For anyone who enjoys the tactile process of writing by hand or wants to give more personalized feedback, rejoice – Google has introduced the ability to add handwritten notes and doodles directly onto Google Docs.

Announced on Tuesday, the new markup feature allows Google Workspace users and personal account holders to annotate documents through finger drawing or a stylus. Google said this caters to diverse use cases, like “educators giving students feedback on their essays, reports, short stories.”

Indeed, the feature meshes analog and digital learning methods. Instructors can ditch paper stacks while still hand marking up student work, integrated with platforms like Canvas. And peer reviews in writer workshops can benefit from the visual contrast and personal touch of digitized margin notes.

However, early limitations temper the excitement. For now, markup is only available on Android phones and tablets. Other platforms like iOS, Windows, and Chromebooks only allow viewing existing drawings. So functionality remains restricted pending wider OS support.

The feature is rolling out to Rapid Release domains first, starting February 27th over 15 days. Standard Release users can expect access starting March 11th. Those uncertain of their release track can check in the Admin console under Account settings.

So while handwritten Google Docs marks aren’t universally available yet, Android users can start getting hands-on. And the rest of us can look forward to scribbling our thoughts natively into Google’s word processor soon. The tactical creative process is finally getting integrated into the cloud.