Database Info

Anyone know of some good diary software?

I hate to sound like a 13 year old girl, but I want to start writing a diary. Here are some features I am looking for in diary software:
Access from both PC and PPC
Text entry and voice recording
Data saved on the memory card
It would be nice if it integrated with Outlook Calendar
Any of you power-users out there know of any software that can be used to accomplished this? I have tried TodayNotez and though it seems to have what I need, it is slow and buggy.

Good Mobile Diary??
larsuck said:
I hate to sound like a 13 year old girl, but I want to start writing a diary. Here are some features I am looking for in diary software:
Access from both PC and PPC
Text entry and voice recording
Data saved on the memory card
It would be nice if it integrated with Outlook Calendar
Any of you power-users out there know of any software that can be used to accomplished this? I have tried TodayNotez and though it seems to have what I need, it is slow and buggy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, I have been looking for this same thing, haven't found anything I like - same experience with TodayNotez.
On my PC I use iDailyDiary Professional (there is a free basic version) which is awesome. AFAIK they don't have a Windows Mobile version.
For voice notes on my Tilt, I use Vito AudioNotes - like it a lot. Basically now I use it to make notes to myself, then play them back while I'm at my PC and put personal thoughts into iDailyDiary.
Noticed your signature line "Is it just me, or do we all spend so much time flashing and tweaking the perfect phone that, once we finish, we have no one left willing to call us." - yeah, seems like many of us spend a lot of time tweaking and flashing - would like to see more interest and attention devoted to actually using the phone - good basic useful apps - how to use them to their max potential, ways to use the pocket pc to improve our daily lives, etc.

Check this
http://www.pocketkai.net/asp/
Multimedia Tagebuch
The only thing is I don´t know if it will support english. I am german and it does everything you´ve been looking for.

Good Mobile Diary??
mannheimguitar said:
http://www.pocketkai.net/asp/
Multimedia Tagebuch
The only thing is I don´t know if it will support english. I am german and it does everything you´ve been looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lot of cool stuff at that site. I don't see any program that is actually a diary, however. Maybe I overlooked it. Seems like a very friendly site - takes requests/suggestions so I put one in.

Did you consdier maybe some sort of Online Program like Twitter?

What about Microsoft Onenote. PC and PPC side, have a button in Outlook on pc and also on IE, can take recordings, pictures, etc...

Thanks for the great suggestions everybody! But keep 'em coming'!
BTW, that Kai fellow really makes a lot of software, doesn't he? He must have a hundred programs for sale on that site of his. His diary software looks good, but it doesn't seem to be able to record directly from the program itself. A picky thing I know.
Twitter and blogs of all sorts are unfortunately blocked by my school's proxy.
One Note sounds promising, but US$99 is a bit more than I was willing to part with. Perhaps my school has a copy somewhere...
Has anyone out there tried Alpha Journal and Alpha Pocket Journal? Seems a bit old, but sometimes that isn't such a bad thing.

Confidential Notes and Private Notes
I just found 2 programs, Confidential Notes and Private Notes, here
They both have password protection, and both allow combo notes with audio and pictures. Haven't purchased either yet; trial available for Confidential Notes but not for Private Notes.
Found these by searching for "password protected notes for windows mobile" which took me to this review of Confidential Notes at clintonfitch.com. Following that I found that the developer says it has been discontinued, but as you can see above, it is still for sale at PocketGear.
I think it might work well as kind of a free-form diary. I can insert time and date with Resco keyboard for any new entry.

