I haven't used handwritten notes on other platforms, so I'm not really qualified to comment on how well it is or isn't handled on iOS. I have mostly been using it for longhand journal entries, because it just feels so much better to do them longhand, and then I digitize by saving to pdf.

But the last few days I have started using the "copy to text" feature to convert the handwritten words to text, which can then be pasted into that note, another note, or another app altogether. Apple's handwriting recognition is surprisingly good, even with my... *unique* handwriting.