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Stylus?  We don’t need no stinking stylus!  Or do we?  If you’ve ever seen one of the iPhone specific styli that are available then you’ve certainly wondered how well they work and whether or not you’d benefit by having one.  Well, I’ve wondered long enough, let’s figure this out.

The iPhone is designed to be used via touch alone.  After all, touch is intuitive; I won’t argue that.  But even when you’re sitting around with your iPhone, feeling superior to all of the users of other touch screened devices, you might find yourself wanting a stylus (pen) as an input method to the iPhone.  But you can’t just use any old stylus.  Usually a stylus is just a stick in the shape of an inkless pen that can be used on any pressure sensitive screen.  The iPhone isn’t pressure sensitive.  The iPhone’s screen works because of some special electric properties that your finger tips possess, aka magic.  So any stylus that you might use needs to have similar properties.  You can get such products from a number of different places, but they all do essentially the same thing.  I’ll outline the main points of each individual product and then summarize their usefulness below.

Developer: Radtech
Model: Styloid 2.0
Price: $14.95

Radtech’s stylus is actually their second version of the Styloid.  It’s still little more than a hollow metal stick with a piece of special material on the business end and a clip on the other side for attachment.  It works as advertised, but if you’ve never used an iPhone stylus before, and I’ll assume that you haven’t, you have to apply a bit more pressure than you might expect to actually get the iPhone to recognize it as input.  It’s certainly not unusable, just something you have to get used to.  Radtech’s Styloid 2.0 is well made, and it doesn’t feel like the tip, the part you’re actually paying for, will be falling out any time soon.  That tip is my main worry on cheaper iPhone styli, and there are no issues here, or in any of the reviewed styli actually.  Sadly, I found the Styloid 2 to be the least responsive of the styli tested on the iPhone.  For some reason, the iPhone just doesn’t want to recognize it without slightly more pressure than the other two I tested.

Appletell Rating = 3 out of 5

Developer: TenOne Designs
Model: Pogo Sketch
Price: $14.95

The Pogo Sketch is marketed to be used on anything like a MacBook Pro, iPhone or iPod touch.  It’s the longest stylus available, and comes with a clip on the opposite end, just like a pen.  This is actually my favorite of the bunch.  I love that it has a clip built in, which isn’t as tight as Radtech (read “slightly more useful”), and I love that it’s the longest stylus for the iPhone that I know of.  The length really helps to make it feel more like a pen, which is the whole purpose right?

Appletell Rating = 4 out of 5

Developer: TenOne Designs
Model: Pogo Stylus
Price: $14.95

The Pogo Stylus is marketed strictly for the iPhone or iPod touch, but obviously it will work with a MacBook Pro and the like as well.  The reason it’s marketed towards iDevices is because it’s about the same length as both gadgets and comes with a clip to keep it by its side.  The clip is actually quite convenient because you don’t want to just leave your stylus somewhere, and where are you going to put it when not in use?  When you’re done using the stylus, you can just use the clip to keep it secure right on your iDevice, so that’s one problem solved.  So basically, if you want it on your iDevice, you buy this one, if you want to attach it to your pocket etc, you buy the Sketch.

Appletell Rating = 4 out of 5

The one thing I really wished all of these styli had done differently is not been hollow.  When I hold someone as light as all of these were, I just get the feeling that they are all cheaply made, which is by no means the case.  If they had been filled with something, or even just heavier, they would feel like a premium product.  I can only hope the next versions are heavier.

So now you’ve decided whether you need one or not.  What are you going to use it with?  Well, here’s an app that might lend itself to a stylus well.

App: PockeyPad
Developer: PockeySoft
Version reviewed: 1.2
Price: $4.99

PockeyPad is a note taking app with all of the stylings of a standard yellow legal pad.  You can write approximately one word at a time and it will auto advance forward so you can continue writing.  This app certainly seems like it was made for a stylus.  What could be more natural that writing with a pen-like object right?  Sadly, since all of the styli I tried out needed more pressure than is comfortable for writing, they actually inhibit your ability to take notes well.  And that’s really unfortunate, because the app is really quite fun.  I don’t personally take a lot of notes, but I can see this app being useful for jotting down a quick list or the like.  It’s not really appropriate for longer expositions, but for short notes, it might be easier for you than typing.  Though, you have to type everywhere else in the iPhone OS, so you’re likely pretty good at it by now.

Appletell Rating = 4 out of 5

There are a ton of other apps on the app store that might be also work well with a stylus.  All it takes is a few quick searches on the App Store really.

Before I began my research for this article I was quite interested in the idea of a stylus for the iPhone.  I mean, I’m very used to the idea of mobile computing with a stylus.  But after all the testing was done I finally came to a conclusion, and it’s that a stylus for the iPhone is just not that useful.  The interface was designed to be used with your finger, and that’s the way it works the best.  I’m not saying that pen input is bad, in fact, I really like the idea of pen based input.  The problem is that iPhone styli have to replicate your finger, and there’s no precision because of this.  The tips are too wide, and I found myself just holding the stylus instead of using it.

But there is still a purpose.  If you have to wear gloves, like in cold weather.  A stylus will help you keep your hands warm since you won’t have to take them off to interact with your phone.  Also, if for some reason you have dirty or sticky fingers, like when cooking or baking.  And I’m sure there are a few other reasons why not touching your iDevice directly with your fingers would be a good idea.  And maybe you really really like drawing and you really want to do it on an iPhone.  I think at this point you know whether you really need one of these or not.

Pockey Pad
Radtech’s Styloid
Pogo Sketch
Pogo Stylus