Check out evernote. They have a tech preview of the winmobile version that just rocks!
I use my sd card in my pda and then use the same database from my pda for my desktop installer version. It is by far the best journaling program I have ever found.
www.evernote.com

As the OP, I felt a responsibility to follow up with my thoughts about all the different great suggestions everyone made.
TodayNotez: As mentioned before, this has everything I was looking for, but was sloooow to open even when the database was in the main memory. I have a feeling .NET is to blame here, and if the makers could program this in another language to improve speed then they would have a real winner on their hands.
Kai's multimedia diary: Interesting software. Instead of allowing one to take pictures or record memos as part of a diary, this software allows pre-recorded media to be attached to diary entries.
Online programs like Twitter (or any blog/social software): Would work great if my situation allowed access to social websites. Also, for the most part these sites require a active connection to the internet to add and edit posts, which could get expensive if using a mobile data connection.
OneNote: This would probably work great if I could get my hands on a copy of the PC software for a reasonable price. Ahem.
Confiential Notes and Private Notes (et.al.): These kinds of software were good for what they were, but their strengths were in encryption and password protection. Confidential Notes didn't even have an option to turn off password protection. It had two settings: Secure and Paranoid. Neither of these had desktop sync as far as I could tell.
What I finally settled on was a Outlook Journal editing/syncronizing software called Retroactive. It is a little slow, is kind of touchy, isn't free, but has a lot going for it. If you are familiary with the Journal aspect of Outlook then you know that it is like the blank sheet of paper in a DayPlanner. You can write about how the events of that day went.
Journal entries created in Outlook or Retroactive can be linked to other Outlook items such as appointments, tasks, contacts or notes. Also, it is possible to record and add voice notes and pictures directly from the app. Lastly, the best part is the sync capabilities. Everything is synced with the PCs version of Outlook, including linked Outlook items, voice memos and pictures. Attached files that exceed a user-defined size can be automatically removed from the PPC after syncronization to keep memory space free. Lastly, there is an option to have all content uploaded to your Blogger account using your PC's internet connection. This is what I settled on.
I hope this thread helps someone else out someday.

Thanks for good info. but i need help
larsuck said:
As the OP, I felt a responsibility to follow up with my thoughts about all the different great suggestions everyone made.
TodayNotez: As mentioned before, this has everything I was looking for, but was sloooow to open even when the database was in the main memory. I have a feeling .NET is to blame here, and if the makers could program this in another language to improve speed then they would have a real winner on their hands.
Kai's multimedia diary: Interesting software. Instead of allowing one to take pictures or record memos as part of a diary, this software allows pre-recorded media to be attached to diary entries.
Online programs like Twitter (or any blog/social software): Would work great if my situation allowed access to social websites. Also, for the most part these sites require a active connection to the internet to add and edit posts, which could get expensive if using a mobile data connection.
OneNote: This would probably work great if I could get my hands on a copy of the PC software for a reasonable price. Ahem.
Confiential Notes and Private Notes (et.al.): These kinds of software were good for what they were, but their strengths were in encryption and password protection. Confidential Notes didn't even have an option to turn off password protection. It had two settings: Secure and Paranoid. Neither of these had desktop sync as far as I could tell.
What I finally settled on was a Outlook Journal editing/syncronizing software called Retroactive. It is a little slow, is kind of touchy, isn't free, but has a lot going for it. If you are familiary with the Journal aspect of Outlook then you know that it is like the blank sheet of paper in a DayPlanner. You can write about how the events of that day went.
Journal entries created in Outlook or Retroactive can be linked to other Outlook items such as appointments, tasks, contacts or notes. Also, it is possible to record and add voice notes and pictures directly from the app. Lastly, the best part is the sync capabilities. Everything is synced with the PCs version of Outlook, including linked Outlook items, voice memos and pictures. Attached files that exceed a user-defined size can be automatically removed from the PPC after syncronization to keep memory space free. Lastly, there is an option to have all content uploaded to your Blogger account using your PC's internet connection. This is what I settled on.
I hope this thread helps someone else out someday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why is not retroactive free?

HOEROFOREVERINTHESUN said:
Why is not retroactive free?
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Click to collapse
Probably because that software is the only one that can do what it does. It is good software, and probably wasn't too easy to make.

Thanks Kururu that was a great find, I've been looking for a decent journal software program, I just needed something that could take entries and sort them properly by date without having a ton of text files lying around my docs folder. I.e. -- something like Outlook's journal function.
I tried everything and screwed up a lot but Retroactive fit the bill almost perfectly. The only drawback is it takes forever to loadup.

