Ping Analyzer - Graphical Network Ping - App Review

This App has nothing to do with table tennis; just thought I'd clear that up first...

A Ping is the length of time it takes for packets of data to reach a host.

A Pong is an awful smell.

Glad we've cleared that up... any confusion, that is.

Now for the ACIDS test:

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If you're a networking whizz then, you've no doubt already got all the tools you need but, for the rest of us, this makes for interesting data... or presumably also if you've forgotten your kit.

All you need do is enter an I.P. address (try 192.168.1.1, which has a more than fair chance of being your router) and watch what happens.

You have a graph of the time taken for individual Pings, as well as values for average, minimum, and maximum RTT (Round Trip Time), Jitter, Packet Loss (above 0% and there is a potential issue), Line Quality (perhaps just look at this and check for 5 thumbs up), Network MOS (4.10 being the best theoretical PC to PC call, and the chances are you will be seeing a higher score).

Cost
The App is absolutely free.

Indispensability
OK, you're not going to use this every day but what if you find that changing the position of a device from on the floor to on a table gives you better results... could have saved you a call.

Dependability
Let's assume that the results given are correct!

Security
Perhaps seeing how easy it is to connect with another device will have you concerned; that's not a bad thing.

ACIDS Test Rating:

Great tool for free.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get Ping Analyzer - Graphical Network Ping here and support for the App here.

System Monitor - App Review

So, just what is going on in your iOS device?

I'm a glutton for good graphics, so this App is worth a look.

Now for the ACIDS test:

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There are a number of options on the left of the screen, the rest of the real estate being used to display information, some of it in great graphics:

Memory
A neat 'speedometer' to show the percentage of memory in use, as well as digital readings for free and used memory.

Battery
A graphic of a battery with digital reading of charge left, as well as an indication of the time needed to recharge.

Processes
Presumably, this should list the processes currently running. You'd be amazed at how many there 'normally' are (including some of the names); unfortunately, this remained resolutely blank.

Disk Info
So, how much space have you left on your iOS device to add more? This again gives you graphical and digital representations.

Device Info
Detailed information on system, display, connection support, battery, physical, hardware features.

Cost
The App costs a nominal $1; you can double that by an in-App purchase of realtime graphs.

Indispensability
More for curiosity.

Dependability
As mentioned previously, the processes tab does not seem to function. There are also times when getting detailed information overwrites other parts of the screen, which then do not refresh.

Security
No issues detected during testing.

ACIDS Test Rating:

For the curious.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get System Monitor here and support for the App here.

WireShare - App Review

Like most people, you probably have masses of Apps on your iOS devices; each of those Apps then has content and finding it can be a bit of a chore.

Think of WireShare as a filing cabinet where you can keep pretty well anything.

Now for the ACIDS test:

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There are basically 2 aspects to this App:

Files Resource
This is where you get your files into the App. There is a myriad of possibilities such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive (was SkyDrive), Box, SugarSync, Baidu, FTP server, WebDav Server and others. You can also get files directly from the web, your camera roll, or via wi-fi transfer.

Files Available Locally
Once the files have been transferred to your iOS device (or to the App), all these files are available from within the App. The file type is really comprehensive: pdf, epub, txt, chm, key,numbers, pages, doc, docs, xls, xlsx, ppt, pptx, rtf, rtfd, htm, html, png, jpg, jpeg, gif, tif, tiff, bmp, tga, rar ,zip, tar, mp3, wav, m4a, aac, caf, mp4, mpv, m4v, mov, rmvb, rm, vob, asf, wmv, flv, avi, f4v, mpeg, mpg, ts, m2ts; that should keep you happy.

Cost
The App costs $4

Indispensability
The selling point for this App is that you can have many different things at your fingertips without the need to swap from one App to another.

Dependability
There wasn't enough time to test every single file type transferred but those that were worked fine.

Security
There is potentially a lot of file transfer so, as ever, be careful.

ACIDS Test Rating:

Information, centralised.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get WireShare here and support for the App here.

GSDfaster - App Review

The developer reminds us of the maxim espoused by Dwight D. Eisenhower: “What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important”. Whether or not President/General Eisenhower originated the phrase is irrelevant; what is important is that it is true.

Get Stuff Done Faster aims to help you decide which box to choose and hence prioritise properly.

Now for the ACIDS test:

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If you want to prioritise 'things' then, splitting them into the Important Urgent, Important Not Urgent, Not Important Urgent, and Not Important Not Important matrix is an excellent system.

