We love to hateSamsung Keyboard. It’s understandable, Samsung has included some cool features in its keyboard over the years, but the core aspect of text input leaves a lot to be desired, so users have to choose between useful functionality and a good typing experience from an alternative likeGboard. One of the features I’ve often missed when switching away from the Samsung Keyboard is automatic handwriting input when the S Pen is detected. Thankfully, a feature Gboard added last year can now be enabled more widely.
Gboard is letting you handwrite right in text boxes with a stylus
Rolling out right now to the Pixel Tablet, Samsung tablets, and the Galaxy Z Fold 5
In December 2023, Gboard addedthe ability to handwrite into text boxeswith a stylus. While the addition is welcome, it isn’t quite as good as what Samsung Keyboard offers. With Gboard, you have to write into the text field of whatever app you’re using, and in my experience, this can be buggy at times, especially in apps like Slack, where the photo picker will randomly open as I type. Samsung’s implementation has you write within the keyboard area instead, avoiding these UX issues.
Even so, Google’s version is good enough that those of us who enjoy handwriting messages can do so without putting up with the abominable Samsung Keyboard. The real problem with what Google did was the inconsistency with which it appeared.
When the story broke, handwriting input showed up automatically on the Pixel Tablet, S Pen-enabled Galaxy tablets, and the Z Fold 5. Over on social media, some users had it appear on other stylus-enabled phones like the S22 Ultra and S23 Ultra. Still, others couldn’t find it anywhere. At the time, I was using a Z Fold 4 and S23 Ultra, and now the latter has been replaced with an S24 Ultra, and today, I was able to find a way to force this Gboard feature to work.
One of the things I enjoy most when playing with a new version of Android or One UI is digging through all the menus and looking for hidden goodies. That’s how I stumbled across this developer option that forces the handwriting menu to show up in Gboard on any device, even if it doesn’t support stylus input.
Enabling Developer options
For Galaxy devices, follow these steps:
If you’re using a OnePlus Open or something with stylus support that runs a more stock Android skin, then follow these steps:
Enabling stylus handwriting
Once you have developer options enabled for your device, scroll to the very bottom, and you’ll see a toggle calledStylus handwriting. Once this toggle is enabled, you can head over to Gboard and enable theWrite in text fieldstoggle.
I don’t use handwriting input often; I usually swipe type with the S Pen, but I’ve always loved having the option, and now that’s possible with Gboard. I have no idea why the rollout of this feature has been so inconsistent, with some getting it automatically while others have to enable a developer flag, but at least the process is simple enough for those who want to use it.
I don’t have any devices running anything older than Android 13, but this toggle was there on everything I checked, from the Moto Razr+ and Pixel 8 Pro to the Galaxy A54 5G and S24 Ultra. Enabling it on a device that doesn’t support a stylus is pointless as it won’t do anything, but it’s interesting to see it there.
