The first mind mapping application for the iPhone was recently released. Dubbed MindMaker, it is availabe via the Apple iPhone AppStore. Very little information is available about this tool, other than a brief QuickTime video that shows what its capabilities are. As you might expect on a platform with limited memory like the iPhone, MindMaker’s functionality appears to be fairly basic: you can create topics and sub-topics, move them from one position to another within your map by tapping and dragging. That’s about it so far.
An “update” page on the MindMaker website promises that some new features will be available soon, including saving mind maps as image files, support for landscape mode and a “translucent hideable interface” – whatever that is. Also planned for future versions are cross links between nodes, reordering of nodes, editable colors and the ability to export maps to different formats.
One of the most important unanswered questions in my mind is this: What can you do with maps created in MindMaker? Can you export them to FreeMind, MindManager or any other desktop-based mind mapping tool? It would be wonderful to start developing a mind map on your iPhone, and then be able to export it to a desktop program for further development and refinement. As of this writing, no further information is available on MindMaker. Hopefully, more details will be forthcoming from the developer!
I don’t own an iPhone, so I can’t tell you if it’s a good program or a piece of crap (as many iPhone apps available in the AppStore are turning out to be). Has anyone played around with MindMaker? If so, please share your thoughts, pro or con, in the comments section of this post.
Thanks to Tris Hussey for the heads up on this new visual mapping tool!
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