View Full Version : Diary on the smartphone
During my last hike last autumn I tried to switch my diary from paper&pencil to the smartphone.
It kind of worked. The typing on the small screen is tedious, but for the limited text I'm typically typing in the diary it was OK, especially compared to the hand writing in a small diary book (which was tedious since ever anyway).
Two major problems I found on the smartphone:
- I didn't find a nice and simple app for writing a diary that basically works offline but has the option to upload the content, or send it by email to a preset address, as soon as there is an internet connection.
The "xyz-notes"-apps I got in touch so far focus on being online from the first time, and just maybe provide an option to work offline.
- Typing on the smartphone takes some time, and due to the bright screen uses quite a lot of battery.
Know the Kindle app, which can be set to white letters against black background, which is a huge battery saver.
I'd very much like to have the same option for doing the diary work.
What do you use?
Any special suggestions?
Check out Wordpress. I was able to type offline in airplane mode, then post it later.
Thanks,
Installed the WordPress app, setup an account, but so far didn't find a way to get a simple black background for texting.
Most likely due to my very limited skills in such things.
Any idea?
displacedbeatnik
04-19-2016, 08:33
You'll probably still need to configure all of your backgrounds and other widgets on the site. The app is kind of useless for that. Although you can do all of the customizing under the Look and Feel menu.
Also, you may want to check out trailjournals.com. It takes all of the configuration out of the equation and just lets you post quick updates with minimal internet usage.
If all you want is a diary, something to keep your personal notes on, then wordpress is much, much too heavy duty for you. Wordpress is great if you want to post a blog to the internet.
Are you on an Android or an iPhone device? Apps are specific to those platforms......
Sigh. I use "Color Note" on the android, and change the "Theme" to "Dark" for my note taking. :)
Another Kevin
04-19-2016, 11:48
I usually use my little yellow notebook, because I hate trying to type on the smartphone. I recently picked up a folding Bluetooth keyboard, which I've been meaning to try for field notes. I haven't tried it yet. I likely wouldn't bring it on a longer trip, it's not worth the weight. I'd just go back to my low-tech little yellow notebook and transcribe my stuff in town.
MuddyWaters
04-19-2016, 12:26
Journey app.
You can speak a page faster than type a sentence.
Works fantastic on android. Can upload too.
Another Kevin
04-19-2016, 13:09
Journey app.
You can speak a page faster than type a sentence.
Works fantastic on android. Can upload too.
Does the speech recognition work without a network connection?
Does the speech recognition work without a network connection?
That would be my concern as well. It worked from "S Memo" with my phone in Airplane mode, so I think so. (?!?)
Quality of the output is still a concern...
I would be tempted to use the smartphone as a voice recorder -- but would need to watch file sizes... A 22 second recording was about 350 KB. I think that could be reduced with compression. Will have to check it out some time...
MuddyWaters
04-19-2016, 13:58
Does the speech recognition work without a network connection?
Of course.
Just make sure google voice typing is turned on under the android keyboard settings.
For example. This is a paragraph that I tested. It works fine. I don't think I had a single mistake. It only took me a second or two to say this. Google Voice typing is freaking awesome dude
You will have more errors offline, but its still easier to correct a few than to peck it all by finger.
Turk6177
04-19-2016, 14:06
I like to take a few single or couple word notes on a piece of paper when I end my day while events are fresh in my mind. Later, after settling in and eating, I use the notepad feature on my iPhone and expand my notes into mini blogs. Each day is a new note. When I hit wifi in town, they automatically upload to the cloud so I don't fear losing them. Later you can use them and put them in any kind of journal format you like. I generally try to update my trips in trailjournals.com.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm not going to be happy with Wordpress.
While it works great for keeping an online journal, it does not meet my expectation in terms of energy saving (simple black background).
Even tried to set the whole Android to color inversion, but this renders most of Android and other apps pretty unusable.
So yes, I really want to simply write my private diary, every evening, thats mostly short notices about technical details of the hike and some key words about important things happened during the day.
I am not used to dictate a text, and would not like doing this in the quiet of the evening, or sitting in a group of other poeple.
Being able to upload the diary as soon as there is reception would be nice in order to not lose it in case of memory failure, but thats not a mandatory feature. I have the habit to keep all my data on two places (read: on two memory cards, one in the digicam and one in the smartphone), and I actually do synchronize the data on both cards many a time. Not very likely both cards fail, or both devices get lost at the same time. And if this happens, the lost diary will be my least worry.
I will have a look at "Color Note", like KidA24 suggested.
Any other idea is welcome...
A Bluetooth keyboard might make typing easier. Probably 3 or 4 oz.?
The typing is not the real problem. Usually there is enough time in the evening to gather the ideas and to use this tiny phone screen to type the text. Found out that it works in about the same time than hand writing.
The biggest concern is the battery usage. While I use maybe 5% of battery capacity per day for navigation (that means, looking for the position every now and than - no tracking) and an occassional photo, it easily took another 5-10% for texting.
So while I could go for up to 10 days with one charge just for navigation, this would shrink to 4-5 days when doing my diary as well. Thats not enough for my purpose.
Spare battery power is available. How much do you need, 10000 mAh? 15000 mAh. It's just a little extra weight ;)
I have a 5200 mAh spare pack that weighs about 4 or 5 oz. Jackery 12000 mAh is 10.4 oz.
