For many of us, the one major missing PIM piece for webOS has been a real, functional memos app, with the key features (sortability, categories) and most importantly desktop synchronization of the Memos app from PalmOS with Microsoft Outlook Notes (or, for some, Palm Desktop). While it appeared that the reason for the lack was out of Palm's control (neither Exchange ActiveSync nor Google Sync support notes as a separate content type), it was still a major blow for people like me, who have notes dating back years (in my case, since at least December 1996) that were either taken on or edited with a PalmOS device.
My notes have stayed with me through multiple jobs, because I've always been able to carry my Palm handheld to the next job and set up synchronization there. I've got information, call records, family history, and creative and business written work stored in notes, and I'm very used to being able to check it whenever and wherever I needed to, via my PDA.
When MotionApps' Classic added HotSync to its feature set in version 2.0 a few weeks ago, it became at least somewhat possible to do two-way syncing between Outlook and the Memos app within Classic, but many users (myself included) have had some difficulty getting even WiFi HotSync (let alone Bluetooth) to work properly in Classic. More to the point, it was a kludgy workaround, since it required first running Classic and then launching the Memos app in order to get at the info., which was also unavailable to any native webOS app.
A few weeks ago, Mark/Space's FliqNotes hit the App Catalog, promising synchronization with Microsoft Outlook via a soon-to-be-released upgrade to its $39.95 The Missing Sync desktop package. I was looking forward to testing that, as it seemed to be likely to be the first webOS-to-Outlook notes solution, but Chapura has beaten Mark/Space to the punch with its latest update to PocketMirror, which now offers notes synchronization as part of the package. As soon as I spotted this in the App Catalog, I downloaded the app and the Windows desktop component, installed them, and began testing.
Now we get to the part where I describe some bugs with sync, but keep in mind that I'm a limit case: I started with over 8300 memos. I was initially concerned that my 8300+ notes in Outlook might pose a problem for PocketMirror, and my concern was justified. First, I discovered that entirely blank Outlook notes will derail synchronization, but a quick search and delete through Outlook eliminated the few blank notes I had. Next, I tried repeatedly to sync the entire set of notes, only to have PocketMirror repeatedly freeze up on me. Uninstalling and reinstalling did not help the situation. In looking at my notes, though, I realized that I had duplicates of many (most) of them, probably legacies of various HotSync problems over the years, but a quick trip to MAPIlabs' Web site and purchase of Duplicates Remover for Outlook brought my notes down to a more manageable and less redundant 3300. Unfortunately, I was still getting lockups, so I contacted Chapura's excellent technical support for assistance. After a number of back-and-forth e-mail exchanges (disclosure: when I mentioned that I needed an extension of the trial because I was trying to write a review for PreCentral, Chapura converted my trial to a full license), we came upon the idea of syncing my notes incrementally, copying all of them over to a second folder in Outlook, copying them back in pieces, and syncing each piece. That seems to have worked, and I finally (I think) got all my notes to my Pre this morning.
A few other caveats: First, I'm still having a problem where the synchronization works, but I only get a white screen when I try to actually launch my list of notes. I'm working with Chapura on this, but I suspect it's related to how many notes I have (I didn't get the problem with a less-than-full set on my Pre), and I don't think that people with a more reasonable number of notes will run into this. Second, PocketMirror tended to freeze when my Pre went into sleep mode or switched to a different access point on the network in the middle of a synchronization session; using the NoDoze utility and staying in one place during sync helped. Finally, the initial synchronization can take significant time, although followup syncs go very quickly.
UPDATE: The folks at Chapura have e-mailed me with an answer to the white screen problem above:
We have figured out what was causing your problem and have corrected it. Basically the WebOS system was killing our app during a sort because it exceeded a timeout they place on script execution. They appear to have a watchdog timer that kills any script that exceeds some time period. This fix will appear in the build that is release with Tasks.
In the meanwhile, I am following their suggestion to temporarily archive enough of my notes so that sorting doesn't trigger the timeout. Thanks to them for the quick investigation and information.
While PocketMirror has a cost advantage over The Missing Sync ($29.95 for a single PocketMirror license), it is still pricey for those of us who can already sync the other PIM apps in Outlook via Exchange ActiveSync. Chapura is aware of this concern, and is considering how to address it, even while it adds task syncing to the program.
Of course, my other main requirement (a Bluetooth keyboard driver) remains unfulfilled, even while this new notes functionality makes the keyboard driver that much more valuable, but the potential addition of real and sync-able notes to webOS bodes well for the future of the platform for business and educational use.
