An online notepad? Your smartphone as a notebook

By Tobias Hanraths Feb 12, 2012, 2:06 GMT

Berlin - Flight details, phone numbers, addresses, shopping lists and jokes - all of them are at risk of being lost if you don't write them down.

In this digital age, if you think carrying a notebook around is too old-fashioned, there's the option of noting or dictating these thoughts into a gadget you're likely to have with you - your smartphone.

The right apps mean you don't have to settle for using your mobile phone as a scratch pad. There are also functions to get you organized or turn your phone into a dictation device.

Notebook functions are nothing new for a smartphone, as mobile phones have offered simple notebook functions for ages. 'But I can only save information locally this way,' says Tobias Arns of Bitkom, a German IT industry association. 'It only gets exciting when I truly make use of the possibilities of a smartphone.'

That means utilizing the phone's internet access. Programs such as Evernote (for iOS and Android), the iOS app Simplenote or Catch Notes for Android devices mean notes don't just stay on the mobile device, but are synchronized across computers, laptops and tablets.

And the flow of information isn't just from the mobile phone to the computer, but also the other way around. Evernote makes use of the assistant programme Web Clipper. The browser expansion stores interesting websites in a note-compatible format. Thus, a recipe a person happens to stumble across can quickly be turned into a shopping list.

Web Clipper is available for Firefox and Chrome. With Internet Explorer and Safari, the assistant is integrated with the installation of the main Evernote programme. There's another advantage of specialized note apps. Entries don't just appear chronologically, but can be organized into groups or folders.

'That makes big chunks of ideas manageable,' explains Arns. Expanded functions are even possible with a smartphone's satellite navigation chip. An app could note when a person is in a supermarket and remind him of items he might want to purchase.

But there's no way of getting around one problem: Typing items on a small touchscreen isn't much fun. Many people could take notes faster with a pen and paper. Luckily, there are alternatives to typing, such as automatic handwriting recognition. 'This generally functions pretty well,' says Gernot Fink, of the computer programming department of Dortmund Technical University in Germany. 'But a requirement is that you have a sufficiently large writing space.'

Of course, that's generally not an option with handheld devices. Tablet owners can benefit though. Writing is usually done with a fingertip.

'Input with a stylus only works with a capacitive touchscreen with special hardware,' explains Fink. And recognition works much better with long texts than short notes, because the software has more time to factor in the context of what's being entered and so adapt.

Thus, tablet owners also remain better off typing in numbers or individual words. If you want to try out handwriting recognition software, try the fee-based app WritePad for iOS and Android.

If you're not bothered by the prospect of picking up yet another gadget, then there's another option for recording handwritten notes: A smartpen. These pens digitally record handwriting as it is being noted down, later transferring the data to a computer or a smartphone.

But this is an expensive method, since the pens require special paper. 'This is no technology for the mass market,' says Fink.

Smartphones are also making inroads as dictation devices. A test by German computer magazine c't rated the devices as providing 'understandable voice recordings.'

But first, a customer has to sort through the variety of apps for such services. There's a built-in service with Android or Apple's Siri, both of which can turn the spoken word into text. Users of iPhones without Siri can opt for the Dragon Dictation app.

Fink says these are all solutions that can quickly be put to use. 'But you have to work with the system and speak in such a way that the gadget understands you,' he says.

Whatever data you end up storing on your smartphone, remember that many of them are not secure. Thus, think twice about storing PIN numbers in notebook programs. 'Sensitive data always has to be handled carefully and really doesn't belong in notebook apps,' says Arns.