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Make Beautiful Mindmaps with MindNode

MindNode is a premium and powerful mind mapping app for iOS and Mac.

MindNode is a powerful app for iPhone, iPad and Mac that allows you to make beautiful mind maps. This post is on the iOS version.

Revision on a mindmap

Mind maps are a great way to revise, manage projects and take notes. I personally love making mind maps for revision notes, and was looking through the App Store in an attempt to find a good mind mapping app. I came across MindNode, and it’s looks and power won me over.
Admittedly, MindNode does not have super-power user feature extremely advanced features like some of its competitors have, but you really don’t need those features. I haven’t had to go searching for another app on the App Store for mind mapping. It’s even replaced my need for XMind on my PC.

I love how mind maps look on MindNode. They look clean and professional, and are very easy to make. MindNode has keyboard shortcuts for Bluetooth keyboards, which are great as they make it much more fluid to make a mind map. If you don’t have a Bluetooth keyboard (you should get the Logitech Ultrathin), don’t fear, as there are quick buttons above the keyboard, which allow you to make child and sibling nodes, which means you don’t have to go tapping around.

You can customise the look of your mind map using themes MindNode comes with, and you can also make a custom theme. I love the way you can change individual nodes colours, as well as changing their borders and things like that.

Inserting images is also possible with MindNode. Simply tap on the image icon in the toolbar, and then select photos. You can also insert cool stickers to make your mind map look better or to aid visual learners. Adding notes is also possible, in case you want to add more detail that would not fit on the node.

MindNode also gives you the option to use it to manage projects. Tap the tick icon on the toolbar, and a tick box will appear on the node. On the parent, you will see a circle. When you complete tasks, the circle fills. This shows you your overall progress on a project, and is also a very sleek and nice way of doing it.

A task on MindNode

Those are the main features of MindNode. It is a really great app, and I recommend that you check it out. You can buy it from the App Store for £7.99 here. There are many more features that you will discover the more you use it, and I really recommend it.

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to comment below!

New Pokémon and Features In Pokémon Sun and Moon Announced!

New features and Pokémon have been released!


Pokémon

Pikip

Pikipek
Woodpecker Pokémon – Normal/Flying – Keen Eye/Skill Link Abilities
Pikipek has two evolutions.

Yungoos

Yungoos
Loitering Pokémon – Normal – Stakeout/Strong Jaw Abilities

Grubbin

Grubbin
Larva Pokémon – Bug – Swarm Ability

As normal, the Pokémon you encounter first in the game are Flying, Normal, and Bug. Grubbin’s Pokédex entry says it can be found near power plants and substations, which may suggest that there are going to be power plants and the like early in the game.

New abilities

  • Stakeout – The Pokémon’s moves can deal twice the normal damage to any Pokémon that switch in or enter the field mid-battle
  • Soul Heart – Magearna’s Sp. Atk raises by 1 each time another Pokémon in the area faints. This is a new Ability—one that can be put to good use in battle

Battle Royals

Battle Royal has a new awesome feature. Each of the four trainers choose three Pokémon, and send out one into battle at a time. The battle finishes when all the Pokémonn of one trainer have fainted, and then the players are ranked. Victory is declared based on the number of Pokémon each defeated and the number of Pokémon each player has remaining in play.
I can’t wait to try out the Battle Royals out, as they look like brilliant fun!
So those are the latest features we have been told about. The release date has also been moved forward (I believe) to the 18th of November, 2016. I can’t wait!
Thanks for reading!
What do you think about the new features? Feel free to comment below!

Drafts 4 – Where Text Comes First

Drafts 4 is an app available on iOS, and is designed for markdown. It has a simple and clean interface. However, behind the simple and clean interface is a very powerful piece of software.

Drafts 4 is a markdown app which is available on iOS. It has a clean interface, but behind it has powerful features such as creating custom actions and keyboard shortcuts for external keyboards.

Drafts 4 costs $9.99 on the App Store. Once you have downloaded it, it does take some time to learn what the heck is going on and how to use it. You can go to Agile Tortoise’s website and find screencasts, and maybe this will help you figure out the app.

