yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] sphere314:
PhatPad

If I'm right I saw no mention here of another writing app named PhatPad, by the company PhatWare.

It's available in the SamsungApps site in the section "Best S Pen Apps" at €5 (version 1.1.0.899 - Jun-10-2012) and it's also available in Google Play at €3.99

(version 1.1.0.905 - May-27-2012).

Apart from the fact I don't understand the reason why this app is sold at different prices and with apparently different versions that have a numbering not coherent with the released date, I've decided to try it, since the features description seemed promising.

In the PhatWare site (at this address) it is possible to download a 24-hour free trial.

I did it.

I'm not surprised, now, by the fact that this app was not mentioned or advised before here:

There's no pressure sensitivity for the pen

Even if there are the most basic essential features (insert text, move ink, and even recognize text previously input by ink) the app is very basic and it seems it's not worth the price asked for.

But I think that the main problem is in the fact that the app comes with a proprietary recognition engine to be used for translating ink to text (just for the English language). That accounts for the size of the app (about 5Mb) that's very big is compared to similar apps (i.e. LN is 1.2 Mb). Well, this recognition engine is very very bad!!! If anything it made me realize how good is (in comparison) Samsung internal handwriting recognition engine of the GNote 10.1 (available through the stock keyboard).

So my personal conlcusion is: you can avoid that app.

(I unisntalled it after less than 1 hour, and LN remains, for me, at the top as an alternative to S Note)
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] HasC:
I am itching to purchase lecture notes as I love all the options that are user configurable, the only thing preventing me is the way text input is carried out whereby a box pops up and you enter it in there which then transfers to the notepad page.

Do you know if this can be changed where we have an icon next to the pens, select text input and just be able to write on the notepad without the pop up via our keyboard choice?

I have purchased another app called "Handy Note (notice it does not have an 's' at the end)" which does this very well but does not have all the options of Lecture Notes but the beauty of that app is that whatever you do, whether it be drawing, text entry, shape insert etc each step is made into an object/layer which can be re-positioned anywhere on the screen.

I have not mentioned this app to recommend it as a suitable replacement for Lecture notes but some users may want fewer options which this app does really well. Lecture Notes is probably the 'Roll Royce' of note taking apps with full customisation ability and once or if the text entry aspect is smoother, I dont think I will hesitate to purchase.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] toenail_flicker:
I also dislike the pop-up box for text input. Makes no sense to me and is an inconvenient method of text input.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@HasC and toenail_flicker: To improve concerning typing text is on my agenda.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] grimloktt:
Make sure you're not holding/hitting the stylus button when writing.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] toenail_flicker:
Great news. Thanks.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] HasC:
Can't wait, once this is implemented, I probably won't need to use any other notepad app.

Thanks again acadoid!
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] junrider:
Where is the input text? Ive been playing with LN (free) and I cant find how to input text (via keyboard). And on the trial version you dont have the option to save where you want correct? And Im trying to understand where the trial version saves its notes using the file explorer.....
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] toenail_flicker:
It's at the bottom of the shapes list-circle, square. rectangle, etc.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] junrider:
I dont have that list on the trial version......I don't think. A'll the menus are on the upper righthand side pencil, eraser, cutting, hand, undo, and the settings
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] ratindahat:
it's there, but you have to enable them in the settings.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] toenail_flicker:
Exactly. :good:
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] junrider:
Thanks found it. So is saving the file in a diff. directory not available on the trial version? Tying to search for the saved file in"my file" app but I cant find it. Can any point me to the right direction? LN is pretty cool except for theinput text box, will probably purchase it later down the road.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@junrider: The app directory cannot be change in the trial version. Allowing that would make it too easy to avoid the constraint on the number of notebooks.

The drawing tools can also be accessed using the pencil toolbox (the latter can be enabled in the pencil menu and moved around by click-and-hold).
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] splotz:
Afair it is in the Download/LectureNotes Folder .
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] junrider:
Nope nothing in my download... not even the folder.. I ended up purchasing the app. But in regards to saving.. Is it the app or for some reason I cant save onto my ext sdcard. Im still stock unrooted. And in my menu, my hide the microphone menu is ticked and I cant untick it, is there something I have to do to make to record in LN?
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] ratindahat:
could be a shot in the dark here, but i have a feeling to record you need to download this. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.acadoid.lecturerecordings#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDIxMiwiY29tLmFjYWRvaWQubGVjdHVyZXJlY29yZGluZ3MiXQ..
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@junrider: To record audio while taking notes requires LectureRecordings being installed.

