What you need to know
- Apple is bringing more language support to the Apple Pencil in iPadOS 14.
- 'Copy Handwriting as Text', 'Data Detectors', and 'Scribble' all now support more languages.
- Support for French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish have been added.
The Apple Pencil just got even more useful for those who write in languages other than English or Chinese.
As reported by MacRumors, Apple has brought a number of its Apple Pencil features to more languages in iPadOS 14. 'Copy Handwriting as Text', 'Data Detectors', and 'Scribble' now support five new languages.
The features on iPadOS were already available in English and Chinese, but the expansion has brought the feature to a number of other languages including French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Below is the full list of all of the new languages supported:
- French (Belgium)
- French (Canada)
- French (Switzerland)
- French (France)
- German (Austria)
- German (Germany)
- German (Switzerland)
- Italian (Switzerland)
- Italian (Italy)
- Portuguese (Portugal)
- Portuguese (Brazil)
- Spanish (Spain)
- Spanish (Latin America)
- Spanish (Mexico)
'Copy Handwriting as Text' allows users to handwrite something and then copy and paste it as standard text. 'Data Detectors' recognize handwriting and then provide useful actions like opening up a handwritten address in Apple Maps or calling a handwritten phone number using the FaceTime app. 'Scribble' allows Apple Pencil users to write in any text field and have it immediately converted into standard text.
You can see the full list of supported languages for the Apple Pencil features on Apple's iOS and iPadOS - Feature Availability website.
While all of these features work with the Apple Pencil, there are also a ton of alternatives you can use and still enjoy them. Check out our list of the best Apple Pencil alternatives: The best non-Apple stylus for iPad 2021.
Bottom line: Until there's a new Apple Pencil, this is the best one on the market. Buy it and start drawing today!
