S Pen makes working with apps easier and more convenient. The possibilities the stylus offers for the Note S will be discussed below.

1. Quick commands.

This is one of those S Pen features that has been overlooked by most for a long time. But it is incredibly useful - because it allows you to launch any application with one stroke of the pen. All you need to do is hold down the button on the stylus, then swipe across the screen from bottom to top. At the same time, a quick commands window immediately appears on the screen. Required application will be launched by you when you draw a symbol on the screen that you have previously defined.

2. Optical letter recognition.

The OCR function will allow you not to even remember virtual keyboard. And if you suddenly need to write text message, send a letter or find something in global network- take the stylus, and at this moment your keyboard will become a window for writing. OCR does an excellent job of character recognition, although we haven't tested this feature on a doctor.

3. Stylus keeper.

The S Pen stylus is a useful thing, but losing it is as easy as using it. Samsung has developed S Pen Keeper - a program that will not allow you, for example, to go far from the stylus. The gadget itself informs you that there is no stylus in the phone. It's easy to check - place the stylus separately from the phone and move away, then you will hear an alarm.

4. Draw with the S Pen.

The S Pen stylus opens up new horizons for creative people and children. The S Note has a great Idea Sketch feature. It makes it possible to add thumbnails of objects by name - perfect option for children's education or entertainment.

5. Screengrabs.

The stylus allows you to make screengrabs, and this is done incredibly easily. Hold the button on the S Pen and draw any area. Immediately after this, everything that was in the selected area will be saved as a screengrab.

Gorgeous phablet Galaxy Note 4 with the S Pen electronic pen was able to surpass its “brothers” from the Note line in popularity. Frankly, this device has exactly the functionality that we expected from Note series devices, plus a few new features. The following tweaks and tips will help you get the most out of the S Pen on your Galaxy Note 4.

Essentially, the S Pen can do everything your finger can do when navigating this phablet's display, including working with apps and composing messages and emails. However, the stylus is not limited to the shortcomings of our frail human bodies. When you take it out of the device's slot, you can notice not only its sensitive rubber tip, but also a clickable button. We certainly don’t see such things on our fingers.

The functional stylus tip and its button are the main elements for the very advanced functions of this device, but let's not forget about the induction technology. The weak magnetic field emitted by the Note 4 energizes the S Pen, making the stylus more precise and advanced than a typical passive capacitive stylus.

S Pen settings

The first step to getting the most out of your stylus is to use it correct settings. Finding them is quite easy: you just need to go to the “Settings” menu and find the S Pen subsection there. We'll discuss some basic settings later in this article, but for now here's a short list of how each option affects how you use your pen.

• Pointer – serves to display or not display a visible pointer on the display when using a stylus;
• Direct Pen Input – When enabled, allows the stylus to input handwritten text;
• Disable stylus detection – disable stylus detection when stored and removed to save battery power;
• S Pen sounds – enable or disable sound signals when inserting or removing the stylus from the slot;
• S Pen vibration response – enable/disable tactile (vibration) response when using the stylus;
• Separate options - choose whether to launch Action Memo, Air Command (or neither) when the pen is removed from the slot;
• Add/remove sound - select sound signal when inserting/removing the S Pen (the “S Pen sounds” option must be enabled);
• Add/remove vibration – switches the tactile response when removing or replacing the stylus in the phablet slot;

Again, the above settings do not cover all the options in the S Pen settings submenu. So it's time to talk about a few key functions electronic pen.

Never lose your stylus

The S Pen can be conveniently stored right in the body of the Galaxy Note 4, but the stylus itself is quite compact and easy to lose. To avoid this situation, you need to check the “S Pen Alert” box in the stylus settings.

When you turn on notifications, your phablet will notify you if you left your stylus somewhere and started leaving without it. In our opinion, this feature should definitely be included - it will save you from headaches if you have to look for a replacement for a stylus lost somewhere on the road.

