OneNote android severely limited functionality?

Question

Just downloaded OneNote on a galaxy note phone and a galaxy note tablet. It is the current version on the Play Store. 

I can ink. I see pens, highlighters and eraser.

I can't do anything else after inking. Can't work out how to select anything on the page. Can't change what i have inked. Can't covert handwriting to text. Can't convert drawings to shapes. Can't insert typed text or images.

On the tablet i see Home Insert Draw View tabs. All options under these tabs, except for pens highlighters eraser, are greyed out. I don't see these tabs on the phone. 

I can add new notes, search and open the context menu. 

An i missing something? Or is the android version just unusably limited?

Thanks for your kind attention.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to Microsoft Community and thank you for posting your query.

Few more details would help us to provide a better response.

Are you using Office 365 subscription in OneNote applications?

I would like to inform you that, Home, Insert, View etc. tabs are not available on OneNote on Android phone. On OneNote on Android, feature mentioned in following article are available.

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Key-features-of-OneNote-for-Android-f81711c7-12a8-4a90-8fb2-63445b83fa1e

For OneNote on Android tablet, you may refer to the below mentioned blog article and check if it helps.

https://blogs.office.com/2014/08/19/onenote-android-now-handwriting-support-full-tablet-experience-much-just-time-back-school/

I hope the above information helps. Let us know if you need further assistance.

Thank you.

Answer 2

"now provides full handwriting support " - which is true in as much as a piece of paper provides handwriting support

Hahahahaha brilliantly put @Peter_Mathews

Sounds like someone is possibly overdoing the marketing spin.

Answer 3

Thanks for your response.

I am using OneNote via direct download from the Play Store. I do not have Office 365.

Thanks for the link to list of features. It does seem like the Android version is as limited as I had suspected. ie I cannot select what I have inked, change it, or transform it to text or shapes.

Essentially it seems that this version of OneNote only allows me to view what I have added on the Windows version, do some basic inking which I cannot edit until I go to the Windows version.

Thanks for your help clarifying this.

Answer 4

The article from 2014 describes "now provides full handwriting support " - which is true in as much as a piece of paper provides handwriting support - what it fails to do is provide handwriting recognition which is what everyone needs and is available on the iPad.

Samsung have it on their rather limited S-Note app. If Android OneNote had it it would be great. 

PS badge is very irritating as there is nowhere that it doesn't get in the way. 

But do like the  ability to take a note without unlocking.

Answer 5

It has been 6 months. Is there still no Tab Key function for OneNote in Android? This is such a basic feature. Without the Tab Key, creating a bulleted list and subsections is pretty much impossible as far as I can tell. Maybe there is some other way I'm creating hierarchical lists?