I am not sure whether I understood your question correctly, but in case you are looking for the place where LectureNotes stores your notebooks, please open the app's help page and scroll down to the `Storage´ section, the location is given there (depends somewhat on the device).
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] ratindahat:
acadoid, have you looked at the s-pen sdk at all? i'm not a developer so i do not know if it would help with any of the issues, but thought i would mention it.

http://innovator.samsungmobile.com/cms/cnts/knowledge.detail.view.do?platformId=1&cntsId=11924&nacode=uk
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] junrider:
Awee I would have thought it was included in the paid version.

Tried looking at the Storage section it says "Default app directory" and I cant find the app directory of LN..
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@ratindahat: I am aware of the Samsung S-Pen SDK, and I will hopefully have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 device in a couple of days to investigate the issues that occur specifically for this device.

@junrider: I was referring to the app's help page, not the app's settings, the present app directory is stated there in the `Storage´ section close to the bottom, it should be something like /mnt/sdcard/Android/data/com.acadoid.lecturenotestrial/files (depends somewhat on the device).
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] ratindahat:
Awesome. Good luck with the note. :D
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] Sanosuke1981:
unhiding layer buttons

Hi folks,

Great discussion here on lecturenotes, think it's a fantastic app myself. I was just wondering if anyone could tell me specifically how to unhide the buttons that allow you to use layers etc. I've went through all the settings and can't seem to get the buttons to appear. This is a little troubling for me as my primary goal is to use the program to markup PDF's. I know the help says "these are hidden by default" but nowhere (that I could find) does it tell you how to hide/unhide buttons. Help is appreciated!

Thanks,

Sano

EDIT: I am a worm. I was sifting through tools and now realize there are individual settings for menu items *embarrassed face*
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] splotz:
I like for PDFs the AdobeReader App (free) and ezPDF ($)

You dont have to convert it, it stays a PDF and saves your marks on it.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] Sanosuke1981:
Hi Splotz,

I have tried both programs, I agree that AdobeReader is a simple solution for viewing PDF's if that is all you need to do. ezPDF isn't bad for doing markup, however if you have a tablet with a stylus (like the note 10.1) it's problematic as any markup you do is treated as a single element. So in order to delete things you either have to click outside of the markup, select a single part and press delete, or you need to press undo to go back step by step. This is rather irritating if you want to erase single words, or just sections of things you have recently written. I've tried repligo, ezPDF, iAnnotatePDF, SNote and lecturenotes, and without question this is the best solution I have found so far. If you combine it with dropbox/dropsync it's the ultimate solution for both notes and PDF markup. Importing PDF's into notebooks is also quite simple once you have everything setup, and the actual performance of the pen in lecturenotes is far superior to other programs I've tried - it feels like inking on real paper.

Another thing I've noted about many of the other apps (aside from SNote) is they don't allow you to set input to pen only. This alone would be good but lecturenote goes a step further by allow you to still use fingers (two finger scrolling for navigation) while only doing drawing input via the stylus. Once again the perfect implementation (in my opinion) of the stylus on a tablet.

Just my thoughts for the time being! I use this on a daily basis so I'll let you know as I discover more about it!

Take care,

Sano
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] dr.m0x:
Only complaint about lecture notes so far is that it doesn't show a preview of notebook contents in the same manner s notes does.

Other than that I'm finding it infinitely superior.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@dr.m0x: A preview of your notebook in which sense? Have you tried `notebook overview´? This mode displays the whole notebook using thumbnails (and allows for page rearrangement, selective export, etc.).
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] grimloktt:
I wonder if he's referring to our discussion. In your words "notebooks and folders of the notebooks board displayed like a tree, where you can show and hide subtrees by a click."
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] splotz:
Sorry if i cant follow:

Who is "he" and which discussion (postno.) do you mean?
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] grimloktt:
Why did you think this was directed at you...unless you are also acadoid? I quoted acadoid's reply showing I was responding to acadoid, and in his reply, he was asking dr.m0x a question. dr.m0x was the he. The discussion to which I was referring was via e-mail correspondence.

If you're trying to just inquire into my feature request, the way I originally described it to acadoid was:

I'm thinking when you first open Lecture Notes instead of seeing the top level notebooks in a big icon (or small icon or list as I believe you already have available in the options), the user would see the top level notebooks like a book lieing on its side with the name written on its binding and a plus to the right of the name (or left).

- If you click the plus, then you see the next level down below that...in addition to still seeing the top book.

-- This process could be again completed to expand each sub book or folder all the way down to the lower level and reversed (click on where the pluses had turned to negatives once you clicked on them to close back up sub folders/notebooks) to collapse them again.

- Perhaps there's even an option to expand all at once.

- The user can then click with pen/finger on one of the visible notebooks to open it.

- If the member has a lot of notebook and folders, they'll have to scroll down their screen to see them all...perhaps.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@grimloktt: I am certainly not in the position to define rules for this thread, but I think that it will be helpful for readers to refer only to things that are within this thread or at least publically available.

