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Forum Discussion

Aurelien12345's avatar
Aurelien12345
Level 1.6: Donut
2 months ago

Impact of Google Scribe Changes on Samsung S-Pen Usability in Industrial Contexts

  Hello,   We have observed a significant change in S-Pen behavior following the integration of Google Scribe into Android 15 / 16 on our Galaxy Tab Active 5. Previously, the stylus allowed cursor...
accessibility
Devices
jasonbayton's avatar
jasonbayton
Level 4.1: Jelly Bean
2 months ago

Do you have any commercial support with Samsung? Unfortunately they'd be best placed to receive this sort of product feedback. Lizzie​ may be able to direct feedback to the Scribe folks within Google though, if there's a path for it 

  • Aurelien12345's avatar
    Aurelien12345
    Level 1.6: Donut
    2 months ago

    Hello Jason, 

     

    Thank you for your reply. Yes, we do have commercial support with Samsung, and we’ve already raised this issue with their Enterprise Technical Support team. They confirmed that the behavior change is due to modifications in AOSP related to Google Scribe integration (specifically onUpdateEditorToolType and Flag.useHandwritingListenerForToolType).

     

    Samsung clarify that this behavior was due to the addition of the following API:

    https://developer.android.com/reference/android/inputmethodservice/InputMethodService?hl=en#onUpdateEditorToolType(int)

     

    As part of this transition, Samsung removed its previous SpentoText framework, which previously allowed unique functionalities such as cursor movement and toolbar activation without triggering handwriting input. This removal, combined with the new AOSP behavior, means that the stylus now immediately writes in text fields instead of allowing cursor positioning.