The large screen of Apple's recently announced iPad device should make it an awesome platform for mind mapping. One developer is already in the process of moving his popular app.
This app is only available on the App Store for iOS devices.
Description
Mind mapping helps you organize your thoughts, remember things and generate new ideas. We've created a beautiful, intuitive app, so you can mind map wherever you are and whenever you want.
SimpleMind is designed to synchronize your Mind Maps across platforms. For example (as a separate purchase) for Mac - https://simplemind.eu/download/full-edition/
Free Functionality
• Everything you need to get started with mind mapping.
• No ads.
• No need to sign up for an account.
• Upgrade to full functionality is a one-time single purchase.
NOTE: In-App purchases are not shared via Family Sharing, purchase SimpleMind Pro instead.
Highlights
• Easy to use.
• Continuously fine-tuned based on customer feedback.
• Trustworthy and reliable: 7 years of updates and improvements.
• Used in a wide range of applications: business, education, legal and medical.
• Unique free layout or different auto layouts.
• Seamless synchronization using Dropbox or Google Drive.
• Add media and documents.
• Share Mind Maps.
• Change and customize the appearance.
• Tools to help you maintain overview.
• Create
○ place topics anywhere you want in the free layout
○ or use one of the different auto layouts (great for brainstorming)
○ virtually unlimited page size and number of elements
○ supports multiple Mind Maps on one page
○ start with an image at the center of the Mind Map
○ reorganize and restructure using drag, rotate, re-arrange or reconnect
○ use single select or multiple select
○ use checkboxes, auto-numbering
○ link any two topics with a crosslink
○ label relations
• Seamless synchronization using Dropbox or Google Drive
○ sync your Mind Maps with other devices using Dropbox or Google Drive as a conduit
○ avoid data loss by recovering deleted Mind Maps
○ restore previous versions of a Mind Map
○ Dropbox stores deleted files and file versions for at least 30 days
• Add media and documents
○ voice memos
○ videos
○ images
○ photos
○ notes
○ icons (stock or custom)
○ links (navigation or hyperlink)
• Share your Mind Map
○ for example as PDF or Image
○ outline, can be imported in word processors
○ import/export as Freemind or opml
○ use the presentation mode to show your Mind Map to others
○ print
• Change and customize the appearance
○ apply our pre-defined style sheets
○ pick colors from the style color palette or choose custom colors
○ change the appearance of topics and lines
○ customize background color
• Maintain overview
○ collapse and expand branches
○ hide or show branches or topics
○ highlight branches by displaying branch borders
○ organize your Mind Maps in folders
○ search
SimpleMind is designed to synchronize your Mind Maps across platforms. For example (as a separate purchase) for Mac - https://simplemind.eu/download/full-edition/
Free Functionality
• Everything you need to get started with mind mapping.
• No ads.
• No need to sign up for an account.
• Upgrade to full functionality is a one-time single purchase.
NOTE: In-App purchases are not shared via Family Sharing, purchase SimpleMind Pro instead.
Highlights
• Easy to use.
• Continuously fine-tuned based on customer feedback.
• Trustworthy and reliable: 7 years of updates and improvements.
• Used in a wide range of applications: business, education, legal and medical.
• Unique free layout or different auto layouts.
• Seamless synchronization using Dropbox or Google Drive.
• Add media and documents.
• Share Mind Maps.
• Change and customize the appearance.
• Tools to help you maintain overview.
• Create
○ place topics anywhere you want in the free layout
○ or use one of the different auto layouts (great for brainstorming)
○ virtually unlimited page size and number of elements
○ supports multiple Mind Maps on one page
○ start with an image at the center of the Mind Map
○ reorganize and restructure using drag, rotate, re-arrange or reconnect
○ use single select or multiple select
○ use checkboxes, auto-numbering
○ link any two topics with a crosslink
○ label relations
• Seamless synchronization using Dropbox or Google Drive
○ sync your Mind Maps with other devices using Dropbox or Google Drive as a conduit
○ avoid data loss by recovering deleted Mind Maps
○ restore previous versions of a Mind Map
○ Dropbox stores deleted files and file versions for at least 30 days
• Add media and documents
○ voice memos
○ videos
○ images
○ photos
○ notes
○ icons (stock or custom)
○ links (navigation or hyperlink)
• Share your Mind Map
○ for example as PDF or Image
○ outline, can be imported in word processors
○ import/export as Freemind or opml
○ use the presentation mode to show your Mind Map to others
• Change and customize the appearance
○ apply our pre-defined style sheets
○ pick colors from the style color palette or choose custom colors
○ change the appearance of topics and lines
○ customize background color
• Maintain overview
○ collapse and expand branches
○ hide or show branches or topics
○ highlight branches by displaying branch borders
○ organize your Mind Maps in folders
○ search
What’s New
• Open Mind Maps from Files app.
