Note Everything - Be Productive

How many people love their Android? That being said, how many of you want to know what you can use your Android for? The simple fact of the matter is that, if you plan on using your Android handset for anything other than listening to music and playing games, you are going to need some sort of productivity tool. You will need to prepare notes, jot down ideas, draw sketches, and record your ideas when you can't seem to find time to actually type them in.

Note Everything is a Notebook application, created by SoftXperience, and available for free on the Android Marketplace, that will be able to accomplish all of these tasks, and do it well. Note Everything is not flashy, but it is well made, and will do the job that it needs to do. The free version is able to create text notes, voice notes, and paint notes. It is also able to create shortcuts to notes on the main screen. The paid version also has checklists, durable checklists, the ability to stick notes in the notification bar, notifications, gallery notes, and a few more functions as well.

I personally use Note Everything Pro constantly, and consider it to be the best app purchase I have made on my Moment. I will break down the functions of the app, and tell you what I personally use them for, and hopefully it will be of some use to you. If there is an * beside the title, that function is only available on the paid version.


Textnote

This is the most basic of note functions, although the people at SoftXperience have added a few extras into it that make it much more useful. To create a text note, you simply have to press your menu key while inside of the app, and select Textnote. You can define your title, and enter text into the body of the note. If you do not define the title, the app will automatically generate one based on the body of the note.

If you select menu while in Textnote, you can chose to delete the note, discard your most recent changes, or to send the note. In addition to the share function that is common on Android, you can convert the note to a Barcode. You can also create a shortcut on your homescreen, just in case you need to access that particular note more often.

I use the text note when i need to jot down a few notes during service, or while riding in the car. I also generally create large SMS and email drafts in the text function, and just send them when I'm ready to do so.

Paintnote

Paintnote is a simple drawing tool in which your finger is the stylus. In addition to the sharing functions, you can adjust the width and color of the pen, clear the drawing, and pull up an eraser in order to clear a specific part of your drawing.

I normally create paint notes when I'm texting my friends. I just enjoy sending little had written notes, or drawing a picture of my brother with a Mohawk. :)

Voicenote

Voicenote is a voice recording function. To create a new Voice note you can chose Voicenote from the menu, or, if your phone has a built in camera button, simply push the camera button while in the Note Everything app. You will just have to touch the record button to record, although, if you accessed it through the camera function, the app will automatically start recording.

Once you have recorded what you need to record touch the stop button, and you will be asked if you want to use the recording or discard. If you use the recording, you will be taken to a screen where you can listen to your recording, add text notes to it, and share the recording via Gmail.

This is very useful for when you have an idea while driving, or if you want to record what a speaker is saying. While there is no direct voice to text function built in, you can listen to your voice note while typing text in the note area, and then convert the text that you written into text.

Photonote*

You can access this function through the menu like all of the other note creations. When you select Photonote, it will start your camera, after which you can snap a picture of whatever it is you were wishing to record. Once you have taken the photograph you can chose to either attach the photo or discard it. After you select the attach function, you can add text to the note, send the note, or even rotate the picture to a more appropriate view.

My most common usage for this is when I see an object that stirs my curiosity, and I want to remember to check it out.

Checklist*

This creates a list of items, which you can check off once completed. To start a checklist, simply access it from the menu. To add items to the checklist, simply type in what you are looking for and press enter. The menu allows you to cleanup your list, which removes already checked items from the list, and also convert to a text note or durable checklist.

I use this constantly! I use the stick note function to keep this in my notifications, and I add all of the things that I need to get done for the day to it. It allows me to keep track of what I have left to do, and keeps me from having that "what did I do today?" syndrome. I simply pull it down at the end of the day, and review everything that I've done...It is certainly useful for me!

Durable Checklist*

The durable checklist is different from the checklist in that you create a list that is meant to be used over and over again. You have three tabs: All, Need, and Done. You enter items the same way that you do on the checklist, and they show up on your All and Need tabs. Once you have acquired the item that you need, you touch the check, and it will move from the Need tab to the Done tab, but will remain on the All tab with a green check. Once you have completed your list, you can bring up the menu to clean up the Done tab, or you can do so manually from the done tab. When you clean items out of the Done tab, the show only on the All tab, and are grayed out. If you tap the gray block next to the item, it will appear back in the Need tab.

This is an incredibly useful note! It's great for grocery lists, job lists, or recipes. Some of you would probably put your whole grocery list on there, and select the items you need when you need them, but saving recipes is also a great idea. i personally use this for maintenance jobs. I have a list of all of my tools, and when I need to get the tools together I select the tools that I will need for that job. It works very well for those of us who are absent-minded.

Gallerynote*

The gallery note function acts very much like the Photo Note, except that it takes you into your gallery, and from there you select a picture that you have already taken, and then add notes. Your able to share the Gallery notes just as you can most of the other notes.

This particular note is useful for the same things that the photo note, but is time designed for those times when you just had to take the picture and keep going, but have time later to muse.

Note from Barcode

This function requires that you have a bar code scanner application installed on your phone, but, if you do, you can scan a bar code and add notes about it in text below. You are also able to share just as you can with most of the other notes.

Note from Google Docs

This Note function requires that you download NE GDocs from the marketplace, and that you have a Google Docs account, but it allows you to share text notes and the like with Google Docs.

Extras*

If you purchase Note Everything Pro you will receive several additional functions that really make this app shine. My personal favorite is the ability to Stick any of the notes that you have created in your notifications. This is enormously useful for the checklist or durable checklist, and still very useful for all of the other things that you may need to remember. You will also gain the ability to backup your notes to your SD card, the ability to add notifications, and an encryption function.

Overview

I personally own this app, and I feel that it was a great purchase, but if you don't feel like investing the $4-$5 to access these functions, the free version is still very useful in it's own right. Please take the time to check it out, and let me know what you think!