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Cross-platform apps?

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Renegade:
Not sure if this take on things would work for you...

Sometimes the program itself is important, but other times it's simply the output. If the output is the important part, then what about using different applications that can handle the same output? e.g. MS Office on Windows, Libre Office on Linux, etc.

Dormouse:
it quickly becomes yet another long rambling software list. Which is not th same thing as recommendations.-40hz (September 21, 2013, 07:11 AM)
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Yeah, that's not want I want. What I was hoping is that people who are working across (or in) a number of platforms could give ideas about what they have found works for them. I'm OK with balancing Windows/Linux/Android; I know I'm not as integrated as I could be, but it has worked so far because I switch between systems in a fairly stable way.

Perhaps if you could give us some idea of what your new venture will involve it might be easier to make software recommendations.
-40hz (September 21, 2013, 07:11 AM)
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Ah, that's just what I can't do  :(
The only thing I do know is that I will never be persuaded to go Mac.
The new venture itself is not a problem. I can work out what equipment I need (iPads & laptop) and the software it needs is a given. [I could just stick to stuff I have, but it would be more time consuming and less profitable, thence the decision to get more stuff]. The software I need for the laptop will run on Linux or Windows; I'll go with Windows for now (thinking that it is probably better developed for touch), but it is nice to know that I can switch out if I want.

The problem arising from the new venture is that it adds yet another separate slice to my life, which I feel takes me over the limit of what I can cope with if I don't find ways of simplifying in those areas where I can find a single solution that covers all/most areas of my life.

A lot of the hardware and software I use I'm stuck with and can only use in a given area; that is sort of OK, but unavoidable in any case.

So it's the more general stuff I'm interested in and any feedback from people who do it already about what they find works and ideas for software I hadn't thought of already.

Dormouse:

How about WorkFlowy Agent?-dr_andus (September 21, 2013, 07:44 AM)
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Comments seemed to suggest it was more of a viewer than an editor, so that put me off.


WorkFlowy to me primarily is a task manager, then note-taker, and then outliner. It is probably most useful to those for whom these three functions tend to overlap, i.e. writers.

The key benefits of WorkFlowy to me are:
- ability to take notes in the form of a hierarchical outline (as opposed to a flat list);
- ability to zoom/focus/hoist into any task within the hierarchy with one click and shut out the rest of the noise;
- ability to keep old notes in their original hierarchy and not have to delete them to clear the deck;
- ability to take notes on the go (iPod Touch, iPad);
- automatic sync across platforms;
- outline items having inline notes;
- good export options (plain text, formatted text, OPML);
- its minimalism.

I've become a big fan of WorkFlowy as it allowed me to consolidate all my task lists (before I used 3 or 4 different to-do apps simultaneously and it was a mess). It's a tab in my Firefox that's always open besides Google Calendar on my PC.
-dr_andus (September 21, 2013, 07:44 AM)
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Well, that's enough to persuade me to give it a go. I've never found a completely comfortable to-do app; TDL works very well to manage large hierarchies but most of my to-dos are simpler and more immediate, but I do need to work them from any device I'm using and from any place I am in.

For my current stuff, I like sticky notes because I can move them around and I much prefer the visual approach. I think I can make Evernote work quite effectively like that, but I will see what Workflowy can co.

Dormouse:
Not sure if this take on things would work for you...

Sometimes the program itself is important, but other times it's simply the output. If the output is the important part, then what about using different applications that can handle the same output? e.g. MS Office on Windows, Libre Office on Linux, etc.
-Renegade (September 21, 2013, 10:30 AM)
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I'm not sure either  :-\

It is sort of what I do at the moment with MS Office and Softmaker Office. And I can automate the backups to the cloud (I think). I've never really used this type of program on Android, but can see that I might want to if I have 10" tablets I'm really not sure that I want to learn new progs for the iPad if they're not essential though. I suppose that would be the big attraction of Office365 for me, though just sticking with what I have would be cheaper.

Somehow feels that a single ecosystem will be easier, but now that ecosystem will be the apps themselves rather than the OS.

I can feel myself slipping right into Evernote as a key part of that, which feels very odd after all the debates post 2.2.

Dormouse:
Update

Seems as if I will gradually be leaving behind a lot of the programs I have used for many years on Windows, purely for some consistency in having things on all my devices and knowing how things work in them. I'm stuck with needing to do this with iPads for now, but longer term am likely to be able to give that up and just go with Windows/Linux and Android. Very surprised at how few programs seem to be available on all these platforms.

Office-wise I decided to upgrade to Office365, but also have Softmaker and Google apps I can use instead. But I've also been reminded that my preference is for database based programs rather than having everything saved in individual files.

Evernote probably works better the more it is used, so that's fine. There is very little that it does really well but being available, syncing well and doing a lot of things makes it really useful.

Mendeley works well on iPad and Windows and Scholarley isn't too bad a mirror on Android.

Lastpass is ubiquitious. And even without checking I'm sure Truecrypt and Keepass will be there too.

Handwriting/drawing apps rarely seem to cross platforms. Note Anywhere does, and does most of the things I want, so I will probably go with that although its functionality seems to vary massively from one platform to another.

Outliner/writing programs will require my biggest change and most seem to be on one platform only. Scrivener has versions for Mac, iPad and PC and the Android version is supposed to be coming in the next month or two. I've tried Workflowy and can see what it does and why it should work for me (and why it might be better than many of the progs I have been using), but it's not going to come easily, so may well take the usual year or two, or three+, before I get into it.

PS I absolutely hate W8. Might be designed for touch, but it doesn't work well, let alone compare to iOS or Android, and the store has so little detail and virtually no reviews.

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