• Wysiwyg rich text support in Note, Topics and Labels.
• Additional styling options for Mind Maps.
• Bugs fixed in Nextcloud and Nutstore cloud support.
• Other minor bug fixes.
• Wysiwyg rich text support in Note, Topics and Labels.
• Additional styling options for Mind Maps.
• Bugs fixed in Nextcloud and Nutstore cloud support.
• Other minor bug fixes.
266 Ratings
Best. App. Ever.
I’ve been looking for ways to help with studying, and wish I found this sooner. Downloaded the free trial on my iPhone and was sold before it even ended. Maybe it’s the OCD nerd in me, but my thoughts and notes have to be organized JUST the right way or I can’t function. I’ve tried tabs, highlighters, binders, note cards, quizlets, you name it... nothing did the job until I found this app. There are soo many features that give you the freedom to organize the clutter in your head; it’s like painting your thoughts onto a screen. I haven’t tried any other mind mapping apps since this is my first one, but I feel like it has everything I need already and don’t even want to venture. I’m pretty satisfied. I now have the paid versions for my iPhone/Ipad and windows pc too. LOVE this app!
BTW: definitely read the MindMap Editor Help, and FAQ sections so you can truly enjoy the creative power of the app.
BTW: definitely read the MindMap Editor Help, and FAQ sections so you can truly enjoy the creative power of the app.
Very good - but IPad issues
I love a lot about this mind mapping tool. I bought both the upgrade to Pro for IPad and the Windows desktop version. Working on both platforms using the cloud to sync the files made sense for me, but I'm finding that creating image and document links in the Ipad version is inserting a different directory link structure in the map than when I do the same thing in the desktop version. The result is that I can't access the links on both platforms. If I add it with the desktop, I can access the link through the desktop; if I add it by Ipad I can access it by Ipad, but not both. This seems like a simple issue that could be fixed and I hope that's true because I enjoy this product and don't want to get bogged down by these kinds of issues. Paid versions here...
Almost perfect
This is the best app I have found for creating complex mind maps over several documents. Easy to use. Awesome.
My only complaint is going between platforms. I do a lot of work on my iPad Pro. I bought the desktop version on my Mac thinking it would be seamless. I eventually solved the riddle of sharing. It required using my google account and putting my maps there. I don’t know why so many apps really screw up the simple task of saving documents. For years it was just go to file>save. Instead they are adopting the dummification of managing this for you as though it was some complicated task!
I don’t get it. But whatever. It’s a great app regardless.
My only complaint is going between platforms. I do a lot of work on my iPad Pro. I bought the desktop version on my Mac thinking it would be seamless. I eventually solved the riddle of sharing. It required using my google account and putting my maps there. I don’t know why so many apps really screw up the simple task of saving documents. For years it was just go to file>save. Instead they are adopting the dummification of managing this for you as though it was some complicated task!
I don’t get it. But whatever. It’s a great app regardless.
Information
Requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
English, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Traditional Chinese
Family Sharing
With Family Sharing set up, up to six family members can use this app.
Mind mapping is a great way to brainstorm, make a plan, or turn ideas into the steps needed to make it real. Thankfully, there are great tools out there to help you build mind maps, organize them, and save them for later. Here's a look at five of the best, based on your nominations.
Earlier this week, we asked you which mind mapping tools you thought were the best. We tallied up your nominations, and now we're back to highlight the top five.
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The poll is closed and the votes are counted! To see which of these five great mind mapping tools took the top spot, head over to our Hive Five Followup post! There you can read about and discuss the winner!
Mindjet (Windows/Mac/iOS)
Mindjet is more than just mind mapping software—it's a total suite of applications and tools designed to help you and the people you work with brainstorm, stay on top of projects, collaborate on tasks, and stay organized together. It's more like a complete project management and collaboration suite. It has an extremely powerful mindmapping and brainstorming tool however, designed from the ground up to help you organize your projects, assign different arms of your projects to different people, flesh out all of the individual to-dos and jobs required to make the whole project a success, and it works just as well if you're working with a hundred people, a dozen people, or just organizing your own to-dos. Plus, it integrates with web services and tools you already use, like Microsoft Office, Box,net, and more. Anyone familiar with the old tool MindManager will be happy to learn it's been rolled into Mindjet's individual apps. Most of Mindjet's users are companies willing to pay for it though: It's $15/mo per user for the individual plan, and $30/mo per user for the enterprise plan.
