http://www.reddit.com/r/productivity/comments/2e03g5/check_out_an_ipad_app_i_wrote_for_sorting_my_own/

It has been compared to a combination of Workflowy and Scapple.

Note that it requires in-app purchases to unlock arrows and lines.

Good find, and most interesting. I'll take a look at it. Has anyone else?

Thanks for the notice about this terrific app. Already I'm finding it very useful... It is like a visual version of Brainstorm on Windows.

Steve Z.

I did buy the "unlock everything" version for $2.99 - a steal. I've only spent a little time with it so far, because it has one odd bug - if you're using it with a Bluetooth keyboard, you can't "save" an entry. That is, after you tap the screen to start typing some text, there's no way to move out of the entry again - you're stuck in a little word processing box.

So I turned off the keyboard. Then I typed using the onscreen keyboard, and when I was done with an entry, hit the "make keyboard go away" control. Then I could manipulate the text. It's a lot like Workflowy in that it is very easy to "hoist" an entry, then put another whole page of text beneath it. But rather than an outline metaphor, I think of it as nested pages. You can build buckets, categories, or hierarchies, and drill down, move entries from one page to another, and drag the text around the screen very easily.

It lacks searching at present, and since there's no way to reveal all the nested items at once, that's a real limitation. But the developer is responsive, and has already identified this as the key next step. The price will probably go up later, so I viewed my modest investment as both encouragement to the developer, and a cheap way to get those future enhancements.

I too have been using Mindscope quite a bit over the past couple of days and agree with Jaslar. I wrote up a little review, which you can read here if you're interested:

http://welcometosherwood.wordpress.com/2014/08/22/a-look-at-a-new-favorite-ipad-app-mindscope/

Steve Z.

Thanks for the hint to foolness - and for the review to Stephen.
For those of us in Germany: Mindscope starts in German when you have set your iPad to German.

What I miss most is copy&paste (apart from viewing nested notes and searching). But at least copy&paste is on the "we're working on it" list.
I also threw in my $3 to support further development.

Mindscope seems truly brilliant and is the second application making me wish I had an iPad (the other is Editorial). That said, I have become rather disenchanted with tablets in general and attracted back to 'classic' low (physical and carbon) footprint computers.

I personally think a visual Brainstorm for Windows, as suggested by Steve Z., better represents the Mindscope paradigm. One starts with a blank page and creates entities which cab be ordered/arranged and be themselves --as a whole, not partially as in a wiki-- links to other pages. In this respect, I can think of two visually oriented programmes similar to Mindscope on Windows:

- SilverNote http://www.silver-note.com/features (the easiest, but powerful enough)
- Aibase http://aibase-cs.com/features.html (very steep learning curve, full of proprietary terms, but incredibly powerful; now includes scripting capabilities)

I have refrained from using either in the past, as I have been trying to rely on multiplatform tools, but after seeing the Mindscope demo I am somehow reconsidering.

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

Mindscope seems truly brilliant and is the second application making me
wish I had an iPad (the other is Editorial). That said, I have become
rather disenchanted with tablets in general and attracted back to
'classic' low (physical and carbon) footprint computers.

. In this respect, I can think of two visually oriented programmes

similar to Mindscope on Windows:

- SilverNote http://www.silver-note.com/features (the easiest, but
powerful enough)
- Aibase http://aibase-cs.com/features.html (very steep learning curve,
full of proprietary terms, but incredibly powerful; now includes
scripting capabilities)

Hi Alex,

Thank you for introducing the the Aibase, my first time to know it, another German cool. By a quick browsing, I like it.
I am seeking a one pane outlining tool. I need to add tables,equations,and short analysis under each bullet most often and at last make it a content outline for my thesis writing.

Have you played with the Aibase ? If so, do you think it fit my need ?


Thanks,
Charlie

I've been playing with Mindscope again. I had a look at the first version and while impressed, wasn't blown away.

This time, I'm blown away! The couple of extra features (notably a much better editing bar and the lovely 'links' [= aliases] concept) plus the new search function turn it into a completely different animal. The roadmap is very promising, too. And John tells me a universal version (i.e. for iPhone as well) will soon be out, plus Dropbox-based syncing (sensible choice; I'm still finding iCloud distinctly iffy on the reliable synchronisation front, although certain apps seem to do better than others).

The search function makes all the difference: in my view, you simply can't have a complex, multilayered mindmap without some kind of fast search function. Tagging would be the ultimate bees' knees, but tagging can also become irritating. I've given up using tags in my various task management apps (even though The Hit List, my most recent experiment, handles tags quite well).

I tried it out for the first time the other day, and purchased the full version a couple of hours later. I really love the app, the core idea of nested mindmaps/diagrams is great!

I asked the developer if he could implement import of OPML files, and some sort of 'hot list' function so I could quickly bring up a list of tagged items for quick access. He said both have been requested and he would like to implement them.

Both sound decidedly useful – good call.

I've taken to putting my REALLY urgent tasks on it, because I can make lots of notes in the nested task page, but also link to aliases of each task from other pages with enlightened headings such as 'For goodness sake really don't forget these' and so on. And the ability to enlarge and embolden fonts simply makes that more effective.

You can also use it as a vastly cheaper version of that ridiculously expensive 'Eisenhower Matrix' app for iOS, Mac, Windows etc., too, using the grid function (can't remember its name, offhand – oh yes I can, it's called Priority Matrix, and used to be relatively lightweight and fun). Not that I can take the Eisenhower Matrix concept too seriously - but my son uses it religiously.

Once this is capable of syncing, it'll be my go-to 'jot it down in a jiffy' app, I can tell! As it is, it already has pride of place on one of my iPads...

Now, all we need to compete with that for the 'CRIMPing Gem of the Year' trophy would be an iOS and/or desktop version of Gingko... ;-)

MadaboutDana wrote:

John tells me a universal version
(i.e. for iPhone as well) will soon be out

Ah, so that is what 'universal' means now?


shatteredmindofbob wrote:

can we please stop referring to Mac apps
with an iOS version as being "cross-platform"? Every time I see that
term used, all I can think of is "We have both kinds of music! Country
AND Western!"

Quoted from http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/5239

Sorry, Alexander, I should of course have written "Universal", which is Apple-speak for "compatible with all iOS devices but nothing else, unless the developer has wimped out and decided that other platforms are almost as important as Apple's, like those wishy-washy Wunderlist people, ahahahaha".

Think different, eh... ;-)

Mind you, if thinking different is what brings you the wonderful new MacBook, then hey, you can think as different as you like!

Journos are already complaining about the price. To buy an equivalent Windows ultrabook, you'd be spending at least half as much again. But hey, it's Apple, so it's GOT to be more expensive than anybody else, right? right?

But I want one already.

MadaboutDana wrote:

Sorry, Alexander, I should of course have written "Universal", which is
Apple-speak for "compatible with all iOS devices but nothing else,
unless the developer has wimped out and decided that other platforms are
almost as important as Apple's, like those wishy-washy Wunderlist
people, ahahahaha".

Same difference; I can't accept any company taking a plain vocabulary word and imposing an irrelevant meaning, capitalised or not. That goes for Windows too, but somehow universal is much stronger a word isn't it?

Sorry for the OT comment.