9 iOS, Android Apps To Creatively Boost Productivity
The need for creative workers spans all industries. These mobile apps can help IT pros brainstorm new ideas and organize their thoughts to improve problem-solving.
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Most people typically associate creativity with inherently artistic fields such as writing, design, or music. Technology isn't often included among those fields that immediately come to mind.
However, creativity is core to professions across all industries and technology is no exception. It inspires employees to open their minds, approach situations from unique angles, and generate ideas to solve problems and come up with new ideas for the business.
While it's important for employees to think creatively in their day-to-day roles, it's equally important for managers to give them freedom to express their ideas. As new technologies continue to roll out, companies will need fresh ideas as they figure out how to accommodate them.
"Promoting a culture of creativity requires honing the skills of observation and invention -- generally the purview of artists and designers -- throughout your organization and aligning core systems to reinforce the creative process," Barbara Dyer, president and CEO of The Hitachi Foundation, wrote in Fortune.
[Is your company hunting for analytical workers? Here are 10 traits to seek.]
Popular business apps are being updated to help support creativity in the workplace. Microsoft, for example, recently updated Office apps, including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, in order to support fingertip scribbles. Users can now draw or write directly on the app. This feature was previously limited to the iPad and iPad Pro.
The new feature makes it easier to jot down new ideas as they come to mind, and accommodate visual learners who are more likely to doodle pictures rather than write words as they brainstorm.
For IT pros who need a boost to jump-start their creativity, an outlet to express themselves, or a means of organizing ideas, there are several mobile apps available across the Apple Store and Google Play.
We're highlighting mobile apps that can drive employee creativity in the enterprise. Have you used any of these apps, or have any to add to the list? We welcome your thoughts and recommendations in the comments section.
Brainsparker leverages creativity prompts to help overcome mental blocks and spark creative thinking, new ideas, and innovation.
The app works like a deck of cards, each of which has a different creative thinking prompt. When you find yourself in need of inspiration, you shuffle the cards and tap the screen for a random word or phrase. You then try to relate these terms to the problem at hand, and see if they lead to inspiration. The random selection is intended to help you keep an open mind.
Brainsparker is free to download on iOS, with additional decks of cards available for purchase within the app. A similar app called Idea Card is available for free on Android.
The idea behind SyncSpace is one of enabling visual collaboration no matter where the sharers are. It's essentially a whiteboard that can be shared online in real-time.
SyncSpace lets you and your team sketch out ideas in a zoomable space, meaning your blank canvas is nearly limitless. You can zoom out to build on a sketch or zoom in to add more detail when necessary. Anyone can update a drawing so long as they have SyncSpace and are connected to the internet.
If you want people to contribute to a document, you can invite them via iMessage or email. When a sketch is complete, you can send it to any app that supports PDF files, including Dropbox, Evernote, or iBooks.
SimpleMind is a mind mapping app designed to help you organize your thoughts, remember notes, and generate new ideas.
The mind mapping process begins with an image at the center of the Mind Map. From there, you can reorganize and restructure ideas by dragging, rotating, rearranging and reconnecting them. The app lets you add media and documents including images, videos, voice memos, links, and icons.
When complete, you can sync the Mind Map with Dropbox, share it as an image or PDF, or use presentation mode to show it to others. You can also use Dropbox to recover deleted Mind Maps and restore earlier versions, since Dropbox stores deleted files and file versions for at least 30 days.
Brain Wave aims to alter your mood through sound. The app is based on the idea that different states of mind are associated with different brainwave frequencies, which would be inaudible if played directly.
To change your state of mind, Brain Wave plays a different audible binaural tone in each ear. When the brain processes these tones, it perceives them as low-frequency beats matching a target brainwave frequency. As you listen to the tones, they align with the intended frequency and, in theory, will change your state of mind.
These frequencies can be used to stimulate several brainwaves over a set amount of time that you choose. Some states of mind the app aims to activate include creativity boost, anger relief, motivation boost, deep relaxation, memory boost, and critical thinking.
