Me, Myself and MyLife

Top Note-Taking Apps: Evernote, Springpad, Catch and Keep

2013-11-13T08:25:00.000+08:00

Battle Of Top Note-Taking Apps: Evernote, Springpad, Catch and Keep

When Google launched Keep a couple of months ago, everyone started comparing it with similar apps that have been around much longer. Although Evernote was the most talked about, there is no dearth of note-taking apps on the web or any of the popular mobile platforms. From plain text solutions to feature-packed mammoths, there is a ton of competition out there.

Having tried and endlessly switched between a whole bunch of apps over the years, I decided to give Keep a shot to check how it fared against some of the others that have come close to being a staple on my Galaxy Nexus.

The Contenders

What follows is as fair a comparison of the top four note-taking apps on Android as I can put together. These are apps that provide more functionality that plain text notes and sync, so SimpleNote — ie Flick Note, their only half-decent Android client — is out, and so are any apps that do not have a workable web interface. That leaves us with the aforementioned Keep, Evernote, Springpad and the comparatively lesser-know Catch. Honorable mentions go to Mobisle Notes and ColorNote Notepad— both perfectly good apps, but just not in same the league as the top four.

As a disclaimer, I’ll state that my note-taking app of choice at the moment is Evernote, but that’s mostly because I have way too much content in it already.

Core Features

If you get down to the basics, all four apps let you take notes that can contain plain text, checklists, photos and audio. Plain text notes in Keep, Catch and Springpad are just that — plain text with no formatting support — while Evernote gives you rich text formatting support. Unfortunately, none support Markdown — by far the most popular plain-text based formatting solution out there. Springpad has by far the most note types, which include everything from recipes to movies to events and more.

Keep’s plain text vs Evernote’s rich text formatting

We all know how quickly notes can get out of hand unless you have a way to categorize them. Keep comes in last in this department, with absolutely no way to really organize notes — everything just gets lumped together. All the remaining apps have folder support, although in Catch they are called workspaces, while Evernote and Springpad prefer the notebook metaphor. In addition, you can also tag notes in Evernote and Springpad for another level of categorization. Once you have the folders created, you can share them with others in all three, leaving Keep biting the dust when it comes to collaboration.

Catch’s workspaces vs Springpads notebooks

Once you have added your notes, each platform readily syncs them to the cloud and in turn on any other device you have them installed on. Although sync worked perfectly well on all devices, I found it to be quickest on Keep (probably because it integrates directly with your Google account on Android) and slowest on Springpad, although the difference was pretty negligible.

User Interface

What use is an app with a ton of features if it is not well executed? There are three key parameters one can look at the user interface from – aesthetics, ease-of-use and performance.

As far as eye-candy goes, Catch takes the cake by a mile. The gorgeous bright interface is coupled with buttery smooth performance making it an absolute pleasure to use every time. I even weild it to show off sometimes. Evernote and Springpad also look pretty good, and so does Keep if you prefer a minimalistic yet vibrant approach.

Catch’s gorgeous visuals vs Keep’s elegant simplicity

As far as simplicity and ease-of-use go, Keep is as simple as it gets, partly because of its decidedly minimalistic feature-set. There are no folders and controls to fiddle with — just create your note or search for something — in and out in seconds. That is not to say that Catch is difficult to use. For its feature set, I found the app to be extremely intuitive and usable. Evernote and Springpad bring up the rear in this department respectively, with Springpad specifically suffering from its sky-high aspirations in the features department.

The results in terms of performance are not very surprising then — Keep leading everyone else in snappiness, followed by Catch and the remaining two. Both Evernote and Springpad apps can actually get pretty sluggish, especially when syncing content with the servers, loading images and editing rich formatted text.

Bells & Whistles

So we’ve already established that as far as note-taking goes, all four apps do a pretty good job. The real differentiators then, are the extra features they bring to the table.

As far as Keep goes, the only real stand-out feature it offers is automatic transcription of audio notes. Now I’ve not been able to get this to work thanks to my Indian accent, but the overall feedback on Google’s transcription capabilities has been good so far, so this might work for you if you come from the US or some parts of Europe.

