Database Users

Note Taking App Wishlist

After trying out most of the note-taking applications and not finding something that suits my needs, I'm submitting my wishlist here to get the expert opinions available in this forum (this forum is a major reason I bought another HTC phone!)
Ok, I'm not after many bells and whistles, but the below are what I'd like my Note Taking app to be able to do:
Offline usage must (so current Evernote offering doesn't serve). Not everyone is online with fast enough internet access, all the time.
Save notes (not just backup) to a SDCard folder - so that I can sync that folder myself to my desktop PC if the app doesn't have that, using wifi+ftp.
Save notes in a Desktop editable format (but not in a browser window - I am still not very much a webapp person, and I need offline access to my notes). Rather a much desired setup would be a Desktop counterpart of the same app with sync (like is the case with many WM apps).
Notes on this - Can we only have Text-only notes? I don't think rich text editing is too much to ask, but does Android support that? I've not seen any note taking app do that (but then how do the word file editors work?).
A well-implemented search function that covers all notes... incremental search too much to ask?
Either tree-like or long scroll like (a-la evernote) structure to organise notes, instead of a simple list.
Tags.
That's what I can think of at the moment. Am I asking for the moon here, or is this available somewhere I didn't look?
Any help would me most appreciated.
Thank you

I agree with you on these. Everynote can be used offline, though, it just won't sync, of course.
Something I've been looking for, and hopefully someone knows of an option, is an app that does speech to text, but also records the voice memo, so you can correct any mistakes the voice recognition made, and things like that. Sort of a dictation and speech to text mash up?

[Q] Using a tablet like the Xoom with Office Software

This question has (to my best knowledge) never been addressed in its own thread. I want to use the Xoom (or any other laptop-substitute for that matter) to edit Word and Excel documents, look at presentations on a screen instead of print outs, make last minute changes etc. Maybe take notes during meetings/presentations... you get the idea. It might also be used as multimedia device.
Now, with the currently available accessories (I really like the idea of a case with integrated bluetooth keyboard) is this a reasonable expectation of the Xoom?
Thanks for all your opinions!

I'm not using a bluetooth keyboard but using docs to go with pretty good success. I get an error loading to gdocs but it still does the upload. Some advanced excel functions and word formatting are not the but its decent. The powerpoint part of docs to go is garbage. I have also been using repligo for annotating pdf files and it is very slick well worth the 4.99.
I am trying to use my xoom in place of all the paper docs i used to print and take to meetings. Also signed up to beta test the swiftkey tablet keyboard to see if that works better than this stock honeycomb one.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App

Thanks! I'll keep on looking; if not for the Xoom then at least for my Nook

[Q] Local retailer (US) that stocks Lenovo Thinkpad tablet?

I am considering buying one of these but would like to try it out in a store before I buy it. Does anyone know of a US retailer that stocks them?
I am mostly curious about the following things:
1) How good is it for taking notes in college/university classes? Can you rest your palm on the screen while using the stylus?
2) Is there a way to view the notes taken on pdf on a computer?
3) Is it pretty solid feel wise? Or does it feel like it will fall apart after a couple years?
4) How much bloatware comes on it and is it hard to remove via rooting?
5) Does the screen go dark enough for comfortable reading in dimly lit rooms?
Thanks for the info.

the notes are great, I use Quill, as it works nearly perfect, in the app i have turned on pen input only and jot tons and tons of notes all day long.
You can export the notes to various files, while im not sure about PDF there is certainly a format that can be read on your desktop
Like all lenovo products i've had its built to last like an enterprise system should be. as long as you take care of it it will last a long time past EOL
Bloatware isnt too bad, theres still some stuff lenovo managed to get into the system pretty deep (like the status bar wheel widget thing.) but its never bothered me that much as it only comes up at the home screen.
screen brightness works great in dim rooms, i tend to read books by a small lamp in bed most of the time with minimal strain.
I purchased mine from lenovo direct so I dont know about any local retailers.