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XMind (Windows/Mac/Linux)
XMind has been around for a good long time, and it even made the roundup the last time we looked at mind mapping apps. It hasn't lost its power though; it's still extremely flexible, works great on any desktop OS, and makes it easy to organize your ideas and thoughts in a variety of different styles, diagrams, and designs. You can use simple mind maps if you choose, or 'fishbone' style flowcharts if you prefer. You can even add images and icons to differentiate parts of a project or specific ideas, add links and multimedia to each item, and more. If you're a project manager, you can even use XMind's built-in Gantt view to manage tasks in a way your colleagues may be familiar with. Best of all, XMind is completely free and open source. If you have some cash to spend, XMind Plus and XMind Pro offer some additional import/export and presentation features, along with some featured targeted at project managers and businesses who want to use XMind on the enterprise level. Plus will set you back $79 one-time, Pro is $99 one-time, and a subscription to Pro and all of its updates is $79/yr.
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Coggle (Webapp)
Coggle is a completely free, simple to use mind mapping tool that's easy to get started with. Sign in with a Google account of your choice and you're off and away. Double-click on any item to edit it, and click the plus signs on either side to add branches to your mind map. Click and hold to drag them around the canvas to design your mind map any way you like. Coggle will automatically assign different colors to your branches, but clicking on a branch will bring up a color wheel so you can personalize it yourself. When you've finished a map, you can download it as a PDF or PNG, share it with others who can just view it or, if you allow it, edit your mind map. You even get auto-saving and revision history, so if you want to see what your mind map looked like before someone you invited started working with it, you can. Best of all? Coggle is completely and totally free.
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Freemind (Windows/Mac/Linux)
Freemind is a free, GNU General Public Licensed mind mapping app built in Java, so it runs on just about anything you throw it at. It was the winner of our last poll, partially because of its flexibility, and because its features and performance are pretty consistent regardless of the operating system you use with it. It's a pretty powerful mind mapping tool too, offering complex diagrams and tons of branches, graphics and icons to differentiate notes and connect them, and the option to embed links and multimedia in your mind maps for quick reference. Freemind can export your map as HTML/XHTML, PDF, OpenDocument, SVG, or PNG. Compared to a lot of the newer tools it may look a little dated, but it's still powerful and useful, especially if it's function you're looking for, not form.
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MindNode (Mac/iOS)
MindNode is an elegant mind mapping and brainstorming app for OS X and iOS. The iOS version is designed to work well on touch devices, specifically the iPad, and makes it easy to drag branches around, add new nodes, connect nodes, share documents with others, and more. The Mac app is similar, and supports sharing your mind map with others and exporting as PDF and as a Freemind project. MindNode can automatically hide branches that have nothing to do with the items you're working on, embed images and screenshots onto nodes, create links on nodes, and even automatically organize your branches for you if they get messy. It can also support linked mind maps. The UI is relatively clean and hides a lot of its features in order to keep things clean, but that doesn't mean it's not powerful. Many of you who nominated it pointed out it's one of the first mind mapping apps you've seen that really does things right on a tablet. MindNode is $20 for the Mac app, and $10 for the iPhone/iPad app.
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Now that you've seen the top five, it's time to put them to an all out vote to determine the community favorite.
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Honorable mentions this week go out to Scapple and MindMeister, both of which just missed the top five by one or two votes each. Those of you who nominated them praised them for their ease of use. We recently praised Scapple for bringing dead simple mind mapping to the Mac, and we've loved for MindMeister for years. It made the top five the last time we asked you, so it's still a great tool. Also, props go out to Pen and Paper (or whiteboards, if you prefer), which many of you said were your brainstorming tool of choice.
Still, the nominations were so close this time, we're willing to bet you have a favorite that may have been left out! If so, let's hear what it is and why you love it in the discussions below. Include a screenshot or a photo of the app in use if you can, just so we can see what's so great about it!
Have something to say about one of the contenders? Want to make the case for your personal favorite, even if it wasn't included in the list? Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread from earlier in the week. Don't just complain about the top five, let us know what your preferred alternative is—and make your case for it—in the discussions below.
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The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it's not because we hate it—it's because it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest, but if you have a favorite, we want to hear about it. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at [email protected]!
Title photo by Marco Antonio Torres.