Guys, guys... Unless you want to be seen as a 12 year old girl, it's a memoire, not a diary.

BIG Software Development Opportunity - Thunderbird and Android

Hello
Forgive me if you’ve read this post in other forums…I’m going to keep posting it in the hopes of getting a solution to an ongoing problem.
I’m not a software designer, IT person or expert. Just a business professional that has a few simple needs in order to be personally and professionally successful. Successful management of personal information on our PC and our mobile phones plays a critical role in our success. With the advent of the smartphone, many of us thought our needs had been met, only to discover serious gaps in ability and performance. For example..trying to connect Outlook or Thunderbird/Lightning with an Android Phone (my personal issue) is either difficult, expensive or limited in ability.
Many of us choose Thunderbird/Lightning and other PIMs (such as Outlook) because of the excellent functionality they provide. Some of us are required to by our workplaces. Most of us DO NOT want to use Google products or have our data synced through Google for personal, security or other reasons. Many of us are restricted from using Google by our workplaces for similar reasons.
Then why do we use Android phones? Simple…for smartphones the operating system choices are limited and Android has one of the biggest market presences. These issues exist for other phone platforms as well…connecting Outlook to an iPhone for example. Android is also an excellent phone overall…with many other features we are looking for.
So…what are we looking for? What are these “needs?”
Personal Information Management software in one package (such as Outlook and Thunderbird/Lightning) on our PCs and laptops. Obviously these already exist and don’t need development per se. Corresponding apps for our Android phones…and most importantly: the ability to sync between the two…using wifi, other “cloud” providers, even USB. The components include:
Email client that can access and send from multiple accounts (already fairly available..although many widget and app designers ignore the alternative email apps and only connect Gmail to their products…a serious omission).
Contact/Address lists that include birthday information, other personal details, and can be grouped or categorized. Somewhat available, but can be troublesome, and data can get duplicated or missed. Thunderbird can only sync contacts through Google currently…as mentioned above, and issue for many.
Calendar that can handle reoccurring events, reminders and alarms, categorize/tag events, meeting planning and invitations (through email client), management of multiple calendars and ability to attach documents to events to name some of the most important. Somewhat available now, except most connections require Google calendar (again an issue).
Task Management (the one critical item that has few solutions/options). Needs to handle reoccurring tasks, reminders/alarms, categorizing/tagging, sub-tasks, delegation of tasks, start and due dates, and proper handling of overdue tasks (items not marked complete move to next day with alerts for example). While Outlook and TB/Lightning have excellent task managers...there are very few options for the phones and in the case of Lightning…no phone app that can sync with it.
Notes, not critical but a “nice-to-have” function
All of the above also need to be connectable. For example…connecting a calendar event with related tasks. A task to a contact.
Aren’t there already solutions available?? The answer, after weeks and months of searching and putting products through a test, is “yes and no.” There are a few “connection and sync” products available for Outlook, but the proprietary or available phone apps that can use it don’t have all the functionality needed, or simple aren’t adequate. There are also complications based on the Outlook set-up…stand alone versus exchange server. Currently, I cannot find a product that can sync and use Thunderbird/Lightning directly and adequately.
So, after telling you all of this…what am I trying to say?
To all you enterprising software and Android phone app developers…there is a HUGE gap that you can fill. If you spend any time on forums for Thunderbird, Outlook and Android, you will see that there are literally thousands of people looking for a solution…something to fill this gap. Most of us would pay handsomely for such a product…I personally would pay “serious money” just to get my Lightning tasks in my phone. In addition…both Mozilla and Android are open-source (if I understand the term correctly) and thus available for development.
To the developer or software engineer that can connect Thunderbird/Lightning email, calendar, address book and tasks to an Android phone…go the spoils and riches. Don’t make me beg….or worse, dump my Android for a Windows phone or back to a PDA <shiver>.
To Google and Mozilla leaders, executives and software engineers…we are asking…have been asking for at least two years…for solutions. We are frustrated, disappointed and completely baffled that this has not been addressed. The perception is that both organizations either simple “don’t care”, are oblivious to our plight or unable to respond. Your reputations are at stake ladies and gentlemen.
Thanks for taking the time to read through this. If you’re like me…searching for the answer as well…cross your fingers and spread the word as much as you can. Maybe SOMEBODY will listen.

