Microsoft updates OneNote for iOS with OCR and iPad handwriting support

February 19, 2015

Microsoft has released an update for the company's OneNote app for iPhone and iPad. The release adds OCR support for images, enabling you to search for text contained within images. But should you be rocking an iPad you'll have an extra feature to take advantage of. Get the pen ready as handwriting is now supported.

Using a compatible pen for input, it's possible to turn the iPad into a creative canvas for drawings and natural note taking using OneNote. Simply tap the new draw tab on the ribbon and select pen, marker, or highlighter. From there you're able to write and doodle to your heart's content.

The OCR is also a real handy feature. What's more is you can even copy said text directly from the image, extracting it as editable text for another note. It's worth noting that Microsoft states the OCR feature works with newly added images, as opposed to existing ones. Images already added to OneNote are expected to be supported soon.