Bonus: Courtesy of my Pilot 1000, my subsequent Palm handhelds, and the many iterations of PocketMirror for PalmOS I used over the years which have allowed me to keep a continual set of information across multiple jobs and devices, here's the full text of the note I took on 12/5/96, the earliest one I have in my file:
"12/5/96 Sarah Redfield
Franklin Pierce Law School conference
Aug. 7th speakers needed
Liability topics ~1.5 hours
she'll send materials
printing deadline in a few weeks"
As I recall, I ended up speaking at that conference, and it was lots of fun. Thanks, Palm and Chapura!
Comments
I fear that we PALM Desktop people are doomed. Years of PIM forever locked on a dusty desktop. Why cant DateBk be on WebOS why?
Your Bonus point is exactly why Palm never should have abandoned its Memos format (and all its PIM data and functionality).
Hey there- I was just about to buy a Pre when I read this article. I have memos in my Palm Treo 755p. Am I going to encounter problems when I synch for the first time with my new Pre? I don't wanna lose those memos!!!! Thanks for your help. A lot of what's discussed here is Latin to me, as I don't have a Pre yet. I just can't lose down town when I transition to the Pre. Thanks in advance!
There are no Windows7 64 bit drivers for the 755p.(I'm still using my old computer just for the Palm software, but that's inconvenient. I've read you can use bluetooth and pocket mirror to synch on 64 bit, but haven't tried that yet.(just ordered a bluetooth adapter for my new machine.) I'd much rather use the old Palm desktop than Microsoft Outlook, as I try to avoid that software. (Palm's speed and simplicity is why I've used it for so many years.)
I would have to recommend Evernote. (http://www.evernote.com) Been using it for quite sometime and found the fact that I can reach my notes from the web browser or smartphone very useful. Not to mention a lot of other cool features.
I worked with pocket mirror since first day it came out to get contacts over from Outlook into pre since at that time companion Link for Google did not fully work for contacts since categories would not match up to google groups and long contact note fields were cut off. Google has fixed both of those problems...so I do not use PocketMirror for contacts anymore but use google and companionLink running on the desktop. That keeps info on google, wife's pre and outlook more naturally and fully integrates with Google email contacts as they are added...keeping everything in one place. Companion Link for Google tries to sync notes into contacts on google...does not work well.
Soooo, I started using PocketMirror to sync notes the first day they made it available. I think I have around a 1,500 notes. It synced without any problems! The notes are searchable! Text can be coppied/pasted and then emailed for printing.
My ideal wish list:
1. Wish I could make list view & print smaller,
2. Also wish I could see a sort order that remembered the order I created/edited memos with newest sorted to top... like old palm OS did as option instead of alphabetical sort.
3. I wish there were a filter (sort) by creation date like fliq (Mark/Sapce) note program has...they should take a look at that one feature they have in their app that is really nice (free)...it has other problems in other ways Pocket Mirror has solved though. MarkSpace Fliq Notes collapsible style is helpful for alphabet search as well.
4. I wish it could sync wifi w/out internet that is sporatic on my network...
5. For above reason, I wish it could sync w/USB optionally instead of wifi.
6. I wish there were a one push to copy into email...so it can be emailed to self and printed like web OS memo app and MarkSpace both have. YOu can copy/paste memo into email...but a few extra moves.
7. I wish it would auto open to the last memo I was viewing.
THEN THIS APP WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!!!!
The note/memo app addition is great & currently best in its class! 1. I like how it remembers category, last 10 memos used & complete powerful search...something companion link notes does not have yet.
2. Even with 1000 memos, everything in program is VERY fast unlike in some other note replacement note apps.
3. I love how app has pref change to make launcher pocket Mirror app directly open memos...saves a step over companion Link note app.
I have also tried Mark/Space notes. With a few corrections/additions and w/USB sync option, it will in the end be a better memo app.
Another great review about things that really do matter to the users! Thank you!!! I also was extremely disappointed in the step backwards from Palm OS to Web OS on the Notes application.
I think pocket mirror filed a needed gap but Palm should have done this already.
I hate to say this but Palm will probably lose my loyalty for the last 6+ years because of some bad decisions they have made.
They advertise the synergy in the WebOS but yet they have left out basic functionality that help people actually get the most use out of the smart phones.
Another issue that I'm still very mad about is their horrible calendar that was a huge step back in my mind. I sync to an exchange server which is what most businesses do and are probably having the same problems that I am.
People who suggest Evernote don't know how useful the notes application actually can be. Evernote is good for some long term things but not actual daily use. The app is way to bulky and full of glitches. Don't believe me... try using evernote for something like a grocery list... :) You will wait all day to get the application open just to write remember the milk. The Palm OS notes application could do it in less than 15 seconds.
Use Date book 6 within classic as I am doing right now...then purchase goosync and let date book 6 sync up to google. It will all then also be in web OS calendar if you or another pre user want to get to it there...color coded according to groups (categories) in google. You can set goosync to auto sync every hour. That also keeps Date book 6 backed up. You can get your current calendar to google either through companion Link for Google (free)or by hot-syncing classic, or by manipulating the calendar data file off your old palm and into classic in other more involved ways.
