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iThoughtsHD will automatically create a new topic at that location, connected to the one you selected. You can also add a new topic by first selecting a topic, and then clicking on a blank area of the workspace adjacent to it. Many desktop mind mapping programs don’t even offer this last option, so it’s a bit surprising to see it on the iPad. A set of 3 buttons enables you to add child and sibling topics, and to create a topic at the level before the currently selected topic. This well-designed app gives you several options for adding topics to your mind maps. That keeps them out of the way, yet they are only a few taps away when you need them. It contains just enough toolbar icons to enable you to quickly capture your ideas, while more advanced tools for embellishing your map and its topics are cleverly hidden within several “inspector” buttons. IThoughtsHD has a clean, well-organized user interface that is key to its functionality. In this review, we’ll take a closer look at some of the most valuable capabilities of iThoughtsHD, and why they make it an ideal business mapping tool. It’s also obvious that Scott has a bigger vision for what mind mapping can do on this mobile platform, and a keen eye for usability and interface design. To his credit, he looked for opportunities to leverage the unique capabilities of the iPad, such as pop-over windows. But he didn’t just port his popular iPhone app over to this brave new computing platform. When he heard that Apple was releasing the iPad, he quickly jumped on that opportunity.
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IThoughts started life as an app for Apple’s iPhone, where its developer, Craig Scott, quickly established it as the leading mind mapping app for that platform ( read my review of iThoughts for the iPhone here). And on the iPad’s large screen, it’s an absolute pleasure to use. More importantly, it contains the features and functionality that makes it eminently useful to business users. In the emerging world of mind mapping on the iPad, iThoughtsHD has taken an early lead with an incredible set of features that no other developer even comes one close to.
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