Thanks for the info. However when I asked about notes on PDFs I should have clarified a bit. I was asking about their PDF viewer that lets you take notes on the PDF document and weather that can be exported to something useful.
Also I thought of one more thing: If I have my notes backed up with something like spideroak, can the notes be converted on a computer? I ask because I am worried about taking a semesters worth of notes on it then having it die and there being no way to read them without getting a new tablet.

FearTheCron said:
Thanks for the info. However when I asked about notes on PDFs I should have clarified a bit. I was asking about their PDF viewer that lets you take notes on the PDF document and weather that can be exported to something useful.
Also I thought of one more thing: If I have my notes backed up with something like spideroak, can the notes be converted on a computer? I ask because I am worried about taking a semesters worth of notes on it then having it die and there being no way to read them without getting a new tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ezPDF allows you to fill out pdf forms, underline, strikeout, and add freehand drawings as well as circles/squares/etc. It should do what you're looking for.
https://market.android.com/details?id=udk.android.reader&feature=search_result
and if you have the file saved as a pdf on your sd card you should be able to open it with any pdf reader (pc or otherwise).
The quill note taking app he mentioned allows you to export your notes to sdcard pdfs

Thanks for the info.
One last thing: has anyone used connect bot or another ssh client on this? I am curious if the keys on the keyboard folio such as escape quotes tild and whatnot all send the proper characters. I had a bluetooth keyboard for my N1 a while back that sent some weird unicode characters for the quotes making terminal usage very difficult.

https://market.android.com/details?id=berserker.android.apps.sshdroid&hl=en
I have used SSH droid with WINSCP worked like a charm, I'm by no means an experienced user with SSH, i just used it to dig around the file system.

SSH droid is a server for the android device, I am asking about using a client on the android device.

My bad, I left my brain at home today... I will test it for you this evening and let you know if the client works with the keymapping

Cool thanks, I look forward to hearing your results.

Update: I just ordered one, so if its too much of a bother don't worry about testing the connect bot thing. My shiny object syndrome overwhelmed my frugal side. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

It works like a charm tested with Moba SSH home 1.22 and connect bot, all the keys from the folio map properly and I haven't seen anything odd at this point, also SSH'd into a couple of Access points over my VPN at work with the TPT to test as well.
Congrats on the TPT! you're gonna love it!

Unfortunately the keys do not map properly, escape is still connected to "back" in the android os and ctrl is connected to "menu". Does anyone know if there is some way to map these to their proper functions?
Thanks
S

Favorite Stylus apps

(This is intended to be a 'how do you show off your stylus', although in retrospect, it's going to turn into a 'best apps' thread,
so perhaps it should be moved?)
Just wondering how you show off your stylus, or what makes people oo and ahh at it?
I don't draw and my handwriting sucks so I don't do either. (Might have to get that 'Draw something' game though)
the new game 'Shogun' is a ton to play with the stylus.
It's a 'bullet hell' game and it's MUCH easier with the stylus as you can see all the bullets around your ship. I think it's my new stylus 'show off' app.
I had a lot of fun playing 'nemo picross' with a very tiny grid, and drawing with the stylus. Really nice.
- Frank

Its an S pen. Not a stylus. Stylus is what was used with old resistive touch screens.

Baghli said:
Its an S pen. Not a stylus. Stylus is what was used with old resistive touch screens.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ehh, no.
It is a stylus as is a wacom pen that always have been called stylus or wacom pens.
s pen it is only a marketing word.

kersh said:
Ehh, no.
It is a stylus as is a wacom pen that always have been called stylus or wacom pens.
s pen it is only a marketing word.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hmmm, ok sorry my bad.