If they added pop-up to touching items in weekly view in web OS calendar, made app run faster (and possibly also put icons w/categories instead of just colors and allowed calendar entries to "like" to contact...then the web os calendar would replace date book 6 for me)!
Does anyone know if any of these sync your facebook contacts to your outlook or google contacts?
don't see how from my using them that can be done. sorry... you would have to figure out in facebook online to export them out of face book in some format that could be recognized by outlook and then import them there or import them into google contacts in one of the formats they support.
This is a work-around to the issue of WebOS's native Memo and Task programs not playing nice with syncing. Take note with this article that Chapura still does not sync to either.
PocketMirror Notes appears worthy, but the native memo support is only native to Outlook. On WebOS you will have to be content with PocketMirror Notes.
I think they've done that deliberately as the native notes app on the Pre is a bit featureless. I'll take features and sync over the app that's native anyday. It works!
>and most importantly desktop synchronization of the Memos app from
>PalmOS with Microsoft Outlook Notes (or, for some, Palm Desktop)
And for yet others of us, Kpilot or Jpilot (yes, other operating systems exist other than MS-Windows, and lots of programs worked on those platforms for syncing with PalmOS).
I've been considering moving to Linux for my main OS. Currently I have a 755p with the Palm desktop that came with the phone. Will my calendar, contacts, and memos all synch with Kpilot or Jpilot? Thanks!! (I'm thinking I'll eventually move to the Pre.)
google.com/notebook/m - just bookmark it and there be no problems...someone could get real motivated and make an app real easy but until then...it works great and only takes a few seconds
Except that --
"Google recently stopped development on Notebook, which means it is no longer being improved upon or open to sign-ups by new users."
I just can't see why this notes thing is so important. Probably because I just don't use them like that. Sure, I might jot down a note, like an address, phone # or whatever so I can remember it later in the day or week, but then when I'm done with it I delete it. Why on earth would you STILL need that note from 1996? What purpose could it serve to keep it still....? Anyway, not that I care why you keep it, but to me it just doesn't make sense. I'm not saying this is a reason for palm to not fix this issue, its just that for me, its not an issue.
I could tell you countless stories of how my jotting things down was useful, but here's one: a few years ago, my mother needed to know when she'd had her last cardiogram. I didn't know, but she mentioned it was the same day I'd taken my late father to the doctor who told him he'd needed dialysis. As it happens, I'd made notes at that meeting, and two seconds after a quick Find command, I had my mother's cardiogram date.
Another story, from just the other day: my wife needed to know my son's size at birth in 1998, in preparation for a doctor's visit. Quick find turned up this:
"2/23/98 9:30 pm Eitan born!
303A 718-470-5509
19 1/2 "
8 lbs 2 oz"
Now, granted, I no longer needed the info on her hospital room and telephone number, but the rest was extremely useful.
And so forth. The point is that for many of us, the Memos/Notes feature has been hugely useful for noting telephone calls, people we've met (I couldn't remember the name of the person at Franklin Pierce with whom I worked on that conference in 1996, but if we ever meet again or I need to reach someone there, I can remind her of it thanks to that note), and other potentially useful information. I've pulled out my memos when arguing with bureaucrats, and been able to tell them with whom in their office I've spoken to, when, and what I've been told. I've used window measurements taken years earlier when buying air conditioners. And so on. The fact that the functionality has been part of Palm's handhelds since 1996, and isn't built into webOS, is probably the clearest sign to me that the people who designed the webOS experience, as talented as they were, were *not* PalmOS users, or they'd have realized what important bits were missing. {Jonathan}
That seems like an extreme number of memos, either way. Sounds like some pruning was way overdue.
Good write up Jonathan! I can relate with what you're saying and agree with the points you brought out.
I got all gung ho, but when I realized I couldn't email the memo/note out, I had to go ahead and download Fliq Notes as well. But being able to bring in my Palm OS notes into this device is great.
Now if they'd hurry up with the editable Office program (Word), I'd be set.
Ive got aging parents (1 with Alzheimer's) and teenagers' vital information to remember, i.e. doctor's appointments, prescriptions, allergies, insurance info, etc., etc. I also meet folks at all sorts of places with info I need to note. Memo's became a vital part of my Treo usage.
Thanks for the huge information, actually I don't know about this. Thanks for add some more useful stuff in my mind vocabulary.
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Is anyone deleting link SPAM in these forums?
Thanks for the great review! I've had no problems with the sync or the app (but then I only have about 30 notes - all my jotting down of events/appointments went into my calendar).
If Chapura is reading this - Looking forward to Tasks! Would love to see recurring tasks in the device, syncable with Outlook, just like the old days...
Does anybode know, if it works with Mac too?
If not is there a solution to sync the memos with a Pre on MacOS ?
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