2 mind mapping apps showcase the promise of the Android smartphone platform
Mar 18th, 2010 | By Chuck Frey | Category: Mobile Mapping Tools
In much the same way that developers have written a significant number of mind mapping apps for the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch platform, similar apps are starting to emerge for the Android smartphone operating system. Here are two that I’m aware of (please add a comment if you know of any more):
Mind Map Memo: This app enables you to copy and paste topics, change node colors and icons, change the map background color and import and export maps with the popular open source desktop mind mapping program FreeMind. Mind Map Memo can be downloaded for free from the developer’s website.
Thinking Space: Thinking Space enables you to create nodes, arrange them, and add notes to them. You can style map nodes in different shapes and colors (including adjusting node text, text color and text style), and tell the program whether or not styles should cascade down to subtopics. Surprisingly, Thinking Space even supports keyboard shortcuts! An “arrange” toolbar makes it easy to move the selected map node up or down one level in your maps, or to move it by cutting and pasting it. Maps created in Thinking Space are compatible with FreeMind and XMind. In addition, the app has support for storing your maps on a web server – which the developer describes as “cloud functionality.” The Thinking Space Cloud Portal enables you to track revisions to your mind maps, and to share them with others. This neat app offers some excellent functionality and, like Mind Map Memo, is currently free.
I don’t own an Android phone, so I can’t test these apps. But based upon my experience using mind mapping apps on the iPhone, such apps need to be able to support some basic functionality:
- Easily add, edit and rearrange topics.
- Enable you to attach notes to topics.
- Enable you to attach hyperlinks to topics.
- Easily move your maps off of the handheld device for further development in your desktop mind mapping tool of choice, or to share with others.
As far as I can tell, Mind Map Memo doesn’t support notes or hyperlinks. So Thinking Space appears to be the app to beat on the Android platform.
Popularity: 20% [?]
I use Thinking Space on my Droid with cloud functionality. Files go back and forth to Freemind quite nicely.
Can anyone point me to support on hyperlinks? I haven’t gotten that to work or confirm that it is supported.
I think my Android version of a file is out of synch with the cloud version. Is TS supposed to synch both ways?
[...] to its fast-growing acceptance by consumers, two mind mapping apps were launched for this platform: Mind Map Memo and Thinking Space. Watch for more apps to be launched in 2011, as developers figure out that this is a wide-open [...]
I use Thinking Space – very neat app, also can share maps with Mindmanager via xml format, which is great for me. Can't wait to get a 10 inch Android Tablet, then I'll be really rocking!!
Ken – Hyperlinks can be placed in notes. Just type in the hyperlink in the note, they are recognized automatically. If you want to hyperlink to images, sound files or other maps you need to buy the PRO version.
Downloaded TS and Freemind, how do I sync between the two?
Sorry but how can I add a link to a file?
How can I add a link to a document in Thinking Space? I bought the PRO Version but find that the only attachment I can have is a Picture or Sound
I set TS to use the .mm Freemind/Freeplane file format.
I have Dropbox installed on my android tablet and PC. I have a mindmap folder in the Dropbox directory set as the default directory set for both. Dropbox updates/syncs the maps between devices.