I have tried other Productivity apps that organize ideas graphically, but Popplet is by far the easiest to use. I don’t end up using the other similar apps, as I just find it easier to use regular writing apps and organize as I write just with words. Yet with Popplet, as I was experimenting and trying out the app, I actually began writing it in my head and found I couldn’t help but start putting all these words and pictures into the app to organize the article.
Opening the app takes you to the homebase of the app where it shows your current popplets, allows you to create new ones, and also invites you to sign up to use Popplet online. However, the Popplet website only works on a computer, and not with iPad. Presumably if you’re using it on an iPad, you wan’t need to view it online on an iPad. However, to float back and forth between the iPad and online, if a Popplet is started on the iPad, it needs to be stored in the online section to appear in the website.
Any number of Popplets can be created, meaning you can have multiple projects and idea-forming sessions going on at once. However, only five projects at a time can be saved online. To start, simply name it and choose a color.
A “popple”, an idea bubble, opens up within the popplet you’ve created. It allows you to input text, pictures, or draw an image. Alignment and three different sizes of text can be chosen.
To plot out your project or idea, just click on one of the four dots surrounding the popple and draw a line. Another popple opens up, allowing you to input more text, images, or drawings. Thoughts and ideas can be thrown together and connected to follow your train of thought. Separate related ideas can be organized as well and left unconnected.
Creating the popplet in this manner allows for you to see the whole thing put together. Popples can be added or deleted at any time, but you won’t need to do it often, as it flows along so easily with your ntural thought process. It’s a great tool for anyone who struggles to organize or who is visual.
Finishing your Popplet, you can email a .pdf or .jpg of it, or you can also save it as a .jpg. The only thing that would make this app even better would be the ability to synch the Popplets with Evernote or something similar, as I had to copy and past each popple separately to get the text into WordPress to submit this article.
