Thing 5: Notetaking

I know that the Notes application on iOS devices is pretty bare-boned in terms of features, but I actually like its simplicity, and I like how my notes are synced between my devices, including my Mac, with iCloud.  However, for the sake of this project, I decided to try a new app.  I chose Springpad, since based on the descriptions of all the apps, it sounded like it would be the one I would get the most use out of.

After downloading the app and setting up my account, I went through the Getting Started with Springpad notebook to learn more about the software.  I first experimented with the Recipes template notebook.  I searched out a chocolate cake recipe I remembered that I wanted to make someday and I saved it to the notebook.  That process was simple enough, and I like the options available for adding tagging the recipe and adding a photo.  What was a little disappointing to me is that I couldn't use a nice image of the cake from the website from where I got the recipe - at least I couldn't figure out how to do that.  That would have been nice, as it would have allowed me to add a little more color and make things more easily findable in the gallery view of recipes.  I also used the recipe notebook to create a shopping list of items to pick up at the grocery store.

I next played around with creating a simple note.  Whenever I hear a song I really like, I try to make a note of it to see if it will be available for me to download with the Freegal music service.  I appreciate the ability to add sound, photos, and reminders right into the note.  I could definitely see how that could come in handy in many situations, especially when tracking down replacement parts or something like that.

Speaking of which...  I also played around with the Home Improvement template notebook.  My wife and I are building a house and when that's complete, I'm sure there are going to be a whole lot of projects and maintenance tasks we'll need to keep on top of it.  I can see this app being useful in that regard too.

While I'm not 100% certain I can see myself as a big Springboard user, I definitely see its merits, and I suspect it will stay on my iPhone for awhile, even if I don't use it on a regular basis.