Presently if you wish to synchronize Thunderbird contacts and Lightning/Sunbird events with your Android device, you may try BirdieSync. BirdieSync has been successfully synchronizing Windows Mobile devices with Thunderbird/Sunbird for several years and now supports Android devices.
You can connect your mobile device over USB or with a Wi-Fi or cellular connection.
BirdieSync runs in background on your mobile device and can automatically synchronize your contacts and events if you are connected.
You'll find more information on BirdieSync web site (sorry I cannot post the link: it is forbidden to avoid spam. Look for BirdieSync on Google).
Presently BirdieSync doesn't support task synchronization. The main reason is that for some reason, Android doesn't provide a native task application with a shared local storage that other developers could access. Note that it is also the case for the iPhone contrary to Windows Mobile devices. I think that this lack is a bit weird. I would have thought that a task application would have been used by a lot of users... So it would be necessary to provide a synchronization solution with other opened third party task applications, but it would force users to use a particular task application.
Although Android is an opened platform, some technologies (official APIs) are still missing to developers. I hope that with time, more features will be available and that the Android platform will easy the implementation of these functionalities.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply....and the suggestion. Unfortunately I have already tried Birdiesync. It made quite a mess out of my contacts I'm sorry to say.
Additionally, the one part of Lightning (and Outlook) that I can't live without also happens to be the part that even Birdisync doesn't work with...and you guessed it...TASKS. My life would crumble (okay, being a bit melodramatic) without my task lists. Google tasks is a bit of a joke, as far as I'm concerned, and I can't function with it. Lightning has a really great task manager...almost as good as Outlooks and yet nobody has made anything to sync with it. You are correct...the IT professionals I know have said , that unlike calendars and contacts (which have some standards that all software companies work within)...everybody treats tasks and task software differently.
I'm with you...I'm stunned that this has been ignored and people aren't more vocal about it. I think most people figure "why say anything, it won't help" and just make do.
Thanks again...

my task solution
I like ASTRID as my task list in Android. I sync that with google tasks which I know you cannot use and does not natively go into thunderbird / lighting calendar (though I have a thunderbrowse tab that goes right to google tasks, again clunky at best). I share your desire for a seamless solution. However, ASTRID also syncs with Producteev, which has just roled out more robust Task sharing and more functionality. I'm going to look at that to try and fill the gap and invite you to look with me.
Once again, smart people, I could have written this original post, though maybe not so clearly... HELP!

[Q] App for sharing task / to-do lists with another person?

I have been looking for a simple task / to-do list app that will let me share lists with other people, so that we can both edit and sync the same list. My partner and I both have smartphones and want to share shopping lists etc. I have tried a few apps, but always run into problems it seems. For instance:
GTasks - constantly recreated and duplicated items on the list that one person had checked off. Even if only one person made changes to the list and the other only synced to those changes, the app still made lots of errors. A limitation of Google task API maybe?
Astrid - to be fair, I haven't tried sharing a task list with my partner yet, but that's because Astrid can't even keep my own task lists straight without randomly adding or removing tasks. The "Astrid.com" sync in particular seems terribly buggy. The app is hopeless.
Is anyone successfully using an app to share lists between people and not getting this kind of random rubbish and list corruption? Seems like a simple and easy thing to want to do!

I haven't tried this but it claims to do what you want.
http://market.android.com/details?id=com.fivefly.android.shoppinglist

I was sceptical when I saw the link, but this app is actually rather good. It is very much shopping-oriented, but you can use it for regular to-do lists as well. And the syncing so far seems to be working well. Hooray!

