Explain and remember

E is for Evernote and Explain Everything

A – Z challenge 2016: Apps in April

Evernote

Ever needed somewhere to store all your stuff? This powerful note-taking tool works across all platforms. Store all your notes, to-do lists, receipts, bills, prescriptions, research, blog ideas and more. My list of apps for this A-Z challenge is just one of hundreds of notes I have stored in Evernote.

Add to Evernote by typing, snapping a picture, scanning a page, clipping a website or part of an article, speaking a note or sending an email.
Add tags to your notes and/or arrange into notebooks. The sophisticated search system within Evernote can retrieve your stored information by searching through titles, words within notes, tags, dates and hand or typewritten text within images.

The free version allows monthly uploads of 60mb with unlimited storage, search, and the ability to annotate images. Paid versions offer additional features. It syncs across all platforms so notes added via phone can be seen on tablet or computer. Endless articles have been written extolling Evernote. Go paperless or, at least, some way towards being paperless by using Evernote. Free for iOS and Android.

Evernote guide for iOS

Evernote guide for Android

11 tips for getting started with Evernote by Tonia Kendrick

Evernote tips from Lisa Louise Cooke

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Explain Everything

This app is like an interactive whiteboard.
Add illustrations, tables, charts, diagrams, videos, text, pictures, webpages and more.
Import content from a wide variety of sources and annotate on anything including videos.
Add single slides as in a presentation or work on the infinite canvas which can be zoomed and panned with these actions incorporated into the recording. Once all your content is in place press the red button to record.
Annotate on the screen as you record a commentary.
Use the timeline to edit your recording. Save projects locally for further edits or export as a PDF, or MP4 video to Dropbox, Google Drive, YouTube or a range of other sites.
All the tools needed for editing in Explain Everything are located in a simple visual toolbar.
The best way to get an idea of the power of this app is to view one of these tutorials.

• Explain Everything for iOS
• Explain Everything for Android
• Explain Everything for Windows

So if you have something to explain, or are simply looking for a novel way to present your stories, have a play with Explain Everything.

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Next up - F Feeding from the frenzy

This post first appeared on http://librarycurrants.blogspot.com/2016/04/explain-and-remember.html

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