Air View

The Air View function can be called the main function of the S Pen. If Air View isn't available, you won't be able to take advantage of what makes the Note 4 and its pen so unique. Turn on specified function You can do it in the S Pen settings.

Air View takes advantage of magnetic induction technology, which acts as a battery for the stylus and allows the phablet to track the cursor and stylus actions without it touching the display. If you have Air View and the S Pen pointer enabled, you can quickly demonstrate these capabilities by holding the pen a few millimeters above the display and making a circular motion. The pointer on the screen will follow the tip of the stylus, even if it is not touching the screen.

One of the areas of application of the Air View function is the category of SMS messages: if you point the tip of the stylus at open message, then you can see its full text. Other functions will be discussed later in our article.

Air Command

Air Command provides fast access to the usual functions that can be performed with the stylus. You can also enable Air Command through the S Pen settings. This option can be accessed from any window by bringing the stylus to the display and pressing the button on its body.

4 options included in Air Command:

Action Memo

This option allows you to open a memo pad to write small notes and information, e.g. telephone numbers, addresses Email and web addresses. Clicking on the active button (the dotted circle with an arrow) allows the written text to activate certain actions, e.g. telephone call or access to any website. You can also easily pin this reminder notepad to your home screen by clicking on the icon.

Smart Select

This option allows you to quickly select a portion of the screen and save it as a picture on the clipboard for sharing or saving to a digital photo album. To do this, circle the desired area of ​​the screen with a stylus in the form of a square. You can collect multiple images by clicking the Collect button and again using Smart Select to highlight and capture another image.

Image Clip

Image Clip is somewhat similar to the previous option. With its help, you can select a more detailed area of ​​the screen using the S Pen. You can also choose a specific shape for the outline of the area, for example, a circle or a square. The cut-out images can be stored in your digital photo album where you can add relevant information to them.

Screen Write

This option allows you to take a screenshot of the entire screen and immediately add relevant annotations. You have several options for changing the style and color of the stylus input, giving you the ability to write on images copied from the Internet and do other things.

Using the S Pen to surf the Internet

The stylus in question works quite functionally with many Samsung applications, for example, the browser. Using a stylus to surf the web makes it easier to scroll through web pages or copy and paste text for sharing.

Scrolling website pages

To scroll a web page with the stylus, hold it close to the screen and move it to the top or bottom edge to scroll up or down the page, respectively. A small arrow pointer will appear indicating the scrolling direction. You'll probably need to hold the stylus tip at the edge of the screen for a second or two to allow the device to accept the scroll request.

Selecting text on a web page

Managing saved photos

The S Pen also has some features for easily managing the image gallery on Note 4. With their help, you can preview photos, select the ones you want and share them.

Pointing the stylus at shortcuts

You can quickly preview images in your gallery by hovering over them with the stylus. When the preview appears, you have access to quick shortcuts for sharing and editing. You can even call the Screen Writer function to open an image and quickly write something on it.

Multi-select in the "Gallery" section

To select multiple images in the gallery at once, press and hold the button on the stylus and drag the pen tip across the screen to draw a rectangle around the selected images. You can also add more images by repeating the steps described. You will be able to quickly share selected images, delete them, or apply other functions to them.

S Note

The S Pen stylus can show off its professionalism in all its glory in an application like S Note. This application includes many options regarding customization appearance input from your pen, and takes full advantage of the pressure-sensitive stylus to add beautiful flourishes to your scribbles. If you make your own stylus settings, you can save them as presets for quick recall.

Editing text from a photo

Using the S Note app, you can take a photo of a page with text, and then use the stylus to convert the photo into an editable one. Note that the pen recognizes texts well, but if you need to edit several of these photos, it will not be an easy job. It may be more useful to use S Pen settings, such as highlighter important information and writing notes.

