iPad mind mapping application

[samvara]

Instaviz versus Idea Sketch versus popplet - trialling some applications.

Feature	Instaviz	Idea Sketch	Popplet (Added)	Preference
Price	12.99	FREE	FREE (lite)	Idea Sketch or Popplet
Help	Demo Flowchart	Popup ‘Tips’	'help' button with handy diagram that demos everything	Popplet - it’s a very appropriate way to do it.
Add item	Draw shape and use menu to customise item	Tap ‘+’ and use menu to create item	Double tap or draw line from existing bubble (inherits formatting)	Popplet
Link item	Tap to select bubble then draw line to desired bubble. Chart arranges to suit	Tap to activate menu, draw line to desired bubble. Secondary lines are dotted.	Tap to activate, draw line to desired bubble, or drag from existing bubble to create new	All are good
Unlink item	Douple tap to select line, ‘Delete’ to remove	Tap to activate menu then draw line back in the other direction	Tap on line to activate, tap on 'x'	Idea Sketch or Popplet
Edit	Double-tap to activate	Tap to activate options	Tap to activate	Idea Sketch
Edit: usability	Complex, 9 options and 4 drill down menus, tap to select or type. Keyboard loads automatically. No obvious ‘Save’	Easy, 4 options visible, tap to select or type. Keyboard loads if text option selected. ‘Done’ to save and close.	Easy, 6 options and 2 drill down menus, tap to select or type. Keyboard loads if text option selected. No obvious 'Save'	Idea Sketch or Popplet
Email	Close graph, File, Select, Email, select file format, email, send	Tap arrow, Save To Photos, open Photos, Tap arrow, email, send	Tap 'share', select file format (PDF or JPEG), email, send NB: Cuts off bottom of page if not correctly sized when sending and insists on 'my popplet' header	By clicks and usability, Popplet. BUT final choice is Idea Sketch - I don't like the 'my popplet' header AND picture quality of JPEG is terrible
Feature: Word wrap	Have to insert \n to get wordwrap which interacts badly with spellcheck	Automatic	Automatic	Idea Sketch - it's better at it than Popplet but not by much
Feature: Auto layout	Good but very grid-like. I want to be able to adjust to make it prettier	Manual	Manual but VERY easy to select+drag around	Instaviz
Feature: View as list	None	Tap to load, can use to rearrange links / hierarchy	None	Idea Sketch
Feature: Insert Photo	None	None	Made of awesome!	Popplet
Feature: Pencil drawing	None	None	No idea when I might use this.	Popplet
Options: Bubbles	Can create shape by drawing it square, rectangle, triangle, circle, diamond	Select from menu - square, rectangle, circle	Rectangles or nothing - can resize at will easily	Instaviz has more options. Drawing option is cool but no actual value_add
Output	Sleek looking with strong grid symmetry. Ability to choose muliple layouts very nice	Flexible, attractive layout, less easy to edit as chart gets large	Flexible, attractive layout, less easy to edit as chart gets large.	Idea Sketch or Popple
Overall	Lots of options but no real sense of flexibility. Using \n for word wrap is irritating. Automated layout is very cool and drawing own bubble shapes is shiny.	Free! Limited shape options but very easy to use and interact with. Lots of control over layout. Word wrap is appreciated	Free! No shape options but high usability with lots of layout control. Ability to insert photos very cool but inability to extract a decent JPEG makes this kind of useless for sharing. NB: Paid version ($12.99) exports high quality PDFs.	Idea Sketch Popplet comes a close second with excellent usability but image export quality kills it. ETA 16/11/2010 Popplet went web-based and wins ALL the prizes - now waiting for iPad/web integration.

Comments

[prk]

Considered Popplet?

Recommended to me by a colleague and has a free version to play with.

Prk

[samvara]

Very nice program! Excellent interface and great usability plus a couple of bonus features (photos! drawing!) offset by slightly less key options (shape of bubbles) than Idea Sketch and irritating imposed header when sending images.

Alas, popplet image export won't give me a crisp image which makes that lovely interface a bit pointless - I can't share my creations!

Your review of iOS Concept Mappers last year

[(Anonymous)]

Hello Samvara

I have been trying to find a way to create concept maps (non-hierarchical mindmaps, links label-able, etc) where I could quickly capture my ideas (ADD? Creativity?) and easily rearrange them later in the calm after the brainstorm. Because I use both iOS (iDevices) and Windows ecosystems I would ideally like to have my maps just sync and be able to work on the same one whether I'm using a windows laptop or my iPad.

While searching, I came across this very helpful post that you shared a year ago and am wondering if you've run across anything else since then that might fit the bill.

Thank you for sharing

Cheers
Bill

(bill AT disability DOT org)