Evernote brings iPad Penultimate experience to Android

The Evernote for Android app is being treated to a major refresh this week.

The big standout addition for the popular productivity app taps into a process that is quite analog: new support for handwriting recognition.

The upgrade actually stems from Evernote's acquisition of the digital ink app Penultimate in 2012.

However, Penultimate's tool set was designed for iPad in mind, and it is only now making its way to Evernote's Android offering.

Andrew Sinkov, vice president of marketing at Evernote, admitted as much in a blog post, commenting that it took a "long to time to figure out exactly how to make this work."

He added that Penultimate is Evernote's "DNA" for building digital handwriting into the software company's flagship product.

Evernote has also been busy trying to speed up processes across the board. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company recently announced it had completed retooling its servers, boasting up to four times faster sync speeds.

The Android app is next in line for improvements -- notably when using the mobile device's built-in camera. Touting to be two times faster than "ever before," Sinkov promised that this latest upgrade has eliminated any lag.

Additional new editing features include text highlighting and the ability to link elements within notes to be able to jump from one note to another.

For a closer look at handwriting on Evernote for Android, check out the promo clip below:

Image via Evernote