You start by hitting the + and just throwing in everything, one item at a time. Each of these will automatically generate a Process. Whenever you feel like it, review the Processes and select the Important and Urgent on/off switches. In addition you can easily put these into individual buckets (there are some already set and you can easily add/edit/delete these) and optionally assign due dates as well as tags. Especially if you are getting started, turning on the 'Eisenhower Decision Tip' option will help you ensure that you answer appropriately. Then touch the Process icon; your items to be processed will reduce each time you do this.

You've now got a counter on individual buckets, as well as a Due Dates counter.

Cost
Unbelievably, this App is absolutely free, $0.

Indispensability
Everyone needs to be organised; GSDfaster helps you get some discipline into your life.

Dependability
The App works as expected, just a minor niggle that the help is only available on-line.

Security
Dropbox sync is supported.

ACIDS Test Rating:

There's now no excuse for not prioritising.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get GSDfaster here and support for the App here.

CleanUp Suite - App Review

Over time, our contact lists become clogged up with rubbish. One of the main causes is simply duplicates. It's so easy to add a contact on your iPhone, then suddenly add the same person because you got their address on your iPad, and then lots more information because you happen to be using a PC at your desk. Unless you're extremely well organised (and have an excellent memory), you'll end up with duplicates.

CleanUp Suite aims to help you out.

Now for the ACIDS test:

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In order to use the App you, obviously, need to allow access to your contacts. If you agree to the privacy policy, let the App do its thing.

You will then be presented with a screen displaying total contacts (this is the same number as before you started), contacts after you clean, full duplicates, and partial duplicates; adding the last 3 numbers together should, of course, give you the headline number.

You are then invited to review duplicates. This will present you with a list with all selected; it's probably easiest to use the 'Filter' at the bottom right and select 'Full Duplicates'. You can now check a sample (or all if you are a real Luddite) to confirm that these are really duplicates, then select 'Merge (top right). Your contacts will now be reduced by the duplicates.

It's now worthwhile running the exercise again, and dealing with partial duplicates, and this time possibly check each one as you might need them both (or more) kept separately.

Cost
The App costs $1.

Indispensability
You're more than capable of checking for duplicate records yourself but, there's no way you can do it this fast, and for only $1, there's no contest.

Dependability
When testing, all duplicate records found were exactly that however, there were also duplicates that were not found.

Security
Before using the App, check the Privacy rules. Remember that you are sharing your contact information.

ACIDS Test Rating:

Saves a lot of time in cleaning up your contacts.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get CleanUp Suite here and support for the App here.

Clipboard Manager QuickClip - App Review

Having recently reviewed quite a few Apps that attempted to be all things to all men, it's refreshing to try one that has just one purpose.

Clipboard Manager QuickClip is a store for any text that you want to copy.

Now for the ACIDS test:

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You basically have a blank page, except for an Edit (select and delete any item) and Settings Cog (Auto add when active, avoid duplication, iCloud synchronisation).

If you have the 'Auto add when active' option turned on then (as long as the App is open), any text that you copy from any other App will appear on the Clipboard Manager QuickClip screen.

The individual items are date stamped and are copied (to use somewhere else), just by tapping.

Cost
The App costs a nominal $1.

Indispensability
You can obviously copy and paste text already but, having a temporary (or more, should you require) store is a neat solution.

Dependability
The App works as advertised but only copies text; images are saved as a reference to the url at which they are stored.

Security
Apart from the use of iCloud, this is a free-standing App.

ACIDS Test Rating:

Only does one thing but does it very well.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get Clipboard Manager QuickClip here and support for the App here.

Printability - App Review

Are you a PDF nut? Don't worry, you're not alone (not by a very, very long way).

Sometimes, all you want to do is convert a web page to a PDF on your iOS device; Printability does this for you.

Now for the ACIDS test:

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Having installed the App, just use Safari for browsing, as you normally would.

When you come to a page that you would like to save as a PDF document, touch the 'share' icon. Printability will appear as an option; choose it.

Unfortunately, this does not always work and even touching the 'if this site is displayed incorrectly, click here' icon does not necessarily resolve the issue.

However, if you copy and paste the url of the page that interests you into the + on the Printability home screen, then it works perfectly.

Cost
The App costs $2.

Indispensability
If you love PDF, worth considering.

Dependability
As previously mentioned, the App seems to work best by copying and pasting the url.

Security
No issues found during testing.

ACIDS Test Rating:

PDF from URL.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get Printability here and support for the App here.