I like your suggestion concerning a tree-like arrangement of the notebooks board, it is on my agenda.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] AndroidAble:
I also feel that would be a great feature. Hoping to see it in a future upgrade.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] mrgerlo:
Question everyone, how can stop taking screenshots when pressing the S-pen and start using it within LN??? Im very used to press to erase with it and it does not seem to be working this way....any lead will be appreciated

Thanks

EDIT: Ok just found out thats something people is asking for but still cannot be changed :P. thanks anyway
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] grimloktt:
I did refer to what was in the thread right as I was including it as it was applicable to the thread. Track the parenthesis in my first response to dr.m0x:
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@mrgerlo: The S-pen button does unfortunately not (yet) work. I am presently waiting for a Galaxy Note 10.1 device to arrive so that I can investigate this in more detail. Curiously, one user told me today that using the S-pen button with the hover function (which allows scrolling) works.

I have also been told that things work perfectly if you run CM10, but I do not know whether this is an option for you.

---------- Post added at 11:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:19 AM ----------

@grimloktt: My apologies, I missed that. It seems that I follow too many threads concerning LectureNotes and start to loose overview...
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] splotz:
@grimloktt

If you use the @ with a name it is easier for others to follow who you are talking to.

Because of that I asked.

I didn't now to who and about whom you were talking.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] grimloktt:
Gotcha. Will do.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] toenail_flicker:
Quoting works well, too. ;)
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] grimloktt:
@splotz: Sorry there. To clear it up... gotcha. will do. :D
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@mrgerlo: I uploaded v1.16.10 into Google Play in which the S-pen button is functional. Note that you need to press and to release the stylus button when your stylus is close to the display surface but has not touched it yet, this will active the assigned function.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] HasC:
Hope someone can answer some of my queries below, many thanks in advance:

When using text, is there a setting that enables text to be seen as text when exporting to pdf i.e. to make text in pdf documents searchable from a native pdf app?

What are standard pdf settings to obtain average quality results when exporting and to keep the pdf size to a minimum? I find the default level renders the pdf as below average when I exported a mind map as a png/jpeg into lecture notes. What settings are people using and how many pages/file size?

Is there a way to make the hover marker smaller? Love how you can scroll pages without touching the screen but find it annoying when writing. Can't the default hover dot be used that comes with the tablet after enabling it in settings and still have lecture notes functionality?
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@HasC: Text is presently rendered into your notebook and not kept as text, hence it is not searchable (if you export your notebooks for instance to Evernote, they will run a recognition over your notes and make it searchable, though).

Assuming a notebook page size of 1280 times 1811 for A4 without margins, a PDF resolution of 155 dpi fits exactly the resolution (A4 width is 21 cm, which is 8.2677 in, and 1280 dots divided by 8.2677 inch gives 154.8 dots per inch).

At the moment, the hover size cannot be changed, but this is an interesting idea, I noted it down.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] Nefariouss:
I know this is off topic but Acadoid you have to be one of the best android app developers. Thanks for your work and interaction with your customers.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@Nefariouss: Many thanks for your kind comments.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] toenail_flicker:
Thanking the dev for his great work is very "on topic" IMO, and I agree. Thanks for being the great dev you are, acadoid.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] junrider:
@acadoid: Is there a feature to import whole pdf files into LN? I downloaded your pdf viewer, but when I tried to import it only allows me to do 1 page and then I have to resize the pdf page.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] HasC:
Hi junrider, hope you don't mind me answering and pointing out that there is a comprehensive help file that acadoid has provided in the app, it also has a search function which is where I have taken the following answer from in reference to pdf's:

To annotate a PDF file, either :

1. convert it to PNG files, one PNG file per page, and combine the PNG files in a single ZIP file (the order in the ZIP file determines the order of import), open notebook overview, select ‘Import image set as new pages’ in the main menu, and select the ZIP file (requires a file manager app to be installed for ZIP file selection);

2. alternatively, install the PDFView helper app for PDF on-the-fly conversion to PNG and import PDF files directly, either 1. page by page in notebook content view by selecting ‘Import PDF’ in the main menu, 2. all pages at once in notebook overview by selecting ‘Import PDF as new pages’ in the main menu, or

3. create a new notebook on the notebooks board based on all pages of a PDF file by selecting ‘Import PDF as new notebook’ in the main menu (requires a file manager app to be installed for PDF file selection and PDFView for PDF rendering, cf. the app's settings for PDF rendering resolution and margins). In any case, it is advisable to use the app's multi-layer capabilities and import the to-be-annotated material into the first layer and put your annotations into the second layer, this allows for instance to erase your writing without interfering with the imported material.