The best app for document sharing that I find useful is Google Docs. Docs pretty much integrates all your systems and can be shared with different groups. I also found that Evernote is a good app for this. However, I have not yet used Evernote on an Android based phone. Only with Windows and Apple based phones.

cryptision said:
The best app for document sharing that I find useful is Google Docs. Docs pretty much integrates all your systems and can be shared with different groups. I also found that Evernote is a good app for this. However, I have not yet used Evernote on an Android based phone. Only with Windows and Apple based phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Docs and Evernote are both fine programs, but neither works without an always-on data connection, and I don't have one (Evernote Premium does I believe, but I don't want to pay for an app before I can test that it does what I want). Guess I should have mentioned that in my first post

OneNote sync apps

Hi all,
Do any of you use OneNote and sync it with your Note?
The 2 apps that I've found are the MS OneNote app and MobileNoter SE.
I tried the MS app, but it seems pretty limited.
I haven't tried the MobileNoter SE app as there is no trial. There is another version that requires a monthly subscription, but I'm interested in knowing how well the SE version actually syncs via livedrive or dropbox.
Does anyone use MobileNoter SE and have any feedback on whether it is a good way to sync OneNote files between phone and PC?
thanks,
Rich

I have both apps and did purchase the wifi edition.
Both apps are limited but i make both of them work.
My backup folder is done via dropbox.
Mobilenoter is much better now. However you cannot make new pages.
For bypassing this i have made many extra pages in the one note in my pc.

Thanks.
Yeah, it seems that both the MS app and mobilenoter together would be the perfect app.
The MS apply only allows plain text input, but you can have numbered lists and check boxes. Mobilenoter doesn't have numbered lists or check boxes, but allows (limited) rich text formatting.
The cloud sync using their servers seems a bit flaky, but I'm thinking of buying the SE version as they said they are adding the numbered lists and check boxes this year. And hopefully syncing directly to my livedrive will be better than their cloud sync....
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA

I have high hopes too
@Galaxy Note™…

I run MobileNoter SE and find it great. I don't actually create notes with it mind, I do all those on the laptop. Sometimes sync fails with an error but in those cases I just rerun it again - I do have a lot of notes and sections many including lots of embedded graphics and attached pdfs, ppts, etc, so these are very large, on the line of several hundred mb, and wifi soya out sometimes.
Overall I'm very pleased with it and find the Microsoft one absolute rubbish in comparison, for example it doesn't even retain my page formatting.

Thanks guys. I just sprung for the SE edition.
It seems to sync a lot better now that I've moved my notebooks to Dropbox. I tried Livedrive first, but changes on the phone didn't show up on the PC, even after manually syncing both devices.
Still a lot of functionality missing in terms of editing, (checkboxes, numbered lists, ability to rotate or resize pictures, an undo function in drawing mode, highlighting of text). And it seems pretty slow to sync and navigate, but it seems to have more potential than the MS app.

richlum said:
an undo function in drawing mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try the Android Menu button, it will make Undo/Redo options to appear.

Thanks. I didn't even think to look there.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using XDA

[Q] Skydrive or Dropbox Syncing

Has anybody found a way to sync either Skydrive or Dropbox documents on RT?
I know there's both Skydrive and Dropbox app for RT but they're glorified viewers at best. There is no true syncing.
And that is putting a big damper in my work flow.
Are there any other options out there? Even a different service that can sync a few documents?

Hi,
I think sugarsync lets you sync files in any platform (they say they do, but I am not a user, can't say for sure).
If you confirm that, please let us know.
Good luck.

Sugar syncs when you start the app. It checks for any changes, that way it doesn't run all the time.

This isn't the same as Syncing, but it makes everything available to you (when connected to the internet) without taking up any space (unless you copy something locally):
http://rashedtalukder.com/how-to-map-skydrive-folder-on-windows-rt-desktop-mode/
Thanks,

Talderon said:
This isn't the same as Syncing, but it makes everything available to you (when connected to the internet) without taking up any space (unless you copy something locally):
http://rashedtalukder.com/how-to-map-skydrive-folder-on-windows-rt-desktop-mode/
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, this is not much different from Skydrive app - except that it works on the Desktop app.
As for SugarSync, I don't see Windows RT app on their website. Have yet to check the Store and see if it's available.

