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Read between the strokes with PencilKit
Unlock handwriting recognition in your apps using the same powerful technology behind Apple apps like Freeform and Notes. Discover how to use handwriting recognition across a wide range of alphabets and languages, and explore new capabilities for integrating PencilKit into a wider variety of apps.
Chapters
- 0:00 - Introduction
- 3:25 - Handwriting recognition
- 8:38 - Path conversion
- 10:21 - Improved model access
- 11:25 - Stroke slicing
- 13:48 - Next steps
Resources
- Controlling stroke rendering for animation and editing
- Recognizing handwriting and converting it to text
- Building a handwriting recognition experience with PencilKit
- PencilKit
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3:53 - Recognized text
import PencilKit let recognizer = PKStrokeRecognizer() await recognizer.updateDrawing(drawing) myLabel.text = await recognizer.recognizedText() -
5:22 - Indexable content
import PencilKit let recognizer = PKStrokeRecognizer() await recognizer.updateDrawing(drawing) if let indexedContent = await recognizer.indexableContent { index(text: indexedContent) } -
6:58 - Find text
import PencilKit let recognizer = PKStrokeRecognizer() await recognizer.updateDrawing(drawing) let results = await recognizer.search("apple") for result in results { highlight(bounds: result.bounds) }
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- 0:00 - Introduction
Meet the PencilKit APIs behind handwriting in Notes and Freeform, now available to your apps in iOS 27.
- 3:25 - Handwriting recognition
Use the stroke recognizer API for on-device text recognition, indexing, search, and accessibility.
- 8:38 - Path conversion
Converting PKStrokePath to and from Bézier paths without losing fidelity, so apps that store strokes as Bézier can build PKDrawings and use handwriting recognition on any canvas, not just PKCanvasView.
- 10:21 - Improved model access
Deeper access to the drawing model in iOS 27 — stable Identifiable stroke IDs that survive edits and undo, controllable canvas selection with a change delegate, and adjustable wet-ink render groups.
- 11:25 - Stroke slicing
Two ways to slice strokes — programmatic erasing that cuts one stroke into independent strokes, and substroke extraction with parametric ranges — along with performance considerations for complex drawings.
- 13:48 - Next steps
Ways to put these APIs to work: adopt PKStrokeRecognizer for handwriting recognition, convert existing Bézier paths, track strokes with stable identity, and use stroke slicing for erasing and animation.