OneNote | App Review

Free Download, see onenote.com

OneNote is a free note-taking app which is available for many platforms. Having apps for multiple platforms and allowing access to notes from the website means you can view and edit your notes anywhere you can get an internet connection. Logging in with your Microsoft account means your notes will be synced with OneDrive, meaning all of your notes will be available on all of your devices (as long as you have and internet connection).

You can create multiple notebooks and within each notebook you can have several section each with numerous pages. This set-up replicates the way notes can be organised in real life. Even if you use this system to keep your notes well-organised, you may still need to use the search function sometimes! You have the choice of searching for a page that contains a specific term or you can search for a term on the page you are currently editing.

You can add text to the page and add a tag to it, for example ‘website to visit’ or add to-do tick boxes.

Alternatives to text include an audio note, video note or you could draw or handwrite on a page using your device’s touchscreen or by using your computer’s mouse. You can also change the background of the page. Having lines on a page can make it easier to write neatly.

The OneNote web clipper allows you to ‘clip’ webpages to your notebooks. Other ways to add notes are sending an e-mail to me@onenote.com or by using the ‘Send to OneNote’ tool.

OneNote can extract text from an image or just make the text in the image searchable.

OneNote offers some helpful options for taking notes. In the Windows version, you can set the window to be ‘always on top’ so that you can take notes from another window. Similarly, dock view puts OneNote on the side of your screen so you can take notes while, for example, reading a document in another window.

Contact

Website: www.onenote.com

Social Media Links:

• Twitter: @msonenote
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OneNote

XMind | App Review

Free download for Windows

Free download for Mac

Free download for Linux

Free Portable download (for use on USB drives)

• The paid for version adds more features.

When XMind loads, you are presented with a selection of templates and themes. The templates are really useful and range from a weight-loss plan to business tools such as a SWOT analysis. Alternatively, you can choose to start with a blank workbook. Adding subtopics are easy, either by using the button on the toolbar or by pressing the tab key on your keyboard.

To make your map more ‘visual’ you can add what XMind calls ‘markers’. These are icons which appear next to your topics. The selection of ‘markers’ includes task progress, faces and various symbols.

I've created a mindmap to the main features of XMind.

• Put a relationship between two topics – a line will link them
• Put a boundary around topics – a line will surround them
• Put a summary next to topics – brackets the topics into a group

• Add a note to a topic
• Insert a file (a document, a photo, another XMind file) to a topic
• Insert a hyperlink (to a website) to a topic

What I like about XMind is there’s lots of options to customise, such as a choice of different ‘structures’, a list of which is shown below:

Other customisation options include:

• Change the background colour or add a wallpaper from the selection or from one of your own files
• Change the shape for each topic, and the colour of the shape, and make it gradient-filled.
• Change the line colours which extent from the central topic to ‘multi’ and ‘tapered’.
• Add a ‘legend’ which explains the markers you’ve used.
• Change the font and font colour.

Personally, I use XMind to keep track of my to-do list for university and also to organise my lecture notes. I’m sure you’ll have lots of ideas of how you can make use of this great piece of software. For example, keeping track of the ideas you have floating around in your head to organising a holiday! Go on and give XMind a try!

Contact

Website: http://www.xmind.net/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xmind.net

Twitter: @XMind

Kami | App Review

Download for iOS
Free download for Android
Download for Steam
Download for Mac

*Please note: This review is based on  the Android version of the game.

The aim of Kami is to fill the screen with one colour. You are given a target number of ‘moves’ in which you should achieve this. The game comes with many levels and can buy more is you wish. The premium packs cost £0.60 each (in the U.K.) and are entitled ‘5 Color Retro’, ‘Noughts and Crosseyes’ and ‘Convulsion’.

The app has attractive graphics. The game itself has a nice effect that makes it looks as if paper is being folded. If you make a mistake, you can reset the level to how it was when you started. This is useful if you are trying to stick to the target number of ‘moves’ and have ended up going over it. If you are struggling, you can get hints. The game comes with 5 hint coins and you can buy more if you need to.

The game has pleasant oriental-style background music. The background music and sound effects can be turned off if you wish.

You can log in to the app with Google Play Games using your Google+ account. Google explains the advantages of doing this on its ‘Gaming with Google Play Games’ page: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2954594?hl=en&ref_topic=3114802

Alternative:

Color Zen – Same principle of filling the screen with colour but without the paper graphics.The way in which you change the colour of the screen is by tapping two coloured blacks together. The colour which you should fill the screen with is indicated by the colour of the border around the screen. Similarly to Kami, you can buy extra levels. The price of the extra packs range from £0.61 - £0.64. The themes of these packs are: classic, seasons, reflection, serenity and nature. Despite their differences, I believe that someone who enjoys playing Kami will also like Color Zen.

Contact

Website: http://www.stateofplaygames.com/work/kami/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/State-of-Play/79299477142

Twitter: @State_of_Play

Stop, Breathe & Think | App Review

Free Download for iOS 

Free Download for Android 

Use on the Web

Stop, Breath and Think is an app which allows its users to access meditation routines. The app includes a guide to mediating and explains the routines available. It’s a good idea to have a look through the guide before starting to get a grasp of the basics.

At the start of the process, you consider how you feel then rate yourself both mentally and physically. The next step is to choose which emotions best describe your current state. You will then be presented with a list of recommended mediations based on what you told the app in the previous steps. Finally, choose which meditation routine you wish to do then relax and enjoy! Some routines give you the option of how long you wish to do it. A voice will guide you what to do, for example, focus on your breathing or visualise something. Alternatively, if you log-in, the app allows you to use a self-timer.

After completing your session, you can do another mediation or view your progress. In the ‘view progress’ section, you can see your stickers, ‘weekly settledness’ and top emotions. The stickers are awarded to you after completing certain goals such as carrying out a specific number of meditations or meditation at certain times of the day. Your ‘weekly settledness’ is based on how you were feeling mentally and physically and shows how many times you ‘checked in’ to the app. You can also see your ‘top emotions’; the emotions you choose most frequently prior to your meditation sessions.

Some routines include one shorter clip for free and you need to pay for the longer one. You can also purchase additional meditations if you wish. The app developer is a not-for-profit organisation and the money goes towards their projects.

Adding a feature which lets you download a mediation session for you to listen to later could be useful if you were going somewhere that you could not get a WiFi/Internet connection.

Alternative:

Doze - Designed to send you to sleep. Just relaxing music with no voice. You can set a timer or skip tracks.

Contact

Website:http://stopbreathethink.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toolsforpeace

Twitter:@ToolsforPeace