Brain Wave is available for $4.99 on iOS. A similar app called Brain Waves is available for free on Android.
Paper by FiftyThree is designed to help you record and connect notes, sketches, and photos. You can use the app to build checklists, scribble notes, or highlight the details in pictures to keep track of moments and ideas that inspire you.
By bringing text, sketches, and photos together, you can keep your ideas organized while seeing how all of your content connects. It's intended to drive inspiration in a way that separate checklists can't. You can then share your ideas as PDFs and Keynote or PowerPoint documents.
Paper also accommodates more visual learners who want to brainstorm new ideas. Mindless doodling, for example, gets a bad reputation as a task we do out of boredom. In fact, this drawing and scribbling can keep your brain actively engaged and visual learners can use it to turn their thoughts and words into images.
Paper by FiftyThree is available for free on iOS. A similar app called Bamboo Paper is available for free on Android.
Skitch is a handy tool for keeping track of inspiration and sharing your thoughts. You use the app to snap photos of whatever strikes you, mark up the photo with simple tools, and send it to yourself or others.
It's easy to see how the app can be used for fun -- anyone can use Skitch to take a silly photo, add a doodle, and pass it along via SMS, social media, or email. However, it's just as useful for productivity. You can use Skitch to give feedback on a PDF, mark up a screenshot, or annotate a map if you need directions to an event or want to remember a specific place.
Skitch is free to download on iOS, though the PDF mark-up feature requires an in-app purchase. A similar app called Nimbus Clipper is available for free on Android.
Need a motivational boost? Take some time to listen to one of more than 2,000 TED Talks packed into the iOS and Android mobile apps for your daily dose of inspiration.
TED Talks come from a range of experts and focus on topics ranging from technology to science to human psychology. You can use the app to find talks on a certain topic, build a custom playlist, bookmark talks to watch at a later time, or download talks to watch offline.
Lucidchart makes it easier to build diagrams, flowcharts, network diagrams, process flows, wireframes, and other types of diagrams on a mobile device.
You start with a pre-built template and hundreds of shapes, which you can use to store and organize ideas. The app also enables you to collaborate with team members on new documents, which can be exported as PDF or PNG files. Some sample use cases for Lucidchart include mind maps, brainstorming, Venn diagrams, concept maps, workflow diagrams, and data flow diagrams.
The basic version of Lucidchart gives you access to unlimited documents and unlimited shapes per document. Upgrading to Pro will give you this plus Visio and Omnigraffle import, Visio export, and full access to shape libraries.
Lucidchart is free to sign up, and registration gives you cloud syncing, diagram backup, and access to Lucidchart diagrams on all devices. However, in-app purchases are available with pricing structures based on version and number of users. It's available on iOS and Android.
GoodNotes is a handy tool to have for jotting down notes as inspiration strikes. You can use it to type notes with the keyboard, scribble shapes, or insert images. The app also serves as a digital whiteboard. Viewers don't see the user interface, only the content, and you control the part of the page they see.
If you accidentally delete something, GoodNotes has a trash function to prevent permanent loss. It can automatically back up content to Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, or SkyDrive. The app also has a search function go you can search for old handwritten content. While it's useful for writing notes, you can also use it to annotate PDF content.
GoodNotes costs $7.99 on iOS. A similar tool called Moment Diary is available for free on Android.
GoodNotes is a handy tool to have for jotting down notes as inspiration strikes. You can use it to type notes with the keyboard, scribble shapes, or insert images. The app also serves as a digital whiteboard. Viewers don't see the user interface, only the content, and you control the part of the page they see.
If you accidentally delete something, GoodNotes has a trash function to prevent permanent loss. It can automatically back up content to Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, or SkyDrive. The app also has a search function go you can search for old handwritten content. While it's useful for writing notes, you can also use it to annotate PDF content.
GoodNotes costs $7.99 on iOS. A similar tool called Moment Diary is available for free on Android.
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