Draft 4 is designed to be your go to app – whether you want to tweet or add a reminder, Drafts is designed to do this. It means that you don’t have to go scrabbling around to find the app your want. Simply type your text, then slide your finger left and select the option you want. If you don’t find it there, go to the Actions centre and it’s very likely you will find it there.

Your new drafts automatically are added to your Inbox filter. They are titled with whatever your first line is on the draft. The app automatically opens on a new blank draft if you do not return to it within a set time (you can set this from 30 seconds to never), which can help you get your thoughts down quickly. However, you can also tap the plus sign at the top right to get a new blank draft. If you hold down on the plus button, you get lots more options such as import from clipboard, make a new draft from a selection, and import files from cloud storage and apps on your iPad. I’m not sure about all the file extensions, but I know you can import .mmd files.

The way the storage system works is pretty cool; it works like an email client. You have the Inbox where all your drafts go automatically, and then once you have completed them and done the action you want to do, you move them to the Archive. This means that your Inbox is always kept clean and does not get cluttered up. You can also flag your drafts which allows you to find the, quickly.
To the left on the plus button is an information button. It gives you an action log, a snippet of a map where the draft was created, and a snippet of a map where the draft was last edited. It also tells you how many versions of the draft was saved.

If you slide your finger from the left of the screen to the right, you open the filters menu. I think that this is like notebooks, except much simpler. The default filters are:

  • Inbox
  • Archive
  • Flagged
  • Trash
  • All

In your Inbox are where all your drafts automatically go. When you are done with them, you move the to your Archive. If a draft is important, you can flag it to find it quickly again. All is where all your drafts are. You can also create custom filters, but I have not tried this yet. You can also search all your notes.

If you drag left, you can access the actions view. This is where Drafts really shines. Actions are actions which allow you to export your markdown to anything you can dream of; to making a new calendar event to making it into todos in Evernote. It gives you tabs which sort out the actions, which are Basic, Social, Services and Markdown. In Basic are things such as message, search on Google, add to reminders, add to calendars and things like that. In Social are various social media where you can share your text. Services allow you to export your text to Evernote, Dropbox, Google Drive and other services. Markdown gives you different ways to preview what you have written. However, you may be wondering what to do if your service or what you want to do is not available. This is where Drafts is amazing; you can make an action for yourself. Open the actions menu, and then tap on the plus button. You can make your own entry, or you can get a premade one from the actions centre.

Just some of the default actions in Drafts 4

One of my favourite features is the option to add your own shortcuts to the shortcuts menu above the keyboard. Simply tap on the pencil icon, and then tap on the plus icon. Then select what type you want to shortcut to be. I have two shortcuts I made myself; a save to Evernote one and a preview one. What I also like about making your own shortcuts is that if you use an external keyboard, you can assign your own key combination to trigger that shortcut. I haven’t found this feature in any other apps yet.

Another great feature is that you can set up Drafts to automatically switch on night mode when your iPad’s screen brightness goes below a certain level.

Drafts 4 is an amazing piece of kit; simple on the outside, but with powerful tools unlike any other app on the inside. It will certain all be my go-to markdown tool. I have only skimmed the surface of what the app offers in this review. Drafts takes a few minutes to get the hang of, but once you start using it you will become hooked. I would definitely recommend that you try out Drafts. It is well worth the purchase.

Drafts 4 is available on the App Store for £4.99.

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to comment below!

Legendary Pokémon of Sun and Moon Released!

The two legendary Pokémon have been released for Pokémon Sun and Moon!

The new legendary Pokémon for Sun and Moon have just been released!

Solgaleo is the legendary Pokémon for Pokémon Sun. It is Psychic and Steel type. Solgaleo’s ability is really good; it’s a new ability, Full Metal Body. This ability is where a Pokémon’s stats are not lowered by the effects of an opponent’s moves or Ability, which is one of the best abilities I have seen.
Solgaleo
Pokémon Moon’s legendary Pokémon is Lunana. It is a Psychic and Ghost type Pokémon. I wouldn’t say that Lunana’s special ability is as cool as Solgaleo, but it’s still pretty good. Lunala’s Ability is Shadow Shield, which is also a new ability. What it does is when Lunana has full health, it will take less damage from an attack. However, this only works when it has full health, so I don’t think it is as good as something that means that you can’t be affected by Intimidate, for example.
Lunana
I’m looking forward to the new games. I am hoping to get my hands on Pokémon Sun, as I like Solgaleo. I prefer it’s ability, and I also prefer it’s look. The typeset of each Pokémon also looks nice, as I don’t often play Psychic, and am looking forward to doing so.
Thanks for reading!
What game will you get? Feel free to comment below!

