It’s been over six months since I posted my thoughts about the 2018 iPad Pro and the new design of the Smart Keyboard Portfolio and my thoughts on the keyboard remain the same. I continue to love it. The design and typing experience are excellent and it is far more stable than the previous version. I regularly use it in my lap with no issues.

That said I still have two gripes: the lack of media control keys and the lack of backlighting. If these two features existed this would be the perfect keyboard for me (and I suspect many others). As we are fresh in the month of May we’ve now seen the release of three different takes on iPad Pro keyboard cases. Actually, I’m sure there are others but these are from three of the better known manufacturers: Zagg, Brydge, and Logitech.

These all look excellent and have those two features I want: backlit keyboards and media keys. I’ve looked at them all and thought about getting one. But there’s one common drawback to all three that keeps me saying no: They are heavier and more importantly, they confine the iPad in ways I don’t like, the Zagg and Logitech require the iPad be held in a shell-type case that’s hard to get in and out of. The Brydge has clips that are very tight and while it’s possible to pull the iPad in and out it’s still quite a bit more effort that releasing it from Apple’s offering. Also, the Brydge design makes flipping the dock up for multitasking more difficult. Also, all three are an added expense of more than $100.

One of the features of the above mentioned Zagg keyboard folio is that the iPad shell which has a kickstand detaches from the keyboard allowing it to free stand so for watching video and/or just using in a different arrangement with the keyboard. I like his and have often done this in the past with various stands and my beloved Logitech K811 keyboard which has backlit keys and the media keys I want for use with the iPad.

I began to wonder, not for the first time in 5 months, how I might make better use of this keyboard. Could it be better used in conjunction with the Apple Folio?

I’ve known of the trick of flipping the Folio backwards and upside down for creating a drafting table sort of angle for use with the Pencil. While it looks a bit odd it works great and it was that sort of thinking I was after. How might the case be flipped or otherwise used in a non-standard configuration with an external keyboard?

The first and an embarrassingly obvious thing to do (and I can’t believe I’ve not tried it till now): I just sat it on top of the keyboard of the Smart Keyboard Folio and started using it instead. I think I’d assumed that there would be issues with the keys of the Folio keyboard registering taps but they don’t. (Well, in my lap they don’t. I noticed that on a hard surface the keyboard does sometimes actually register key presses on the spacebar and the keys on the bottom left and right). But there were also two additional problems. For some reason, if the iPad is docked in typing mode on the Folio the Command-Tab and Command-Spacebar shortcuts for app-switching and Spotlight stop working. Well, that’s no good! I use them far too often and won’t do without. But now I was somewhat hopeful that I might find another configuration.

What if the iPad is used in a sort of A-Frame position? Would it be stable? Yes, this has some real potential.

In my lap while sitting in my favorite work spot, a big bean-bag chair and my legs up on my table. Actually very stable and now I can adjust the angle. Been working this way all morning. I often use a little homemade lap-desk, just a bit of shelf wood that is 12” deep and 20” or so in length. Perfect for having a cup of coffee on my lap next to the iPad. This A-frame configuration also works great on that little desk.

Out on the porch you can see the variety of angels possible. Also, conveniently the Apple Pencil still has a place to sit though it obviously won’t charge. Note, on some smooth surfaces the iPad would probably slide a bit but in my lap and on this table it stays put.

So, now I’ve got a set-up that cost nothing extra, allows me to make more use of a keyboard I already had and which has the added benefit of more viewing angles.

A year or so ago a friend on Twitter asked me if I used or had ever tried any mind mapping apps. I had not. He was pretty excited and suggested a couple. I took a look at a couple and thought they might be useful for particular projects. I downloaded iThoughts and gave it a spin. Then I almost never used it. Why not? The short answer is that I think this is the sort of app that is useful for larger, more complicated projects and those happen to be the kind of projects I don’t take on very often.

Most of my work is of a repetitive nature, small one off projects finished in one to three days and most of them come in one at a time so I’m rarely balancing two or three projects at a time. Most of my work is website updates and document designs and layouts. I have no need for mind maps for these things.

In my initial test I came away thinking that mind maps would be great for long writing projects and larger projects that require more steps and ingredients than I usually handle. As it happens I’ve got a potential project coming up that would probably benefit from actually diving in with this kind of app. It’s only a potential project at the moment. It is a volunteer project involving the local library which may involved several people, organizations, and an ongoing and complicated process (compared to my usual).

A few days ago I saw the new version of MindNode was released so I downloaded it for the free 2 week trial. I spent an hour with each app and came away with the impression that iThoughts is a more powerful app in almost every way.

MindNode is better in the area of visual style with a couple of added features. It’s also got newly announced support for second, external USB C monitors which might be nice for some.

But iThoughts seems to be the more capable app. It’s got support for markdown in the notes for nodes, the ability to import a greater variety of objects, and far more export/sharing options. After an hour of using them I felt like I’d gotten a solid handle on how they each work (very similar) but also had the sense that I’d reached the limit of MindNode’s feature set.

With iThoughts there is more to learn and more that I could do. An example, the project I’m mapping, is a collaborative local history project which includes several small non-profits, various resources being digitized, a podcast and a website where the materials will be catalogued. iThoughts has the ability to work with special categories of notes such as tasks with due-dates, resources (people in orgs), cost calculating nodes, and project progress (for nodes that have tasks). Also, I can drag and drop contacts which will add clickable email links for the contact. I can also drag and drop websites and many kinds of files. Some files, such as Pages files, cannot be drag and dropped but can be added via the attach context menu. MindNode does not seem to support any of these features and really, they are the kinds of features I think I’d want to have available for the kind of project I’m likely to use a mind mapping app for.

Back to my case test, as I developed my mind map I wanted to add people to the workflow and add email addresses to those people. Ideally it would give me the option to add a link to the contact vCard but the email is what it attaches and in most cases that’s what I’d want. I’ll also be wanting to add project resources such as forms and documents and as already stated, this is no problem. Also in my case test I added a node for possible project costs. This is a potentially very handy tool! As new child nodes are added a designated parent node calculates the costs listed in each of those children. So, in my case, web hosting has already been added. Any new possible costs can be added as nodes and the parent will keep it tallied.

I’m liking the way this is going and I can see this being a tool I use for future projects of this kind. As this particular project continues, IF this particular project continues, I look forward to continuing with iThoughts.