ChodTheWacko said:
(This is intended to be a 'how do you show off your stylus', although in retrospect, it's going to turn into a 'best apps' thread,
so perhaps it should be moved?)
Just wondering how you show off your stylus, or what makes people oo and ahh at it?
I don't draw and my handwriting sucks so I don't do either. (Might have to get that 'Draw something' game though)
the new game 'Shogun' is a ton to play with the stylus.
It's a 'bullet hell' game and it's MUCH easier with the stylus as you can see all the bullets around your ship. I think it's my new stylus 'show off' app.
I had a lot of fun playing 'nemo picross' with a very tiny grid, and drawing with the stylus. Really nice.
- Frank
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any other awesome shmups on the Android? Unfortunately Cave went to the iOS
I haven't found any fun use for the stylus until you mentioned shmups. I am now a very happy camper.
EDIT: Already am 220th in the country. Its a grazing shmup.

i think the best stylus app is s-memo i use it very often!
i havent found an as useful stylus app... but maby anywhere out there is an better one???

I prefer Jotter (For Galaxy Note) for the following reasons:
-option for palm rejection
-option to disable back key
-just one tap on a widget to start writing
david.huwyler said:
i think the best stylus app is s-memo i use it very often!
i havent found an as useful stylus app... but maby anywhere out there is an better one???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

olympicchicken said:
I prefer Jotter (For Galaxy Note) for the following reasons:
-option for palm rejection
-option to disable back key
-just one tap on a widget to start writing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
freenote - the handwrite/freehand mode lets you put much more text on the screen

LectureNotes - Good note taking app
SketchBookMobile - Basically photoshop for the Note
OmniSketch - Cool sketching app
Pretty sure they're all available as free/paid versions, I bought all 3.

how about the xda galaxy note forum page as the best stylus demo
the demo is - that all frustration is lost with this phone, including having to zoom up just to hit a link or read text and miss hit the link anyway. So I have 3 demos I show all the time - really this is one:
I have a url ready to go of a dense page of the XDA forum with small text and many pages of comments, and I show how with my stylus how perfect and fast I can hit on even the supper small next of an author or the next or number page buttons perfectly ( on the bottom right of the page). I explain how I can do this while walking and never miss any hyperlink or button again. demo 1
I then have a pressure sensitive demo with zen brush all set up, where I go into a great picture already made ( already they are impressed) and I have purposely made room available at the bottom to make a very light to very hard brush strokes, where the different levels of pressure sensitivity show up by seeing the very very thin to very very think brush strokes - people go wild. it takes pracitse to do the very light especially with a screen protector. demo 2
last I have a smemo page ready to go with 3 lines of text I already wrote out in freehand (' buy more potatoes' is one of the lines). I have enough room to add another line and usually write "do it now" ( easy and I never mess it up). Then I hit the 'handwriting to text' button and get perfect text ( which I already knew would work). now folks with mouth open. demo 3
I also mentioned that this is approximately what apple would call a retina display, this is the only retina display with a full wacom tablet underneath it.
additional non stylus demo
The vlingo dead accurate speech recognition is actually the most successful demo to freak them out. I have it ready to go, say 'Hi Galaxy' , say Play "Let it be" and the music starts, I then either say dial the persons phone number and wait for their phone to ring, or 'say gmail' in which I show them swype ( many folks seemed to have no clue about swype) and then hit the mic and dictate alot of email. all perfect.
Lastly I have a HD movie, of nature from youttube downloaded on my device (called Best of HD movies: water/wasser) to show the beautiful screen.
I also show I can use it with one hand, put it my pocket and put it up to my ear. I mention the phone is a game changer and if Apple came out with it the world would be going crazy. and Smile.
ps - google 'gesture search' app (always a shortcut on my front page) impresses folks too, when they see I can call anyone, play any music, open any app in one or two swipes.

