Grocery Apps

I have been working with several of the available (and "free") grocery applications for Android since my last post.  A few were tossed out of the competition quickly; having proved themselves to be unacceptable for normal use.  The 3 that are still installed on my phone have immense potential for everyday use.   List Ease, Out of Milk and Our Groceries are those lucky apps.
Let's discuss the good, bad, and ugly of these 3 Inventory/Grocery List Applications


List Ease

• Keeps track of $$$$ -- Allows you to input the cost of each item, as well as sales tax.  Will estimate the cost of your shopping list.
• Large barcode "vocabulary"  recognizes most products when scanned.
• List share and sync
• More features available when you upgrade to a subscription

Out of Milk

• Different types of lists -- Shopping, To Do, and Pantry(Inventory).  User creates sub categories within each to further organize items.
• This application is tied to an account, which means that you will not lose your lists if you uninstall for whatever reason (Like your SI surprising you by making Google Wallet work while you're putting groceries away; yes this happened during the course of my testing)
• Customization seems to be a huge part of this app.  Not only within the lists themselves, but in the settings as well.  The ability to change what actions do what is easily available, and fairly idiot-proof.
• List Sharing -- share lists using whatever means you wish

Our Groceries

• List Sharing/Sync -- can be requested or allowed from the app.
• Recipe section -- allows user to add ingredients to a shopping list

List Ease

• No dedicated section for recipes (although this could be done by making a new list for each recipe)
• Switching phones means lost lists.  Syncing does not work, leaving me to think that the developer abandoned users.

Out of Milk

• Scanning an item multiple times does not increase item count; instead creating another instance of the item, which can be slightly helpful if you have scanned two entirely different things, and the scan has resulted in identical item information.

Our Groceries

• Having switched phones this weekend I cannot access lists on the new phone that were created on the old. This was expected since there is no "sign-up" or "log in" to lead anyone to believe that it would sync.

I had totally planned on putting in the Ugly section as well.  Unfortunately, between life (aka looking for work and parenting) and a change in technology (I am now rocking a Moto X, and handed off ownership of my Note 2 today) I was unable to get as far as deciding just what the Ugly for each one was.  

And the Winner is....

I must admit that several note taking apps have made choosing only one of them a hugely difficult thing to do.
Previously I stated that the app that would win the Tottenmom approval stamp:

• should not have to install multiple apps to make it work
• The learning curve should be minimal for use
• S-pen compatibility
• Multiple notebooks (to keep class notes seperate) 
• File types (what are my export options)
• Efficiency (will I be able to keep up with a professor's lecture)
• Extra stuff

I have found 3 worth talking about with you, and will share them in no particular order.

1. FreeNote; which can do soooo many cool things, like import and take pictures, record voice and video, resizes text to fit on the paper lines; while keeping the text on the line (this means that you can't make text go "superscript" or "subscript", which is both a downfall and a positive, depending on the task at hand.  Outside of that, it's easy to figure out, responsive, and allows organizing of files.
2. AntiPaperNotes; is a bit different when it comes to the way it allows you to enter "written" data.  If you just open it up and start writing away, you will probably run out of room, however there is also a zoom feature, which allows you to place the "zoom" area where you want, and then allows you to navigate across or up and down the page as you need in order to put your notes where you want them.  Files can be exported as .jpg's or .png's which might work for sharing your course notes, but not for re-editing them, and likely not copy/pasting chosen parts either. I found it easy to understand and use, responsive, and easy on my eyes (which face it people, some apps just don't give a flying **** if you can see after you open their app or not).
3. HandRite is pretty awesome too, and is in some ways a blended version of #1 and #2.  Like AntiPaper, your handwritten text is resized and moved to the appropriate line on the paper, however, depending on which part of the "writing" area you use, you can have super and sub script with no real difficulty.  Like both of the others, it's easy to learn and use.  The "writing" area can be moved up or down on the screen here also, which is NOT possible in FreeNote, and to a lesser extent in AntiPaper, where the zoom area can be switched to the top or bottom depending on where you want it.  

I do plan to see about getting some screenshots posted in here in the near future, so keep an eye out for those.In the end, I feel like HandRite and AntiPaper are better options than FreeNote,  I call a TIE.  Please discuss below, and let me know what you think.

Taking Notes on the Note 2

Hi people,

I was looking for a better note taking app for my Note 2, since S Note really wasn't going to help me in a pinch if I actually needed to take notes with it in class.  I came across two (so far) that seemed to meet my needs, and after playing with both of them for a few minutes, I realized that I really should compare a few different ones, and share what I find...  Since I only just decided to do this in the last 5 minutes or so; it might take some time before I post the results.
I am more than happy to take suggestions for any free or trial versions for this little project, so if you have suggestions let me know.  So that there is no confusion, I want to make my basic wishlist for a note taking application clear ahead of time;

• I should not have to install multiple apps to make it work
• The learning curve should be minimal for use
• S-pen compatibility
• Multiple notebooks (to keep class notes seperate) 
• File types (what are my export options)
• Efficiency (will I be able to keep up with a professor's lecture)
• Extra stuff

The two I've started with are Handrite Free and LectureNotes (Trial Version); so let me know if there is another one I should take a look at and I'll check 'em out!