Survey123 Fieldwork Hardware?

[HeathAnderson]

We are looking to purchase an iPad with a stylus or a MS Surface Pro 4.  What is the consensus as to which device works better for using Survey123.  Currently, we aim to deploy Survey123 in the field as a form based data collection application rather than utilizing Collector (map based).  The user needs to take many notes (in several fields depending on the category of the structure) and does not have time to type notes or utilize voice to text (for privacy reasons), so the stylus appears to be our best option; but we are concerned about hand writing recognition.  Here are my concerns:

1) If the iPad doesn't come with hand writing recognition built into iOS, does Survey123 for iOS have hand writing recognition built into the app, or is there another app the runs on-top-of Survey123 that can perform this function?

2) MS Surface Pro 4 does appear to have hand writing recognition built into the OS system.  Does it function correctly in survey123?

The heart of it is, we are looking to take notes quick and easy, and save on post processing when back at the office

Does anyone have experience with one or both of these devices utilizing Survey123?

[DougBrowning]

A Samsung with the S-Pen may work also.  Handwriting is built into that.  Plus andorid would be so much cheaper.  Google built in talk to text would be an option also.

[daveostrander]

I spoke with Ismael Chivite‌ this past spring about adding this type of functionality to Survey123. No promises were made, but there was definitely an effort made on his part to fully hear out and explore the idea, which I am entirely thankful for. A company called MyScript has developed an SDK called Interactive Ink that is advertised to effortlessly convert handwriting to text using supported devices and active pens (i.e. iPadPro and Apple Pencil). Interactive Ink's selling points are: easy sharing, easy backup, search, input/result cleanness, flexible editing, dynamic space management, machine-understandable and fully exploitable, and operating system portability. There is also an app developed by MyScript called Nebo (paid app), but maybe it could be used in conjunction with your workflow (using a copy and paste method, export as an attachment, etc...). Obviously, it would be ideal if this functionality existed natively within Survey123, but I haven't received any updates on that, which reminds me... Hey, Ismael Chivite has there been any progress/decisions made on this yet?

[PhiHickey]

I've been really impressed with the samsung active 2's which use a pen.  Survey 123 is generally easier to deploy/manage on Android than iOS  (haven't tried surface pro).

Regardless of tablet you can't fit much handwriting in. If the handwritten notes are really extensive you could consider writing on paper and photographing now that photo fields can repeat.