Textastic – An Advanced Code Editor for iPad, iPhone and Mac

Textastic is an app that supports code such as html, C++ and many more. For students, it also supports TeX and Markdown.


Personally, the features I use the most are below:

  • Markdown
  • HTML
  • C++

I occasionally use TeX, but I’m not proficient in it. I also love that HTML has auto complete, which can speed up the process of coding.

Textastic also supports over 70 different types of syntax definition, which almost guarantee that the code you are looking for will be in it.

Textastic looks great. It looks clean and fits in with iOS 9, and also gives you a shortcuts of keys you use a lot above the keyboard. If you use an external keyboard (I use a Logitech Ultrathin keyboard) they are still shown, and there are also 9 keyboard shortcuts.

Markdown in Textastic

The app if very simple to use, and is easy to get going with it as soon as you get it. You can create files, and you can also create folders to organize you files. You can close the files view, which allows you to concentrate on the coding or writing you are doing in the main window.

A great feature is the preview button, which allows you to preview your coding or markdown. I know it definitely works for HTML and Markdown, but I’m not sure about any other types of code.
The interface when you are editing a file looks amazing, and it is clean, quick and polished. I love the way that you get colour coding on certain pieces of code. You can see an example of html 5 below, and see the colouring:

Split screen has been added, which is great if you are learning code (you can have the textbook beside you) or if you want to look up some code snippets on the web or Evernote.

You can preview Markdown and HTML files by tapping on the glasses icon on the toolbar. You can also search documents, and view symbols. You can edit all the file properties, and share the file.
If you are using Markdown, I cannot find an option to export the preview. However, you can copy and paste it into an app. I think that exporting the preview would be a great thing to add.
You can also add images as a file.

For me, Textastic is the equivalent to desktop class programs, such as Codeblocks, Atom and Notepad++. The sheer amount of programming languages that you can choose from means that it is extremely unlikely that you will not find the language you want, and the reliability of the app, as well as the usefulness, will mean that you will not have to go searching for a program on your pc.

Textastic is one of the best apps I have on my iPad. I would definitely recommend you go and try it out, and you will not be disappointed.

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to comment below!

Why a Notebook Is a Great Companion to Pokémon

Pokémon is a great game, and I love it. A notebook can be a great companion to your game.
I use a black Moleskine pocket edition notebook, as it fits nicely into my Nintendo’s case. At the start, I have a page dedicated to each Pokémon in my team. I have a drawing of them, their stats at Level 100 (which they all are), the move set that I want them to have or breed into them and a notes section. This page helps me to see what I have to do with Pokémon, and what I should EV train them. It also means that I can keep track if what I have to do with Pokémon (I do use Things by Cultured Code (which is my task manager of choice) to track some of my Pokémon tasks, but I also like having them in my notebook so all my Pokémon stuff is in one place) and see where items can be obtained for them. 
The notes section below each Pokémon is also extremely useful. For example, if I want to get a TM for Suker Pumch for Haunter (I don’t know why you would), I could jot down the location below Haunter in the notes section. When I look at Haunter, I can see all the stuff I have about him. 
Having a notebook also means that you can have a weakness table, which is great when you are training and have not yet learnt the weaknesses and strengths yet. If you’ve played Pokémon for a while, you probably won’t need this. 
One of the things I do with my notebook is put a map of the region in. I have a map for all the regions, but that is because I own all the games. If you only own one or two of the games, there’s not really any point in having maps for regions you don’t play in. 
Those are just the first few pages of my notebook. You can have way more, such as info and Pokémon for the gym leaders you have yet to battle if you’re still playing the story, or capture locations for a Pokémon that you want. 
And, a plus of getting Moleskine Pocket edition is that it fits inside a large case, even if you have the Moleskine three pen accessory on it (if your case is like mine, sorry, can’t find the link).