Keep transcribes audio notes while Evernote lets you apply a passcode to open the app

Springpad differentiates itself with its huge list of smart note types which are built to work with the web, giving it an upper hand if you capture a lot of stuff while browsing rather than just manually taking notes. The app will figure out whether you are on a recipe website or a movie database and create notes of the appropriate type with the necessary data fields.

Catch is the one with the least number of bells and whistles, and focuses on its core features with top-notch visuals and performance. One feature Catch shares only with Springpad that is the ability to add comments to notes, which makes a lot of sense when you are sharing notebooks.

Both Springpad & Catch let you add comments to notes

Evernote, as you have probably guessed, is king in this category. Being the only contender with native desktop apps for Windows and OSX, I find it to be the most accessible of them all, especially when I’m on the move and do not have internet access. On top of that you get the ability to add documents to notes, seamless integration with other apps like Skitch, Food and Hello, the ability to secure your notes with a passcode lock when opening the app and more.

But the one feature that takes the cake by a mile is its ability to index text inside images. Took a photo of a business card or a screenshot of a website? Evernote will include the text from these images in its search results. For me, this is one of the top reasons I’ve not been able to move away from the service.

Conclusion

I’m not going to get all anti-climactic and say it’s a four-way tie because all apps work well on their own and you need to try them all to decide what works for you. Here are my recommendations in as much objectivity as I can garner:

If you crave simplicity and are just looking for a quick way to capture notes, go for Keep.
If categorization is important, but you still want simplicity and a beautiful, smooth interface, Catch is for you.
If you do a lot of capturing of information from the web and need a personal smart information archive, try Springpad.
If you need the most powerful and versatile information management system out there, and you can’t live without offline desktop access, Evernote will not disappoint you.

I’m confident a number of you will disagree with my views here. Note-taking is such a personal matter, and everyone has their own methods, tricks and peeves. Feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments below. I would love to see if I’ve missed an obvious feature in these apps and maybe also try out solutions that I haven’t discovered yet.

Home Loan Calculator and Banking Options

2013-06-01T03:30:00.003+08:00

This online website helps to calculate the amount of car loan you can have and your monthly payment. Just a few clicks away from your dream home.

HOME LOAN CALCULATOR

Car Loan Calculator and Banking Options

2013-06-01T03:26:00.001+08:00

This online website helps to calculate the amount of car loan you can have and your monthly payment. Just a few clicks away from your dream car.

CAR LOAN CALCULATOR

Live Streaming Pilihanraya Umum ke -13 (PRU 13)

2013-05-05T20:44:00.002+08:00

Berikut adalah link untuk streaming keputusan PRU13

http://live.tonton.com.my/livetv/#tv3

http://www.myundi.com.my/livestreaming.aspx#myundi

Daftar Untuk Rebat RM200 Smartphone

2013-04-18T17:59:00.003+08:00

Kerajaan Malaysia telah menawarkan bantuan rebat RM200 untuk individu yang berpendapatan dibawah RM3,000 dan berumur lebih 21 tahun.

Melalui Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (SKMM) pemberian rebat RM200 itu dilaksanakan di bawah Pakej Komunikasi Belia (PKB) selaras dengan ucapan Belanjawan 2013 yang diumumkan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak pada September lepas.

Menurut kenyataan itu, pelaksanaan skim tersebut ialah atas prinsip 'siapa cepat dia dapat'.

Tujuh syarikat telekomunikasi yang melaksanakan skim PKB di bawah koordinasi SKMM adalah Celcom, Clixster, DiGi, Maxis, Tune Talk, U Mobile dan YTL Communications.
Syarat kelayakan permohonan pakej Komunikasi Belia ( Rebate RM 200 )

Warganegara Malaysia yang berumur di antara 21-30 tahun pada tarikh memohon;
Pendapatan bulanan adalah RM3,000 dan ke bawah;
Model telefon pintar 3G yang ditawarkan (Terkini: Harga maksima Tiada Had);
Untuk langganan baru dan sedia ada pakej jalurlebar; dan
Satu telefon hanya untuk satu belia;

Pendaftaran untuk smartphone rebate RM 200

Malaysia Cinemas

2013-03-28T10:50:00.001+08:00

Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema Malaysia Cinema

View by circuit: GSC | TGV | Cathay | MBO | LFS | Star

Klang Valley
Kuala Lumpur GSC Mid Valley GSC Signature Gardens GSC Cheras Leisure GSC Pavilion GSC Times Square TGV KLCC TGV CapSquare TGV Mines TGV Kepong TGV Cheras Selatan TGV 1 Shamelin TGV Wangsa Walk MBO Brem Mall MBO Spark Cineplex	Kuala Lumpur MBO Galaxy Ampang MBO Kepong Village Mall MBO Viva Home Mall MBO KL Festival City LFS Capitol Selayang LFS Sentul Cinema LFS Coliseum Pawagam Sun Rawang Pawagam Odeon KL Pandan Capital Kajang LFS Kajang	Puchong GSC IOI Mall TGV SetiaWalk Klang TGV Bukit Raja TGV Bukit Tinggi MBO Harbour Place LFS Sri Intan LFS Shaw Centrepoint Putrajaya GSC Alamanda	Petaling Jaya GSC Paradigm Mall GSC 1Utama GSC Summit USJ GSC Tropicana City Mall TGV 1Utama TGV Sunway Pyramid Cathay Damansara MBO Subang Parade MBO Citta Mall LFS State Cineplex Shah Alam GSC Setia City Mall MBO Space U8 Mall

Nationwide
Selangor TGV Rawang One Cinemas LFS Kuala Selangor Penang Island GSC Queensbay GSC Gurney TGV 1st Avenue LFS Bkt Jambul LFS Prangin Mall Odeon Georgetown Seberang Prai GSC Sunway Carnival TGV Seberang Prai LFS B'worth Mega C Prai Kedah GSC Amanjaya Mall LFS Alor Setar MBO Alor Star MBO Kulim Grand Cineplex Mega C Langkawi Jitra Mall Cineplex Taiping MBO Taiping Sentral	Ipoh GSC Ipoh Parade TGV Kinta TGV Station 18 LFS Seri Kinta MBO Sitiawan Teluk Intan MBO Teluk Intan My Cinema Malacca GSC AEON Bandaraya GSC Dataran Pahlawan MBO Melaka Mall LFS Mahkota Parade Suara Screens Seremban GSC Terminal 1 TGV Seremban 2 MBO Terminal 2 LFS Perdana KMP LFS Bahau Johor MBO Heritage Mall LFS 1 Segamat	Kluang MBO Kluang MBO Kluang Mall Pawagam New Lido Batu Pahat MBO Square One MBO Batu Pahat Johor Bahru GSC Pelangi TGV Tebrau City TGV Bukit Indah Cathay City Square MBO U Mall MBO KSL City LFS Broadway LFS Plaza Tasik Skudai LFS Skudai Parade LFS IOI Mall Kulai Superstar Ulu Tiram Pahang GSC Mentakab Star Mall	Kuantan GSC East Coast Mall GSC Berjaya Megamall MBO Teruntum Terengganu TGV Mesra Mall Kerteh Sarawak MBO Spring Mall LFS Riverside Star C'plex Sibu Star C'plex Kuching Star C'plex Bintulu Star C'plex Miri Sabah GSC Suria Sabah GSC 1Borneo Eastern C'plex Tawau Star C'plex Sandakan Growball Cinemax Megalong Cineplex

HELP REMOVE ANTI-ISLAM PAGE..!

2012-10-19T13:08:00.000+08:00

This page currently becoming a mastermind spreading wrong information about Islam. Worst than that, it gathers more and more anti-Islam groups and pages in Facebook.

HELP REMOVE THIS PAGE
Follow this step-by-step pictures

STEP 1

Go to the page Anti-Islam Alliance

STEP 2
Click "Setting"

STEP 3
Click "Report Page"

STEP 4
Choose "Hate Speech"

STEP 5
Tick "Message the admin.." and "Report To Facebook"

DONE..!

Thanks a lot.
You help stopped a misleading page about Islam.
Feel curious about Islam?
Wanting to know more about Islam?
Read the Holy Quran and learn about Islam the correct way before you make your decision to believe it or not.

Don't simply join such group that don't really understand Islam inside out.

Aerofex : Hovercraft Motorbike

2012-10-01T18:26:00.001+08:00

Aerofex Hover bike Prototype!

Aerofex a Californian firm develops a new hover bike which have two ducted rotors rather than wheels and the model is actually a fix for the stability and rollover issues for the original design abandoned in early 1960s.The fix is actually a mechanical system controlled by two control bars at knee-level so that the rider's leaning motion controls the direction of the bike.

Preliminary tests were done at California's Mojave Desert to a height of 15 feet and speeds of about 30 mph

Cute Mini Room

2012-10-01T17:26:00.000+08:00

The Blob VB3 is a mobile polyester pod by dmvA Architects that was designed for the office of XfactorAgencies, as an extension to the house. This unique structure comes complete with a bathroom, kitchen, lighting, a bed, and numerous niches to keep your belongings. The front end of the pod can be opened and used as a porch. The space can be used for just about anything – an office, a guest house, or even a garden house.

via Feel Desain

Levitation and Swift

2012-06-12T14:00:00.000+08:00

Malaysia Institute of Aviation Technology (MIAT), Sepang

photo by KameraMin

Levitation propeller check

2012-06-11T13:30:00.000+08:00

Subang Airport, Subang Jaya

photo by KameraMin

Levitation time

2012-06-10T14:00:00.000+08:00

Subang Airport, Subang Jaya

photo by KameraMin

Aircraft levitation

2012-06-09T13:00:00.000+08:00

Subang Airport, Subang Jaya

photo by KameraMin

Fashion Levitation

2012-06-08T20:29:00.001+08:00

Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC)

photo by KameraMin

Levitation with face!

2012-05-20T21:13:00.000+08:00

Sunway Hotel, Subang Jaya

photo by KameraMin

Levitation while SMS

2012-05-15T12:30:00.000+08:00

Botanical Garden, Putrajaya

photo by KameraMin

Late for the flight

2012-05-14T13:00:00.000+08:00

MIAT-UniKL, Sepang

photo by KameraMin

Levitation at Hilal's wedding

2012-05-13T20:02:00.001+08:00

Banquet Hall UPM, Serdang

photo by KameraMin

Levitation at the garden

2012-05-11T23:10:00.000+08:00

Botanical Garden, Putrajaya

photo by KameraMin

Levitation photography

2012-05-06T17:00:00.000+08:00

Space U8, Shah Alam

photo by KameraMin

Wedding Videography by KameraMin

2012-02-10T10:45:00.004+08:00

Recently KameraMin had launched the wedding videography . For those who loves heart touching cinematography for your own wedding, you should wathc this.

Wanna see the still images..? click here. Please visit KameraMin's Vimeo and leave them some comments okay.

KameraMin : Malaysia Wedding and Portrait Photographer

2011-08-22T07:57:00.005+08:00

Malam Berinai : Johan + Farah AF (Part 1)

15th July 2011. Farah AF as we know, came from a reality show Akademi Fantasia (AF) Season 2.
She was interested with our photography when she was being introduced to us at our booth at
Festival Pengantin PICC 2011.

From that moment, we set up couple of meetings with Farah AF and all the people involved
for her big day. And guess, we have chemistry to work together. That's the biggest and
important thing for me and my team.

Tips : Having a good chemistry with the bride and the whole family members is crucial. This will help
a lot along the events. You will be treated as part of the family member and will not feel awkward
when dealing with any of them. But, to create the cool chemistry is not that simple. The first impression
is the most important part. This cannot be teach or read in any wedding photography manual,
you have to experience it yourself.

Tomorrow is the solemnization day for both of them. Putrajaya Tasik Cruise.
That's cool..!

For more photos become a fan of KameraMin fb and KameraMin Wedding

principal photographer

www.kameramin.com

KameraMin

twitter

Flickr

+6017 6943 437

IKEA's IDEA IS AWESOME! 2012 Catalogue

2011-08-20T02:07:00.002+08:00

Who doesn't want to have a good living space. Be it your living room, kitchen, balcony, office or whatever space it is, surely you want it to look great and work.

my favourite spot to go for idea is IKEA.. you'll find thousands of things to create (in your mind by looking at their designs)

Honestly, IKEA's products are not so good in terms of quality. Most of the product are made of compress wood dust (I don't know the exact term for it). And they will not last more than 3-5 years due to humidity and wear. But IKEA is the best place to find designers furniture at lower price. For me it's a win-win situation, designer furniture = low quality = cheap.. that's sound fair enough. And furthermore, I get bored easily with the same design of furniture in my place. So, 3 years is good enough for a furniture to go out of the window down to the yard. It's not expansive so I don't have this feeling "I cannot throw this away because it is expensive"

Here is why IKEA never fail to turn small space into a very useful place.

Download
IKEA Catalogue 2012

So, you can use the catalogue to do pre-shopping before you actually go to IKEA. easy way to do shopping furniture.

this blog is sponsored by KameraMin

WIN Outdoor Photoshoot!!

2011-08-16T22:35:00.000+08:00

KameraMin reach 4000 Fans and we would like to create a photo competition just for people who are in love. We call it WithLove.

WithLove is a photography session that would take place outdoor.
We will shoot your best love moment for you to keep for the rest of your life.
You can view gorgeous photos of previous WithLove session to get some inspirations.
www.KameraMin.com

Join okay. Grab this chance while you have. We are waiting for your photos to be submitted.

I WANT TO JOIN!!

Winning prize

a WithLove session by KameraMin

4 hours of outdoor photography

for 1 couple

DVD with unlimited photos

Anak mati sebab sayang kucing?

2011-08-15T16:00:00.001+08:00

Menda ni berlaku kat Jepun. Akibat sayang sangat kat kucing, seorang bapak menabaikan tanggungjawab dia untuk bagi makan pada anak sendiri. bayi umur 2 tahun 10 bulan yang malang ni terpaksa makan ape saje yang dicapainya. Camtu la yang disimpulkan lepas bedah siasat dijalankan. Ahli patologi jumpa kertas, lampin pakai buang dan plastik dalam perut bayi 2 tahun lebih tu. Kesian giler. Ape la punye takde hati perut betul si bapak ni. Masa mayat bai tu ditemui, berat dia 12.8 paun, tapi berat normal bayi pada umur tu ialah 29.7 paun. Jauh giler bezanya, lebih separuh berat normal.

ni la dia muka bapak bayi tersebut

Menda yang buat orang marah ialah sistem jabatan kebajikan masyarakat Jepun. sebelum bayi tu mati. masa dia umur 7 bulan, dorang dah perasan yang berat bayi ni memang tak normal. So, pihak jabatan kebajikan masyarakat Jepun hantar la wakil untuk buat siasatan. Bukan sekali tapi 5 kali tapi still fail untuk detect masalah ni. Setiap kali dorang datang, bapak dia ni tak kasik tengok bayi, tak boleh jumpa bayi. Kalo dah 5 kali datang tak kasik masuk jumpa bayi, mesti la ada something fishy. kan?? ape kata pangil polis, una waran tangkap/geledah ke?

Attitude bapak baik ni macam tak kesah je. Masa pendakwaraya baca pertuduhan, reaksi bapak bayi ni ialah

"Bukan saya tak peduli anak saya cuma bagi saya kucing belaan saya lebih penting"

P/S : Jangan la sesape jadik bapak camni, lebih baik takyah jadik bapak kalo camni perangainye. Kalo sayang sangat kat binatang, takyah la susah-susah nak ada anak.