Handwriting keyboard

On many text fields Throughout the Note 4 interface, users can use the stylus to enter handwritten characters. When you enable the Direct Input option in the menu settings, when you point the stylus over the text field, look for the 'T' icon with a pen. Click on it to activate the handwriting keyboard, which will help you convert your handwriting into digital text for use in email, SMS, and even surfing the Internet.

Copying text to a memo

Once you have entered the text in the form field, look for the above icon again. When you click on it, the printed text will be converted into artificial handwritten text, and such text will be saved as an editable memo.

You can use the S Pen in a variety of situations on the Galaxy Note 3, from strictly business tasks like creating spreadsheets to games and other fun things like opening a YouTube video in a window while drawing in the editor at the same time. But it's this variety of S Pen settings and functions that can put off many, especially if you're new to the Galaxy Note series.

That's why we decided to talk about Galaxy functionality Note 3 with the S Pen stylus to learn how to get the most out of your smartphone.

First things first: settings

You can set your smartphone to detect when the S Pen is removed from its slot and play a sound to automatically open the Air Command menu or any other app. If you want to extend battery life, you can turn off S Pen detection.

Basics

Now that you've customized the S Pen to your liking, it's time to take a look at it.

The stylus is more symmetrical and more angular than the S Pen from the Galaxy Note 2, so the new stylus can be inserted into its slot in any position.

The S Pen retains some of the features found on the Galaxy Note 2 and even more so on the original Galaxy Note. However, now we have a very serious change - now gestures are no longer available and trying to write on the screen results in copying text or media data from the screen.

Pressing the button while hovering the S Pen on the screen will open Air Command - a new menu consisting of 5 groups of the most useful features.

When you point the stylus over individual interface elements, a context menu appears on the screen or a contextual action is performed, for example, displaying the contents of a folder or a gallery preview.

Finally, if you place the stylus on a text field, such as an SMS message input field, you'll be able to handwrite text, and the Galaxy Note 3 will learn its own recognition to make your scribbles clearer. It's quite simple, so you'll find this option very useful.

Productivity vs Creativity

Two apps that are designed specifically for use with the S Pen and come pre-installed on the Galaxy Note 3 are S Note and Sketchbook. The updated S Note lets you jot down your ideas and reminders, but it's actually much more than that. You can populate your notes with charts, images, videos, voice notes, or even maps, turning it into a powerful little tool.

Sketchbook is the assistant you need to unleash your creative potential. It's primarily a drawing app, so if you know how to draw, you'll probably use Sketchbook on a daily basis.

Air Command

Back to Air Command, which is the biggest addition to the Galaxy Note 3's S Pen functionality. And there are 5 menu options:

Action Memo - This is perhaps the most useful item in the menu, which allows you to use handwriting in almost any case. You can even handwrite an address and it will open in the maps app in an instant; can you write the number mobile phone and immediately call it; enter URL, email address, contact names, tasks and all this will be recognized correctly with access to characteristic functions.

Scrapbook – for those moments when you need to save any little thing: let’s say you saw an interesting item in an online store, or found an interesting quote in the text, or even just need to save the entire web page. Scrapbook is just that the best tool to save and store any metadata such as URLs, etc.

Screen Write – takes a screenshot and allows you to leave a comment on it.
S Finder – a powerful search tool that scans all materials, including handwritten notes. S Finder also has a variety of tags that you can use to further narrow down your search results.

Pen Window - to some extent this is similar to Small Apps from Sony, since Pen Window allows you to outline a window in any part of the screen in which you can launch an application - a calculator, or YouTube app, or Hangouts so you don't have to be distracted from another app. This is the simplest way to introduce multitasking, but the list of supported applications is still too limited.

These are some of the most useful ways using the S Pen on the Galaxy Note 3. As you can see, the S Pen adds a lot of unique capabilities and is more than just a tool for poking at the screen.

Of course, if you don't like the stylus, you can simply ignore it and the Galaxy Note 3 will still be one of the most capable devices. However, we advise you to immediately try working with a stylus for yourself before thinking that the stylus has long been no longer needed for smartphones.