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to comment below!

Stop Getting Distracted by Your Phone with Forest

Forest is a great app that allows you to stop yourself from getting distracted by your phone. It has a great way of doing it, which is both fun and useful.

Forest works in a great way. You set the time that you want to be away from your phone, and then you tap plant. If you try to leave the app, it kills your tree if you do not return to it quickly (you can lock your phone however).

Every time that you grow a tree, you earn some in game money. With this money, you can buy extra and cooler trees, and you can plant trees in real life.

Forest is very simple on the surface. However, underneath the surface, Forest is much more complicated. You can assign tags to your activities, and it gives you stats about how much of your time you spend on certain tags, the percentage that you grow a tree, your focused time distribution, and many more stats. You can sort your tags stats by day, week, month or year.

A great feature is that you can see your forest for a certain day, week, month or year. It also tells you how long you have focused for that week, and gives you a chart of the time you focused per day. It’s really cool to see your forest grow over time.

Starting with Forest is easy. Simply open Forest, move the slider to what time you want, and then tap the button below. You will see a timer come up, and that time is the time you have left to grow your tree. You will see your tree change from a little seed to a fully grown tree, and I love seeing my tree develop.

So, now you have planted your tree. If you leave the app, your tree dies if you do not return quickly. This is basically what stops you from going off the app, and it’s quite effective, as it makes you not want to kill your tree.

When you finish growing your tree, you earn money depending how long the tree took to grow. With this money you can buy special trees, and you can also plant trees in real life.

Different trees and bushes can also be bought with the money you earn. These trees can be purchased in the shop section, and allow you to make your forest look more varied, as well as allowing you to discover more cool and fun trees. To change your tree, you simply tap on the tree in the middle of the circle where you set the time, and you select it. Collecting trees adds fun to concentrating, as well as an objective, making sure that you don’t want to kill your tree even more.

Forest also allows you to set background noise, much like the noise you set on sleeping apps that help you fall asleep. You get one noise for free, which is rain, and you can purchase multiple others such as a beach and a forest at night. The noises are very relaxing, however I find that I do not use them much as I prefer silence when concentrating.

If you connect Forest to your Facebook account, you can participate against other people on the leaderboards, and go and check out their forests. If you friends also use Forest, you will find them on the leaderboard too. This is another form of motivation, as you want to beat your friend and grow a better forest then them.

Another new feature is the Achievements section. Here, you can get the in-app money by completing certain tasks, which allows you to unlock trees. It’s pretty cool as it means that you want to complete these tasks to get money.

If you use your iPhone to work, you can switch on a feature that allows you to use your phone. This means that if you switch app, your tree is no longer killed. However, you earn half the coins as a sort of ‘punishment’. This feature is also great if you use Forest on an iPad.

You can create a Forest account that allows you to synchronise your Forest to all your devices. You can also get Forest for Google Chrome, and it also blocks distracting websites.

Forest is a great app, and it is simple and actually works. It stops you from using your phone, and as a result allows you to concentrate. You can get it for iOS, Android, Firefox and Chrome.

You can get forest on the App Store for £1.99 here, on the Google Play store here and on the Google Chrome Store here.

All in all, Forest is a great app, and I would recommend that you check it out and start growing your forest!

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to comment below!

Pokémon in the Spotlight: Poliwrath!

Poliwrath is a Water and Fighting type Pokémon, with a unique typing.

StatRange
At Lv. 50At Lv. 100
HP:90
150 – 197290 – 384
Attack:85
81 – 150157 – 295
Defense:95
90 – 161175 – 317
Sp.Atk:70
67 – 134130 – 262
Sp.Def:90
85 – 156166 – 306
Speed:70
67 – 134130 – 262
Total:500  Thanks to Bulbapedia
  • Minimum stats are calculated with 0 EVs, IVs of 0, and a hindering nature, if applicable.

  • Maximum stats are calculated with 252 EVs, IVs of 31, and a helpful nature, if applicable.

  • This Pokémon’s  Special  base stat in Generation I was 70.