Thanks for the heads up on freenote.
The best note taking app for me.
I really like being able to combine handwriting, text and drawing all really easily.
Still trying to work out which handwriting mode works best for me (I think 2 cell - as long as I keep my writing in a straight line so words split over the 2 halves of the page don't end up looking wonky). And still tweaking the recognition timing thresholds, but definitely my favourite so far.
The limit to the amount you could fit in sMemo is way to small to be useful for anything more than post it note type notes.
Freenote will be useful for taking notes in just about any situation.
Rich

Hi,
Anyone knows about any remote desktop app that can take advantage of the stylus?
Thanks

Citrix works...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA

smaragdhk said:
Citrix works...
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, do you know if it works with terminal services alone? Or do you have to install Citrix on the deskt aswell?

Vasko said:
Thanks, do you know if it works with terminal services alone? Or do you have to install Citrix on the deskt aswell?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think it works as a standalone app. For work we have it running on a server, and staff use the client software on their handheld devices.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA

smaragdhk said:
Don't think it works as a standalone app. For work we have it running on a server, and staff use the client software on their handheld devices.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see, I'm looking for a terminal server client which could be less cumbersome with the stylus than the actual app i'm using.

Vasko said:
I see, I'm looking for a terminal server client which could be less cumbersome with the stylus than the actual app i'm using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm... Remote RDP perhaps? There is lite version.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA

Why better than lecture notes or Will?
QUOTE=richlum;23945608]Thanks for the heads up on freenote.
The best note taking app for me.
I really like being able to combine handwriting, text and drawing all really easily.
Still trying to work out which handwriting mode works best for me (I think 2 cell - as long as I keep my writing in a straight line so words split over the 2 halves of the page don't end up looking wonky). And still tweaking the recognition timing thresholds, but definitely my favourite so far.
The limit to the amount you could fit in sMemo is way to small to be useful for anything more than post it note type notes.
Freenote will be useful for taking notes in just about any situation.
Rich[/QUOTE]

I couldn't find LecureNotes in the Market on my phone (tried searching for Acadoid, and also tried changing my region using Market Enabler too). I could find it on my web browser on my PC, but when I try to install it via the web, it says it's not compatible with my Galaxy Note and won't let me proceed.
I'm not sure what Will is...?
I did try out Handrite, Fliq, Genial Writing and sMemo.
For me, the handwriting entry process works best in freenote.
It seems to be the most tweakable to be able to get the settings just right for your speed and style of writing.
Plus it's quick and easy to swap between different modes of input (handwriting, typing, drawing freehand, highlighting)

[Q] Use question

TPT users - I have been considering this tablet for some time. I am a huge MS Onenote user and I have been looking for an alternative to my tablet PC. I tried the HTC flyer, but the pen recognition was not that great. (At times it was like writing with a pen that was running out of ink.) My question is if anyone has experience using the TPT for note taking and then getting the inked notes into onenote for easy use in onenote? I would love to wiat for the Samsung Note 10" but it appears that date keeps getting pushed back and need a solution soon.

I have the View - essentially the same tab - and the pen recognition is great. Bad battery perhaps or perhaps not using the right note program there are several really great ones out there - LectureNotes, Quill, and many others. You can also use a TPT pen on the Flyer, and vice versa. I have used OneNote on the TPT but not often yet. Getting too many other great note taking results with text conversion when I want.
Check out the app 7Notes for HWR. Love it. Also MyScript Stylus, but more expensive.

Thanks
I appreciate the response. I actuallly sent my original flyer back to try a second unit. They both seemed to suffer from not registering all the pen marks consistently over the entire screen.
I used both LectureNotes and Quill. I liked them both better than the default note taking app, but the issue I had was getting the notes organized. That is why I love Onenote. I tried to move over to Evernote and used the export function on those notetaking apps to get them to work well together, but I was unhappy with all the extra steps and OneNote inking of notes was not as fluid either.
My hope is that by the time the Samsung Note 10" launches, MS will include the inking capabilities into the Android version of Onenote and I will be a happy camper.
How did you use Onenote on your TPT.

LOL Didn't use it. Logged in with Splashtop and used it remotely on my pc.