Fluent Mind Map - App Review

Bam - idea; boom - idea: smash - idea... well, your ideas may not make as much (or as silly) noises as mine but, for sure, you have them.

The problem with ideas is that when the creative juices are flowing, they tend to come a number at a time and, unless you write them down, the moment is usually gone.

Fluent Mind Map is a mind mapping App.

Now for the ACIDS test:

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You can start by pressing the + to create a new document and type to give it a name. Double tap to change the colour, font, and alignment. You can also drag the item wherever you want on the page. Tap and hold to create a sibling.

The padlock icon allows you to easily either allow editing, or not; in the latter state you can freely move items around, safe in the knowledge that you will not alter the contents.

Creating relationships between items (other than those that are already related, of course), simply involves double tapping the source, choosing the connector icon, and then tapping the related item(s).

Cost
Unbelievably, this App is absolutely free; $0.00.

Indispensability
If you haven't tried mind mapping, this is a great place to start... and probably stay, as well.

The App does ensure that your mind mad is neat which can otherwise be a bit of a chore.

Dependability
The App works as described. The issue with mind mapping is that you cannot just throw an idea out and connect it later, it needs a connection to be entered at the outset.

Security
There are lots of ways to share your mind maps, as well as different formats.

ACIDS Test Rating:

Mind mapping made easy.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get Fluent Mind Map here and support for the App here.

ThinkBook - App Review

ThinkBook, or to give it its full moniker, ThinkBook - Todos, Notes, Projects, Outlines does a lot.

There are those who like specific Apps for specific purposes, and those who would prefer an umbrella App; this is one of the latter.

Now for the ACIDS test:

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Interestingly, or differently, this App starts up populated with information, so that you really get a feel for the different things that can be done.

Although text (whatever classification you give it) is the mainstay of this App, it is the slider to the right of the screen that is the single tool that you will use the most often. Simply use one finger to move the slider. >This can be used for dragging notes into folders, or dragging notes into the slider to delete them (two fingers will create a copy). Somewhat more expectedly, the slider allows you to reorder your notes.

Pressing the 'i' on any given note allows to set tags, share and set other parameters.

You end up with notes (whether Todos, Notes, Projects, or Outlines) neatly listed which are easy to edit (either content or location)..

Cost
The App is free and there are in-App purchases to get iCloud support, different notebook covers, and additional themes.

Indispensability
I'm sure you need at least some of Todos, Notes, Projects, Outlines... the question is whether or not you want them together; the choice is, of course, yours.

Dependability
The App works as described in the easily accessible 'ThinkBook Manual'.

Security
You need to be careful when sharing (especially Facebook and Twitter) that you are actually sharing the information you want. This particularly important if you have different levels of outline nested.

ACIDS Test Rating:

Great combined App.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get ThinkBook here and support for the App here.

Cloud Outliner 2 Pro - App Review

Good ideas come to you at any time, any place, not just when you are sitting in front of your PC or tablet. Cloud Outliner 2 Pro allows you to enter your latest brain wave, either as the start of a new project, or add it directly into an existing plan. The big plus of this App is the integration with Evernote and iCloud.

Now for the ACIDS test:

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The first thing that will strike you with the App is that you have a nearly blank canvas to work on; a full page for your notes, uncluttered with extraneous icons.

The icons that are present allow you to create a new outline, new folder, as well as access to settings (theme, spell checking, synchronisation (Evernote, iCloud, and iTunes), colour...).

Most outliners make the job of reordering, whether to move an item up/down, or left/right in the hierarchy a nightmare. Cloud Outliner 2 Pro makes it an absolute breeze; just move the item with one finger to anywhere in the chart.

The App also supports check boxes which make it easy to see if a task is complete (if you are using the App for this purpose).

To synchronise your outline, just drag the window down and the App takes care of the rest.

Cost
The App costs $3 and there is also a lite version for you to check out if you aren't convinced.

Indispensability
If you're a structured kind of person then, outlines are your lifeline; this App could well be the one for you.

If you're an Evernote Nut (welcome to the club), this App is indispensable.

Dependability
If you've ever been frustrated by check boxes not synchronising properly between Evernote and an App, you'll welcome this App; (drum roll) the developer has cracked the problem.

Security
Individual documents can be password protected. As far as the developer is concerned, there is a detailed Privacy Policy on their site; well done.

ACIDS Test Rating:

An outliner that anyone can use; brilliant.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get Cloud Outliner 2 Pro here and support for the App here.