Do your data a favour

D is for Dropbox, Drive and Docs

A-Z challenge 2016: Apps in April

Do you store your data in places other than your mobile devices? Here’s a range of apps to help you get that data online so that when your device or computer fails you will not lose all.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a popular file hosting service, cloud service, that enables your to store your files online. These synchronised files can be accessed through apps on iOS, Android and Windows. A free limit of 2GB can be increased by referring others to the site. It was established in 2007 and continues to add to its services.
Many other mobile apps integrate with Dropbox. Files and folders can be shared with others. Switch on automatic upload of pictures from phones and tablets then free up the space on your mobile device. Deleted files are stored for up to 30 days a convenient service for those mistakes we sometimes make.

I use Dropbox to share photos and files with my siblings and I have the majority of documents from my computer synced there so that I can access them on my mobile devices. Get the apps iOS, Android and download for Windows or Mac.

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Drive

Google provides 15GB of storage space - iOS and Android
Drive: Stores your documents and syncs across devices. Any documents created within Google’s free office suite of products; documents, spreadsheets, presentation slides and drawings do not count towards the 15GB. Other format files such as MS Office and PDFs do use storage space.

View and edit your work via this mobile app available for all platforms. Share files with others. Filter search by file type or date modified or simply search for a word or title.within a document. If you use Google photos the Drive search will also locate them by title or recognition e.g. search for dog and any photos of dogs you have will show up even if they do not have dog in the title or metadata.

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Docs

Google Docs is part of Google’s suite of office products. Choose from a variety of templates or start with a blank document. The mobile app available for all platforms has sophisticated editing tools. Documents can be shared and/or collaboratively edited.

Docs are a vital part of my document strategy and having access via phone and iPad allows me to edit and update them.

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If you are not a Google fan there are alternative apps with similar functions - Docs to Go which uses MS Office formats is available in both free and paid versions for iOS and Android.

Microsoft OneDrive for iOS and Android provides cloud storage with mobile access for your Microsoft Office files.

So do your data a favour, get it online and accessible from your mobile device.

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Next up E - Explain and remember

This post first appeared on http://librarycurrants.blogspot.com/2016/04/do-your-data-favour.html

Create and customise

C is for Canva, Camscanner and Chrome

A-Z challenge 2016: Apps in April

Canva

Canva is one of my favourite apps for creating graphics for a wide range of purposes including posters, presentations and sites. Choose pre-set sizes for social media posts or customise to the desired size.
Upload your own photos or use Canva’s free backgrounds. There is a small charge should you choose to use Canva images. Use the wide variety of text types and banners to create unique graphics for all your needs.Change the colour and format of any of the provided templates.
Canva has comprehensive tutorials ideal for learning the finer points of design. Save your designs as public or private. Download as jpg, png or pdf or share via email as an editable design. View some of the designs created here.
iOS app, or use in a modern browser on the Web.

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Camscanner

Why use a scanner app instead of a photo? A scanner provides recognition of document edges and provides alteration points to clearly focus in on the content. Once a document is scanned the OCR feature enables search by text recognition.
Choose from magic colour, black and white, grayscale or lighten to enhance the readability of your documents.
Scanned documents can then be shared through a variety of apps and cloud services.
Need to cite some text from a book, use the scanner. Focus on the page you want to scan then tap OCR. The recognised text can then be copied to the clipboard, opened in other apps or simply emailed. To do this you will need to purchase the full app not the free version. Try out the free version to see if this one suits your needs.

Available for Android and iOS.

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Chrome browser

Chrome is free for all platforms. Sign in with a Google account to view all your bookmarks, (favourites) and pages recently visited on all the devices you own. So my Android phone shows pages recently visited on my laptop and iPad. The iPad shows recently visited pages on the phone and laptop, i.e. the browser syncs across the platforms and devices, saves having to type in those pesky addresses.
Search by voice provides quick access to apps and the web as well as searching within your Google contacts. Only you can see the results if contact details are displayed.

Find in Page, located under the hamburger menu (top right-hand side) on the mobile apps, is the most useful function to save scrolling and quickly focus on the required text. If you are a family historian looking through a long list of names use this function to simplify your task. Choose the Go Incognito tab if you prefer to keep your browsing history private.

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Next up D - Do your data a favour

Books and a box

B is for Box, British Library and Book Creator

A-Z challenge 2016: Apps in April

Box provides 10 GB of free online storage for your files. A powerful feature not always available in various other cloud services, is the ability to search within your PDF, PowerPoint and Word docs.
Sync across your computer and devices and have all your files, photos, documents and videos accessible. Share files with a link.  Free for iOS and Android. Box is an excellent service to add to your collection of apps.
Want to know more? View Box for Android or Box for iPhone or iPad or Box for Windows
These short 1 - 2 min promotional videos provide an overview of the service.

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British Library

This collection of more than 45000 books is divided into 25 separate collections. I have used the History of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific collection and am delighted to have access to the digital images of the pages in a wide range of historical titles. Only the title being viewed is downloaded to your device. Excellent for background reading for all family historians. iOS only.
If you visit London do go along to the British Library to view the wonderful Treasures gallery which exhibits many old precious tomes.

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 Book Creator

Need an easy app to create a quick book? This one is an excellent tool.
Simple enough for children to use but ideal for photo storybooks that family historians may like to make.
Support for text, images, video, music and narration. Simply tap to add content. Completed books can be exported as ePub, PDF or video. Books can then be shared via Dropbox or your favourite cloud service.  Create the first book free or pay a small fee to create unlimited books. Available for iOS, Android and Windows.

This video demonstrates the app on iPad but it is equally easy to use on the other platforms.

Next up - Create and customise with C apps