Ha, I knew this was coming up <G>
I do carry a battery pack thats good for two full charges of the phone.
But I've developed the habit to always have a plan B and C.
The story when I learned this the hard way I don't want to tell here in public, in order to not get kicked out from here due to bad example<G>
So yes, I carry a powerbank. And no, I dont take this into calculation.
I want to use my phone in a mode that saves as much battery as possible.
Greenlight
04-19-2016, 17:12
I'm rocking an iPhone 6s with Evernote as my data collector. An add on to that that makes taking notes a cinch is the vJournal app that feeds your diary entries directly to Evernote when you get in range of wifi/cellular data. It has a very simple interface, you can take pictures and use voice entry from the keyboard with the iPhone. When I'm hiking, I input multiple "snippet" entries along the trail, including pix, and it's all saved and available from any connected platform (computer, smartphone, tablet) by simply opening up Evernote. You can even designate someone else to compile your entries and pix into a blog post or edited product from a remote location by giving them the username and password to your Evernote account. It works for me, and it's only one option among many great options, but I like it.
~Greenlight
admirald7s
04-19-2016, 17:21
...
I would be tempted to use the smartphone as a voice recorder -- but would need to watch file sizes... A 22 second recording was about 350 KB. I think that could be reduced with compression. Will have to check it out some time...
It's already compressing your audio. You might be able to tweak settings to get a higher compression if you're willing to suffer the resulting degraded signal.
It's already compressing your audio. You might be able to tweak settings to get a higher compression if you're willing to suffer the resulting degraded signal.
350KB sounds like a lot only cuz I'm an old phart. A single picture from my phone is 2.5 - 3 MB (JPG.)
So I gave ColorNote a try.
Looks very promising, slick and lean interface, nice black setting.
But when typing, the keyboard area covers more than half of the screen, and of course is bright white, as always.
So this renders all the intention of battery saving pretty useless.
handlebar
04-19-2016, 18:50
I use the generic Notepad app on the iPhone in airplane mode. When I have WIFI in town or 4G, I copy and paste my journal entries into trailjournals using the regular internet app. I've been doing it that way since the Pocketmail went out of business.
Cedar1974
04-19-2016, 19:00
Call me old fashioned, but I plan on taking an actual book to write in. See pen and ink never run out of batteries. I even know what kind of journal I am going to buy.
Ditto Handlebar's suggestion. I used the iPhone 6 Notes app for my log, I made a new note each day so I would have less chance of accidently deleting something. When I got home, just copy/paste into a single document. I saved a copy as a PDF. I also was able to access BlogSpot in towns and post entries. Ankar makes decent batteries to extend power between towns.
For a first test run last autumn I ran a paper diary synchronous to a digital version, which I did by my mail app, typing an endless mail chaptered for every single day, which I sent to a mail account me and my wife has access to.
Was fun for her getting a long diary-style mail every now and then, for me the typing and overall handling was very OK, better and easier than the paper version.
The big downside was the battery consumption, which I try to solve now with the help of this forum.
It seems that there is no better advice than the dark theme of ColorNote (which is very OK per se), and some power bank?
Traveler
04-20-2016, 05:30
Call me old fashioned, but I plan on taking an actual book to write in. See pen and ink never run out of batteries. I even know what kind of journal I am going to buy.
+1
I have carried a small journal book for years to write in. Beyond the pen/pencil and paper not needing batteries and the combination can be lighter than technology with their recharging systems, the written journal is a better fit for me than trying to type on teeny keys late in the day. Some days I may simply note the weather, mileage, verticality, time on the trail and minor details about the day. Other days I may spend a half hour describing a view or how a pine bough overhead whispers as the wind passes through it. I have tried to use cell phones for this and never found them to be nearly adequate for expression beyond basic observations.
For a first test run last autumn I ran a paper diary synchronous to a digital version, which I did by my mail app, typing an endless mail chaptered for every single day, which I sent to a mail account me and my wife has access to.
Was fun for her getting a long diary-style mail every now and then, for me the typing and overall handling was very OK, better and easier than the paper version.
The big downside was the battery consumption, which I try to solve now with the help of this forum.
It seems that there is no better advice than the dark theme of ColorNote (which is very OK per se), and some power bank?
If your keyboard is still white, you can chance the settings on your keyboard application. I'm not familiar with many, but I use swype+dragon keyboard, which I think cost me .99 and it has numerous themes which darken the keyboard for me.
Maui Rhino
04-20-2016, 11:53
I use the Smart Voice Recorder app to dictate my thoughts... Sometimes at camp, and sometimes while hiking. Less drain on the battery, faster, and hearing my poles clicking on rocks and gasping breath on some entries really take me back to the trail. Once home, I transcribed my voice notes.
displacedbeatnik
04-20-2016, 12:38
Call me old fashioned, but I plan on taking an actual book to write in. See pen and ink never run out of batteries. I even know what kind of journal I am going to buy.
Not old fashioned at all. I always use a paper journal when I urban backpack in Europe. But since I'm bringing my smart phone regardless, I might as well save the weight.
Sorry for the late answer, was busy the whole day.
Yes, changing the color style of the KB to black and very dark grey is possible on my phone, and running ColorNotes with this setup is pretty much perfect for me.
Thank you so much!