Import notebook’ and ‘Import image set as new pages’ require a file manager app to be installed for ZIP file selection; ‘Import PDF’ and ‘Import PDF as new pages’ require a file manager app to be installed for PDF file selection and PDFView to be installed for PDF rendering; ‘Export to Evernote’ and ‘Export tagged pages to Evernote’ require the Evernote app to be installed.

I have used step 3 above and it works really well.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] junrider:
I was missing the notebook overview instruction. Thank you.

Only thing with the layering has added lag to the program when using it on portrait mode but not lag in landscape... or is it just me 41 pages of pdf.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@HasC: Thanks for answering junrider's question.

I uploaded v1.16.11 into Google Play (I learned today about a bug in notebook overview which this update fixes) which allows to adjust the hover size in the app's settings.

@junrider: The CPU time for rendering scales in first order with the area of a notebook page shown. In case your notebook pages are of portrait shape and you set `Fit width´, more of a notebook page is shown in portrait than in landscape device orientation (approx. full page vs approx. half page, depending on the aspect ratios). When you zoom in, the rendering will get faster again.

@toenail_flicker: Many thanks for your kind comments which I much appreciate.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] HasC:
Wow, that was fast! I tried adjusting the setting and it is almost perfect, I set it to the lowest value which is the same size as the Samsung hover dot. The only issue is that there are two dots that appear because I have the hover dot on by default.

Thanks for making the change though, it's much better than the big circle you had earlier.

Just a couple more suggestions for future if you have time, can we have an arrow drawing tool just like the circle and rectangle one. Also a small icon for a note whereby you can place the note icon next to a sentence on a pdf and when clicked, it expands to show personal notes you made against the sentence. Last but not least, on the floating tool bar, can we have the arrows to move back and forth between pages?

Thanks again for all your help.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] ratindahat:
@acadoid. Recent updates were nice. Just have to find a way of fixing the jaggies and what not. Other than that, working great.

Did you pick up a note yet?
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] toenail_flicker:
Yes, he got one.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@ratindahat: Yes, my Note 10.1 finally arrived. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the point of view), I do not see any jagged lines. I was wondering whether I just got a particularly well done hardware, or whether Samsung did something on the software side.

---------- Post added at 10:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:49 AM ----------

@HasC: Glad to hear that you like it.

To improve concerning the drawing tools is on my agenda. I plan to allow users to define their own drawing tools using JavaScript, similarly as to the custom paper pattern, but I have to ask you for some patience.

Should link to notes be within the PDF file? LectureNotes cannot directly handle PDF.

There are arrow icons which allow to move page-wise (disabled by default).
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] Ravlyk:
ilmntl didft

This is great app.

But I have an issue, when I try to import PDF as new notebook it shows Choose File dialog with DropBox folder and I can't select any other location. Does anyone know why is that and how to fix it?

Thanks.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] HasC:
I'll wait patiently for the improved drawing tools!

The link to the notes will be fine if available on a layer as a tool. It just so that I can use it for further clarification if I am learning a new system or putting in my comments, its just to enable longer note taking where marking the pdf will not be suffcient.

I use quite few options at the top that use up most of the space and cannot see a slide option to pick others that do not immediately show up so thought that it might be good to add it on the floating tool bar. If a slide style selection can be incorporated where the user can slide and pick other menu options that are not visable on the main screen, that would also be good.

Thanks
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] smrsxn:
@acadoid: I had a few queries

1) are notes taken with lecturenotes compatible with microsoft onenote?

Asking because my company already has office2010 installed, and hence onenote is more sharable format.

2) is there a way to export diagrams created in LN with no handwritten/handdrawn stuff (just shapes, arrows and textbox) to microsoft visio format?

I installed a trial version of LN, and am happy for the functionality it provides... if it can be used to share notes with others who don't have LN themselves for further edits, then this is the tool i was looking for.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] acadoid:
@Ravlyk: You need a file manager installed for PDF file selection (if you want to pick a PDF file on your device).

@HasC: Keywords can be links to external files and web addresses, you can click on them in the index and a viewer is started (see the app's help page for details); this is not exactly what you suggest but somewhat close. Too many icons are a problem, I plan to add a `icons toolbox´ in the future. In the meanwhile, scrolling can be done by volume keys (advance is adjustable) or dragging the scroll bars (enable `permanently display scroll bars´ for that).

@smrsxn: Your notes are stored in PNG files, which is a standard format for bitmaps. I am not sure whether OneNote can handle that. There is presently no `interpretation´ of your notes, neither handwriting nor drawing. To share notes to persons not using LectureNotes is probably best done as PDF file.
[Galaxy Note 10.1 General] smrsxn:
Thanks for the quick response.

Being able to also edit my tablet notes from windows platform is my basic use-case.

I was really impressed with customizability of LN. Hopefully LN will evolve from storing notes in a proprietry format to a more common editable format.

I will look elsewhere till then. Good Luck!