mazec3 (jp) -Handwriting for Android
Chinging over keyboard,there is a BUG that the interface freezes about 10 seconds.
Perfect companion for any Japanese student
Great Application
JAPANESE STUDENTS-THIS SHOULD BE THE FIRST APP YOU INSTALL (along with Aedict3)!! But the interface needs a refresh. ___Positives are:___+ Japanese recognition is excellent. + lets you enter & edit text BEFORE inserting it into the document (unlike Samsung & Stylus Beta, which just dump it in after a set time). + You can register certain strokes to match specific characters or phrases. + auto-learning for results can be disabled so you can use it for flashcards without giving away the answer. (Wish this were a per-language setting, though.) + English input is OK (cursive is surprisingly better than manuscript). ___Negatives are:___- TINY Space Bar (why!?) - When using punctuation (parentheses, "quotes", etc...) auto spacing fails. - Some suggested input for English is bizarre (random capital letters & frequent whargarble). - Switching between languages should only take one tap, either through a "globe" icon or, better yet, by exposing the "settings" sub-option buttons (numbers, letters, symbols, language) on the top menu. - NEEDS a button to hide the input area.___ That said, Mazec remains THE Android gold-standard for inputting handwritten Japanese.
It's great for Japanese char entry - I agree with Bob (students should get this app, if nothing else but to mix up the way dictionary lookups are done, i.e. alternate between romaji & kana/kanji data-entry). This keyboard could be my new default if (a) the English keyboard would auto-suggest words like the regular keyboard does, and (b) if the space and BS keys were larger. I don't really expect (a) since it might not be possible, but it would be great.
Amazing.
I tested a few mixtures of Kanji and kana where the Xperia input failed; mazec3 succeeded.
Great Application
The positives... + The Japanese recognition is excellent. + I greatly prefer the way mazec lets you enter and edit text before inserting it into the document, rather than just dumping it in after a set time. + I love that you can register certain strokes to match specific characters in Japanese. + I also love that you can disable auto-learning for results. This lets me use it for flashcards without giving away the answer. (Wish this were a per-language setting, though.) + I'm even getting used to the English input (it actually does better in cursive than manuscript). Negatives are... - TINY Space Bar (why?) - when using punctuation (parentheses, "quotes", etc...) auto spacing fails. - Some of the suggested input for English is bizarre, such as words with random capital letters, or many words that are pure whargarble. - switching between languages should only take one tap. Another reviewer suggested adopting a "globe" icon. Good idea. Might also consider exposing the sub-option buttons (numbers, letters, symbols) on the top menu. - There should be a button to hide the input area. All in all, Mazec is by far my favorite Android input method.
Bought language addon pack and tried English, Chinese and Korean but was somewhat below my expectation. The recognition for these languages was not as good as My stylus (another hand writing recognition app on Play Store) in general. And especially for Korean, automatic space recognition seemes to be not supported and vowel 'ㅓ' keeps being misrecognized as 'ㅣ'. Still, for Japanese recognition I have no doubt that Mazec3 is the best app available. Hope for improvement and I'll repurchase language addon then.
Doesn't work well with a pen stylus for English. The Japanese is OK because it senses strokes. Will look for a refund.
by F####:
I just moved away from a Samsung phone, and needed a replacement handwriting IME, and it looks like I found it. Mazec3 is very similar in design and function to Samsung's, predicts at least as well, is trainable, and is much more configurable too. But the English functions are very primitive, and it's pricy at 1300 yen for this + the English language pack. Worth it if you really need Japanese handwriting recognition, as it's probably the best you can get, but οtherwise look elsewhere.