xLine for Pc

I have tried to find a mind mapping program that syncs between the Mac & iOS versions for so long. MindNode syncs well with iCloud; but it's just too limited in features. SimpeMind & iThoughts supposedly sync with DropBox; but the method is difficult to implement in the case of iThoughts and I was never able to get SimpleMind to work at all. Several others (like NovaMind) are great Mac programs; but their iPad versions are sill coming in the future and who know what syncing will be like once they do? THEN I tried this app ... a beautiful program that syncs perfectly using iCloud, provides notes, an outline and several ways to make the map distinctive, etc. It looks & behaves like a Mac program! I hope this program continues to grow & improve. I’ve had a few issues with sorting the outline manually. I am told you can do that easily on the Mac and will soon be able to do so on the iPad. I probably need to work with it a little more to understand how that works. It would also be nice to have a few more formatting options; Hopefully those improvements will follow with future updates. For now if you are working on the Mac & on the iPad, this is the only mind mapping program I can fully recommend.

This program has an interesting approach to mindmapping, particularly with the side panel displaying the contents of the mindmap in outline form. That said, it falls short because (A) it's seemingly not possible to zoom in and out on a large mindmap without a lot of mouse work (not very ergonomic) and (B) notes are discarded on OPML export. I'm hoping the upcoming version 2 mentioned in the product description improves on these two areas because it's a good program overall.

It’s not bad mind mapping app, but I find some features are inconvenient and some other basic features are missing. I summarize them below. Pros: - Various shapes can be assigned to a branch, e.g. rectangle, round rect, oval, pill, etc or none - There are seven different layout options for your map. Which is great! - Individual nodes, lines can be colored - I can add multiple lines to a node - Notes, comments can be assigned to a node Cons: - The inspector is a great idea, but I think it would be better if this would be a floating palette. Most of the time, the inspector covers other nodes underneath them and when I select a parent node to change its layout, I cannot see immediate feedback because the inspector covers the child nodes. Having a floating palette would alleviate this issue and it could be moved around. Also, a floating palette could be left open, and every time I select a different node, the palette would instantly update with the selected node’s information and could be changed right there. - When a node has multiple branches, they are center aligned and it seems there’s no way to change them (e.g. left align them). - When selecting a text only node with no style and no children (e.g., if it’s only a single plain text node), there’s no way to tell when and if the node is selected or not. - The nodes can only be moved if I select them first. Eg, you cannot just click/tap on them and start moving them. This is especially inconvenient on a MacBook Pro using the touchpad, since first you have to tap on a node and make sure it gets selected (…see my previous note that you cannot see selection feedback for a text only node). Then you have to tap again (for the second time) and start dragging, in order to move the node. - When using a light gray background and the nodes don’t have a background color but only a small rectangle outline, they hilite with a dark blue color when selected. This is very hard to see on a light gray document background. - There are no keyboard shortcuts listed (or exist) for some node activity (eg, adding child, parent, sibling, etc). When you press ENTER while editing a node’s title, it creates a new line. Which is nice.Pressing TAB adds a child. Great. But in order to add a sibling to the selected node, I have to click on the “New Idea” toolbar button. Otherwise there’s neither a menu item nor a keyboard shortcut associated with this command (unless it’s hidden). Would be nice to create menu items for all such commands including shortcuts, too. - When I select a node, I can drag them around to change its placement and the layout will re-adjust itself. This is great, in a way. However, if I change my mind and want to re-layout the whole map again, I have to select the parent or the main node, bring up the inspector, and re-select the layout for the node. It would be more convenient to have a menu item that could be checked/unchecked for automatic layout. When the auto layout menu item is selected and I drag a branch apart, the dragged branch would automatically snapped back to it’s correct position. When the auto layout is not selected, I can drag the nodes whichever way I want them. Or, I can select a node, bring up the inspector, and select the layout. In which case the selected node will be re-laid out. However, when I select auto layout again from the menu, all nodes and children would be re-drawn. I think this app has a potential to be much better and more mature than it currently is.