version of Graffiti Anywhere had been released, I decided to give it a try. I’d used it before on my Zodiac but eventually decided it wasn’t worth the performance hit. It was hard to control and didn’t provide very smooth character recognition.
Things have changed. The latest version of Graffiti anywhere is much smoother when drawing characters, resulting in more accurate recognition. I have it set to echo the strokes on screen so I can see what I’m writing, and I’m using a thick, easy to see ink line. The result is that it looks like I’m drawing on screen with a Sharpie, but the recognition is great.
The problem with on-screen writing, generally, is how the software determines whether you’re tapping a checkbox or just dotting your I. I don’t remember if the previous version supported the Press and Hold feature, but I’ve just recently discovered it and this makes Graffiti Anywhere dead simple to use and pretty much flawless, at least for left-handed Zodiac users, all three of us.
One of the activation methods in Graffiti Anywhere is Press and Hold, where on-screen writing is only enabled while one of the hardware buttons is held down. When the button is released, screen taps are again handled by the system. I have this mapped to the left trigger on the Zodiac, which in portrait orientation (far more comfortable for handwriting) puts the button under my right pinky. While I’m using the Zodiac, I can tap away like mad, but when I need to write something I just apply pressure with my pinky rather then opening the soft input area. I write what I need to write anywhere on screen and then release the button when I’m done. Simple, accurate and error-free.
Graffiti Anywhere is free and available at Palmgear.com. If your device doesn’t already support on screen writing (T3, T5) I highly recommend checking it out.
Post a Comment