Poliwrath’s offensive stats let it down, meaning that it usually relies on Super Effectives to deal the most damage.
Defensively, Poliwrath has a coveted Water immunity and resistances to Dark, Ice, Bug, Steel, and Rock, which is a great advantage.

Suggested moveset

  • Scald
  • Focus Blast
  • Ice Beam
  • Vacuum Wave

Scald allows foes to be worn down quicker. Focus Blast is a stab move, that allows Pokémon to be damaged quickly. Ice Beam takes out Grass types, which could be a potential threat to Poliwrath. Vacuum Wave allows Pokémon such as Pyroar to be taken down, as well as being a move with good accuracy and PP.

Poliwrath is a good Pokémon, however it is let down by its offensive stats.
Thanks for reading!
Feel free to comment below!

PDF Expert 5 – Edit and Read PDFs

PDF Expert 5 is a desktop class iOS app that allows you to read and edit PDFs with ease.

PDF Expert 5 is a premium PDF viewer and editor that is available for both iOS and Mac. This review is for the iOS version.

You can watch a quick introduction video on PDF Expert 5 below:

I’ve always been a big fan or Readdle; I bought both Printer Pro and Calendars 5, and they are amazing. I finally got my hands on PDF Expert 5, and its one of the best apps I have ever used.

If you upgraded from Documents to PDF Expert 5, you will be right at home in PDF Expert 5. It has the same layout, and the same look. However, it has more features such as tab view, annotations and markup (I will go through these later).

The app looks great. It has a sharp design, which fits in with iOS 9 and the latest iPads. Its quick and easy to organize your files, and you can quickly search your files, both inside the file, and in the file manager view. Making certain files stand out is easy; you can change the colour background of files, as well as star them to make them easier to find again. I would like to be able to select all files in a folder, or drag for a range though, as this is not available yet.

You can connect cloud storage services such as Dropbox and Box, and this means that you can quickly find your files, and transfer your files from your iPad to them. You can also connect to iCloud, and manage your files through iCloud.

The app has advanced features such as annotation; this allows you to add text to the PDF, highlight it, add comments, write on it, stamp it and much more. It allows you to do anything to it that you could do if the paper was printed, and more. Tab view allows you to have more than one PDF open at the time in a tab, allowing you to switch quickly and easily between them.

Annotation tools

The one standout feature from every other PDF editor and viewer is the markup and preview option. This allows you to change the actual text of the PDF, and then put a red line through the old text, and make the new text blue. This is great if you are giving feedback to one of your friends who is helping you in a project, or if you are a teacher and giving feedback on someones homework. It is one feature I haven’t seen before in any other app, and is really great.

PDF Expert 5 also support other file types, from .docx to .html. This means that you don’t have to have a million and seven different apps for managing your files.

I would really recommend that you go and buy PDF Expert 5 for $9.99. You can find it in the App Store here. You can find a post about PDF Expert 5 here.

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to comment below!

PDF Expert 5 Released a Huge Update Today

Today, PDF Expert 5 got a huge update. It added compatibility with the Apple Pencil, and added a new feature called Readdle Transfer. You can check out what Readdle say in their release notes below:
Apple Pencil support: We love Apple Pencil! Impressively accurate, fast, elegant – it’s much more that just a new accessory. Now it’s fully compatible with PDF Expert 5 installed on iPad Pro. Annotate PDFs with Pencil and swipe pages with your fingers at the same time – PDF Expert will distinct those touches. Moreover, it is also pressure sensitive, so you can control the width of lines while handwriting or sketching.
Readdle Transfer: After releasing PDF Expert for Mac we’ve realized that there should be an easy way to transfer the same file across iPhone, iPad and Mac. With Readdle Transfer it takes seconds! Just make sure that all of your devices are working on the same Wi-Fi network. It’s great when you have to do power tasks on your Mac, copy the file on your iPad and run to the field/ client/ etc where he/she has to sign or fill out a form.

You can check out the new features in action below:

The new updates are great for iPad Pro users, and Mac users who use PDF Expert 5 on both their Mac and iOS.
If you don’t know, PDF Expert 5 is a great PDF manager for iOS. You can find it here.
A review is coming out on Saturday the 21st of PDF Expert 5.

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to comment below!

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