Montastic said:
Yeah, this is not much different from Skydrive app - except that it works on the Desktop app.
As for SugarSync, I don't see Windows RT app on their website. Have yet to check the Store and see if it's available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is available in the Store, that's why I sugested it.
Good luck.

Talderon said:
This isn't the same as Syncing, but it makes everything available to you (when connected to the internet) without taking up any space (unless you copy something locally):
http://rashedtalukder.com/how-to-map-skydrive-folder-on-windows-rt-desktop-mode/
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, SugarSync does make a local copy. Its syncs when you start the app as opposed to continuously.
I don't think that we will see a continuous monitoring and sync that will run on a non jail broken device. RT is limited to "metro" apps to save battery life. Basically non-foreground apps are suspended with few exceptions and those exceptions are limited. (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/04/17/reclaiming-memory-from-metro-style-apps.aspx)
Allowing realtime sync would force the system to wake up and check, eating battery life, even if the notification of the change used some sort of "push" method.
That being said, I am shocked that MS didn't work on a solution to that for SkyDrive. It would have given them a definite selling point. Of course, Dropbox and all of them would go nuts.

I use Filebrick app - hands down the best available file explorer - I actually paid for it its so good. It syncs all your cloud files, Google drive, skydrive, dropbox, box, even facebook images/videos, picassa, twitter, etc.

UBNAS81 said:
I use Filebrick app - hands down the best available file explorer - I actually paid for it its so good. It syncs all your cloud files, Google drive, skydrive, dropbox, box, even facebook images/videos, picassa, twitter, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you say it syncs, do you mean it provides a local copy of the items? I'm guessing that's what you mean but just wanted to be sure.

Romp said:
Actually, SugarSync does make a local copy. Its syncs when you start the app as opposed to continuously.
I don't think that we will see a continuous monitoring and sync that will run on a non jail broken device. RT is limited to "metro" apps to save battery life. Basically non-foreground apps are suspended with few exceptions and those exceptions are limited. (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/04/17/reclaiming-memory-from-metro-style-apps.aspx)
Allowing realtime sync would force the system to wake up and check, eating battery life, even if the notification of the change used some sort of "push" method.
That being said, I am shocked that MS didn't work on a solution to that for SkyDrive. It would have given them a definite selling point. Of course, Dropbox and all of them would go nuts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think there is a need for the app to run in background. I wouldn't mind having SkyDrive sync all my files when open the app. At any given time (especially with selective folder sync like in Desktop app), there wouldn't be a whole lot of files that needs to be synced each time you open the app.

Ideally would probably be something that can sync on a schedule (as an option), but that automatically syncs when plugged in. WP7 had this feature (one of the Multitasking APIs introduced in Mango) and it would make a slot of sense for WinRT to have as well... I haven't checked, though. In general, synching on startup would be sufficient (and should definitely be present), but sometimes that's awkward or annoying (synching lots of files and expecting them to be present without further interaction, or synching a large amount of data that will take too long to leave the app open for, or...)

Just an update:
There's an app called SkyDrive RT Sync in the store that claims to sync SkyDrive with a local folder. I'm going to give it a try and see if works as advertised.
Here's the developer page:
http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/...ydrive-sync-for-windows-8-and-windows-rt.aspx

I use this method http://social.technet.microsoft.com...backup-of-windows-rt-local-storage-en-us.aspx
I would take a minute to read up on what the commands do , so you know what you're getting. If you're on the same network as a desktop/laptop w/ a dropbox folder, you can sync over the network.
Also worth reading: http://bgtechrants.blogspot.com/2012/11/windows-rt-and-offline-files.html?m=1
And http://www.vistaheads.com/forums/mi...a-general/123700-robocopy-net-drive-path.html
If you have a password on your laptop/desktop
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app