![]() MindNode’s actions panel is the more interesting one it houses practically all the controls you’ll use when working in a mind map, without feeling overly crowded or confusing at all. Also, tasks can be marked complete inside the outline, so you no longer need to select a node to complete its task. Notes attached to nodes can now be displayed right within the outline, which was impossible in MindNode 4. The outline panel is fairly straightfoward, working largely the same as in MindNode 4 with a few notable improvements. These are joined by a compact, floating pane in the top-left corner containing options to open the document browser, load sharing options, and show or hide panels. Replacing MindNode 4’s fixed navigation bar and optional sidebar are a pair of adjustable panels: a main actions panel and an outline panel. While your mind map itself will look the same (outside of some theme tweaks), the assortment of tools at your disposal have been reorganized and presented in a markedly better format. MindNode 5 differs from its predecessor not just when selecting documents, but when viewing them too. Perhaps it’s still just too soon to judge the document browser’s long-term success, but it’s disappointing to see so little movement among apps to this point. I understand why this change would take some time to implement, but we now sit almost six months past WWDC, when developers first gained access to iOS 11 APIs – I would have expected more apps to be on board by now. Outside of Apple’s iWork suite, MindNode is the first major app I’ve noticed that adopts iOS 11’s document browser, which is a little surprising. Left to right: Document browser main view, Quick Entry mode, and Settings. Depending on what type of project or issue I’m brainstorming, often I’ll prefer to brain dump via a written outline, so this tool has been a great add for me. The latter option is a new feature: it lets you put your thoughts down in outline form, then when you’re done, that outline is automatically converted into a new mind map. The document browser carries the same look and feel of Files, with a few small differences: indigo is used as an accent color, and there are buttons for the settings menu, for creating a new mind map, and for opening Quick Entry mode. MindNode 5’s transformation greets you when you first open the app, because it has implemented iOS 11’s document browser capability for integrating directly with the Files app. But I have to applaud the team at IdeasOnCanvas for their work on MindNode 5, because design-wise it truly feels like a whole new app – in the best way. Very few icons were recognizable standbys employed by other iOS apps, and the layout of certain menus never felt intuitive to me. MindNode 4 wasn’t among the worst offenders in the confusing UI department, but it certainly wasn’t my favorite app to navigate. ![]() I wish those apps’ designers would take a long, hard look at MindNode 5 and learn from it. There are apps I’ve used a hundred times that still throw me with ambiguous or misleading buttons and menus. Have you ever used an app that you simply never felt at home with? Maybe the layout was confusing, the icons didn’t make clear what actions they activated or menus they held, and everything left you feeling a bit lost. There’s a lot more to this update than those two things, with plenty of goodies that die-hard MindNode fans will appreciate, but for users like me – those dissatisfied with digital mind mapping, or even inexperienced at it altogether – the most important changes are those that make the app more approachable, and the new UI and drag and drop certainly do that. MindNode has long been one of the premier mind mapping apps for Mac and iOS, and its version 5 is a huge update that, for me at least, centers around two main changes: a streamlined, intuitive user interface, and the adoption of drag and drop support. Digital mind mapping still wasn’t quite right. Even on devices like the iPad though, while touch input certainly helped remove a barrier, there was still always something missing in my view. When using a traditional computer, moving and clicking via trackpad was cumbersome for me with a format as creatively freeing as a mind map, it seems especially important to have freeform input methods. My main problem with digital mind maps is that they have always felt unnatural. ![]() It’s an odd habit, since I shun paper for digital tools in every other case I can think of. Up until recently, whenever I needed to do a brain dump and get my thoughts better organized, I would often turn to pen, paper, and a hand-drawn mind map. I know Federico uses a mind map for his iOS review each year, and lots of other people love visualizing their thoughts that way too, but mind maps have never really clicked for me – at least not on computers. I have a confession: I’m not a big mind map guy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |