Headspace

Update: I held my breath after the flurry of iOS/iPadOS updates in recent weeks, concerned that I might lose access to favorite apps. And Headspace remains the most visually spectacular and functional (if not well-known) mindmappers ever created. Happily, it continues to deliver as a wonderful diagramming outliner/notetaker/brain storming tool! This app developer publishes frequent updates, both bug fixes and new features. Headspace remains my favorite mindmapper and, for that matter, it functions as a great visual outliner with its generous-sized popup note panels and easy-to-slide elements. Altogether, it's a pleasure to use so I use it often! PREVIOUS REVIEW: The most beautiful iPhone app is finally available for the iPad and as a universal app no less! iThoughtsHD is a fine mindmapper but Headspace is simply the most intuitive, easiest to use brainstorming application ever created for any platform. Don't believe it can be that great? Try it! You'll immediately discover that a three dimensional environment is the optimum way to display, stack and connect ideas. This developer has truly invented a "better mousetrap"! And now Headspace is a full resolution iPad for a fraction of the cost of most other mindmappers!

I find it easier to layout certain ideas in Headspace then using a standard mind map.

I really like this app. It's great for both mind mapping and managing checklists. I especially like the stacking effect when collapsing branches, since it gives a quick visual indication of how much information is hidden. My only real complaint is that the landscape orientation moves the controls to the left side of the screen. This is a little awkward for me a a right-handed person, since I have to move my hand repeatedly to the far side of the screen. One bit of possible improvement would be the addition of a "checkbox" switch to the item creation dialog. It might also be worth having an "Advanced..." button to customize appearance when creating the item instead of having to do the additional step of editing the item after creating it. There are a few interoperability issues. The first such issue is the lack of a means to import your workspace from the "Lite" version. The other is that some formatting, specifically the checkbox function, doesn't survive being edited in FreeMind and being reimported. The checkboxes show up as icons in FreeMind, but are lost when importing back into Headspace. I'm not sure if it's just an issue with the latest FreeMind version upgrading the file when saving changes, but it's a bit inconvenient. It only happens when the file gets edited in FreeMind, so it's not a problem if you're only collaborating with other Headspace users.