Michal Ždanský I've been wanting to start using mind maps for months, but I've had trouble finding an app that works for me. MagicalPad is well on its way to becoming just this application, although the road will still be thorny…
Application situation for Mindmapping
It's fascinating how many apps you can find in the App Store for one activity, and it's even more fascinating when none of them meet your needs. I don't know if it's because my thought processes are so specific or mind map app creators are so inconsistent. I've tried a few myself, from Mindmeister to MindNode, but I've always run into a few recurring problems - the app is either unintuitive or ugly, neither of which I'm willing to tolerate.
MagicalPad stands out among its competitors. If I understood the principle of mind maps correctly, they should be something like a graphical representation of point notes, where it is much better to know which thing leads to which and the ideas gradually branch, giving you more insight and freedom of thought. On the other hand, I think that too much branching can lead to confusion when your mind map starts to resemble the root system of a mature linden tree. So I find the ideal somewhere in the middle between mind mapping and outlining, or in their combination. And that's exactly what MagicalPad is.
The application interface is very simple. The main screen is the desktop, and at the bottom is the toolbar. Personally, I would rather have a library where I could organize individual mind maps, in MagicalPad the library is handled very confusingly via the Workspaces icon, which opens a context menu. In that you have a list of all projects, where you can create a new one, duplicate an existing one or delete it.
Control
Notes and lists are the cornerstone of map creation. You create a note by double-clicking anywhere on the desktop (can be changed to a list), for the list you need to press the button in the bar. A note is a simple bubble where you insert text, the list is then structured with the option of multiple levels. You can combine these two types. You can grab and drag a note from the list to turn it into one of its items, or alternatively, you can remove an item from the list and make it a separate note. Guide lines always appear when moving for precise alignment.
Unfortunately, there are also several limitations. For example, you cannot move another note into a note to create a list. A list can be inserted into a list, but there can only be one first-level item in it, so you only create a sub-list from the nested list. On the other hand, since MagicalPad is primarily a mind mapping tool, I understand the limitation to one top level.
When creating a list, the main item and sub-item will automatically appear, press enter to always go to the next item or create a new one of the same level. You can also create checkboxes in lists, just tap on the dot in front of the text and it will instantly turn into an empty or checked box. For clarity, you can hide subfolders by pressing the triangle next to each parent item.
Of course, it wouldn't be a mind map without linking. You can link automatically after activating the item, when the new one is linked with the last marked one, or manually, when after pressing the button you mark the two fields to be linked in turn. The direction of the arrow can then be changed, but not its color. Coloring is limited to fields and text only. However, what bothers me the most is that you cannot guide the arrow from a sub-item in the list, only from the whole. If you want to lead a thought from a sub-item, you must do so within the list levels.
However, the customization options are rich, you can assign one of the preset colors (42 options) to each individual field, both for the fill and the border. You can also win with a font, where in addition to the color, you can choose the size and the font. However, context menus are very small and therefore not entirely suitable for finger control. It looks like the authors have really small hands that they found the size of the offers to be optimal.
I would have expected some kind of context menu to appear when I clicked on one of the items, unfortunately everything has to be done through the bottom bar, including deleting and copying objects. Fortunately, this is not the case for text, here the system is implemented Copy, Cut & Paste. In the bottom bar you will also find buttons to step back and forward in case something goes wrong. in MagicalPad, the bottom menu is strange at all. For example, context menus don't close automatically when you tap elsewhere. You have to press the icon again to close them. That way, you can open all menus at once, because opening a new one won't close the previous one. I wonder if this is a bug or intentional.
When you're done with your mind map, the app offers fairly rich sharing options. You can save the finished work to Dropbox, Evernote, Google Docs or send by email. MagicalPad exports several formats - classic PDF, JPG, custom MPX format, text RTF or OPML, which is a format based on XML and is usually used by various outlining applications. However, I do not recommend exporting to RTF. MagicalPad doesn't put subfolders in bullet points, it just indents them with tabs, and it completely ignores arrow links. The reverse import then completely shuffles the items, the same in the case of OPML. Only the native MPX format retained the arrow links.
záver
Although MagicalPad has a lot of potential, it also has a few fatal flaws that may turn many users away from using the app. Although there are a lot of interesting functions, for example, zooming out adapts to the surface of the mind map, but unnecessary errors kill this interesting effort. Poor fit for finger control, fixation on the bottom toolbar, lack of library organization and other limitations spoil the overall impression, and the developers will have to put a lot of effort into making MagicalPad the ultimate mind mapping tool.
The application is such a one-eyed king among the blind, however, I have not yet come across a similar one that suits me better. So I'll give MagicalPad another chance to fix it, and after sending suggestions to the developers on their site, I'll hope they'll take my comments to heart and incorporate them into an otherwise very interesting whole. The app is iPad only, so if you're looking for something with a desktop app, you'll need to look elsewhere.
[app url=”http://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/magicalpad/id463731782″]
