Live Highlights

What it is

Live Highlights ties the digital text back to the handwriting it came from — word by word. In highlight mode, every recognized word on your page gets its own softly colored box. Tap one and the transcribed word appears right on top of the handwritten word, with a pencil to fix it and an × to dismiss.

Why it matters

Trust. When an AI transcribes your journal, the fair question is "did it get it right?" — and people check handwriting word by word. Live Highlights puts the transcribed word directly on the ink it came from, so verification takes a glance. If a word is wrong, tap the pencil and retype just that word — the whole transcription updates, and you never hunt through a wall of text for the mistake.

How to use it

1. Open a note in the Note Viewer.
2. Tap the scan-lines button in the toolbar (second from the left), or press H on desktop.
3. Tap any word box:
   • The transcribed word appears in place, over your handwriting.
   • ✎ turns it into a tiny editor in the same spot. Type the correction and tap ✓ — the fix lands instantly. Clearing the text deletes the word (tap ✓ twice to confirm).
   • ✕ dismisses it.
4. Tap outside the boxes to deselect; tap the toolbar button again (or Escape) to leave highlight mode.

Fresh notes open in highlight mode right after transcription — the word boxes light up down the page in reading order, then settle. That's the same feature saying hello. (If your device is set to reduce motion, the boxes simply appear.)

Tips

• Zoom in first for cramped writing — boxes, chips, and the editor all track the page as you pan and zoom.
• Use the word editor for spot fixes and the full edit page for rewrites.
• To copy text, open the transcription panel (first toolbar button) — that's the copy surface.
• Coming from a search? The matching words flash on arrival, and the match pill can drop you into highlight mode at the first hit.

Current limitations

• Occasionally a line's words can't be mapped individually — that line shows a single full-line box instead. Tapping it shows the whole line with Copy and Edit (the line editor opens as a bottom sheet).
• Highlights need the page's layout to be recognized clearly. On some notes — very light text, unusual layouts, or pages with little writing — the mode isn't available and the button stays hidden. The transcription panel always works regardless.
• Notes created before Live Highlights shipped (mid-2026) may not have highlights yet, and some older notes still show line-level boxes.
• Selecting a phrase across several words isn't supported yet — fix words one at a time.