VoxMemo FREE 1.1

Click here for the current version!

Note: after updating from a previous version please check your speech settings and correct it if necessary.

First I want to make you aware that the development of VoxMemo is not part of my regular job. I do this purely as a hobby for recreation and fun. While this shall be no excuse for any bugs or issues (which I will try to fix as soon as possible), I ask your understanding that VoxMemo is not the top priority in my life :-)

Now for the bits & pieces.

Tab Bar

The tab bar is the main navigation element in VoxMemo. You can toggle between Memo Map, Memo List, and Settings.

Memo Details

memodetails.png (309009 Byte) VoxMemo allows you to store so-called memos on your device. A memo is a kind of note that has several fields.

A headline [1] provides a short description of the memo. If you store a memo without providing an explicit headline, a headline will be created automatically from the memo text. As a fall back for empty texts, [Auto] will be used.
A text [2] allows you to provide a longer description; texts can be dictated when the device is connected to the internet. In this case you can also listen to the memo text. Please note that the number of dications and audio playbacks per day are limited to keep the low price of the app.
A flag [3] inidicates whether the memo is "open" or not. Depending on how you want to use this flag, open menos may be tasks that need to be completed, articles to buy, people to contact and so on. If the action has been completed, you can "close" the memo. Memo list and map allow you to filter for open memos only.
The category [4] of a memo can be selected from a list that contains some predefined values, as well as (optional) user defined categories. Memo list and map allow you to filter for categories. Additionally, you can group the memo list by categories instead of memo ages.
Whenever you create a memo, the creation date and time [5] are stored.
If you allow your device to retrieve the GPS position [6] when you create a memo, this information is stored. The location can be viewed for every memo in the memo details, or for a group of memos in the memo map. You can switch between different views: map, satellite, and hybrid. If your device is connected to the internet, VoxMemo retrieves the address of that location as well. If not, the address information can be determined when the app is completely restarted, and the device is connected at that time.
You have the possibility to store a photo [7] with a memo. You can either take a new picture with the device's camera, or choose one from the photo library. This is great for taking travel pictures! Each new photo will be copied to VoxMemo, while additionally being added to your camera roll. Before the copying, you are asked which size the photo shall have. Larger formats consume more disk space on your device and slow down the copying step. You will find that smaller photos in VoxMemo will do in many cases. After all, you do still have the large picture in your camera roll.
Finally, a memo can be highligted [8, ]. Hilghlighted memos are displayed in red in the memo list, and get a special symbol in the memo map.

The tool bar allows you to perform some actions with the current memo:

	As mentioned before, you can highlight the memo [8]
	A target button re-centers the map view to display the location of the current memo
	A refresh button let's you change or delete the GPS location of the memo
	An action button can be used to perform certain actions such as sharing the memo with your friends
	The camera button let's you make, choose, or delete the associated photo
	Finally, a trash button can be used to move the memo to the trash

Memo List

memolist.png (188853 Byte) The memo list is the default view when you start the app. It can also be reached by clicking the respective icon in the tab bar. The memo list has a couple of elements.

First and foremost (quelle surprise :-)), it is used to list your memos [1]. Memos are always sorted according to their age. The youngest memo will be shown first. Initially, memos are also grouped by their age, which means that the second memo in the list is the second youngest and so on. You can modify this and group the memos by their category. If you select one memo, the details page will be opened.

You can open/close the memo directly in the list by tapping the open/close flag in the respective memo cell.
A symbol below the flag shows whether a photo and / or geo position are stored with the memo.
A red memo title indicates a highlighted memo.

The first cell in the memo list is reserved for a microphone button [2], which can be switched on or off in the speech settings. If your device is connected to the internet, you can press the microphone button and speak a memo text. Depending on your "instant entry" setting, you will be forwarded to the memo details view to enter more details or correct the text, or back to the list, for example to store another memo. The instant entry setting can be handy if combined with the "TTS echo" setting. If this is on, the app replays your input using TTS, so that you can check whether the recognition was okay.
Above the list and the optional microphone button there is a text search field [4]. If the list of memos is long, it will be displayed if you scroll the list up to the top. In the search field you can enter text to find certain memos. By default each letter that you type immediately updates the remaining memo list. You can change this behaviour in the app settings. Initially the search looks for text, headline, and other memo attrutes. In the app settings you can change this default behaviour.

In the navigation bar of the memo list you can find several elements:

The "+" button [5, left] allows you to create a new memo. An empty detail view is opened.
The Trash button [5, right] can be used to delete memos from the list. Memos are not actually deleted but moved to a trash folder where you can either ultimately delete or undelete them.
A split button [6] can be used to switch between only open memos (the default) or all memos.
Finally, you can restrict the list to memos of a certain category [7] only.

The number of currently visible vs all memos can be displayed .

Memo Map

memomap.png (580260 Byte) The memo map provides a geographical overview of your memos. The view shows only memos which have an associated geo position. You can switch between different views [1]: map, satellite, and hybrid. The map view supports some typical gestures:

Double tap to zoom in on the tap point.
Single tap with two fingers to zoom out.
Move the map center by swiping.

A memo is represented by a pin. Color and form represent certain memo details:

A green bubble pin is used for non highlighted memos with a photo..
A purple bubble pin is used for non highlighted memos without a photo.
A sign pin is used for highlighted memos.

You can tap a pin to display the memo headline and open the memo detail view from there. There are some buttons located in the map:

A microphone button [2] opens a speech recognition window if the device is connected to the internet. If you speak a memo, it will be created with the spoken text. The button can be disabled in the app settings.
The camera button [3] can be used to share the current map via e-mail.
The target button [4] adjusts the view to display all memos that you currently filter for.
A search button [5] can be used to show or hide a text search field. After entering text, you can search for all memos that match your input.

The navigation bar of the memo map is very similar to the list view. The only difference is the missing delete button. Please change to the list view to delete memos.

Settings

IMG_2024.PNG (63750 Byte) The app settings let you configure a lot of functions. On a first page you can choose which settings to change. There are four detail pages:

General Settings let you change the general behaviour of the app, the list and the map views
Speech Settings let you choose recognition language and text-to-speech voice
Messaging options let you predefine mail and text recipients
Finally, user categories can be defined to categorize your memos into your own buckets

Besides these settings, you can access the memo trash to re-create or ultimately delete memos, look at some statistics, visit this VoxMemo web page, or contact me. A more interesting function is the memo XML export. Let me spent some time on this:

Exporting Memos

If you click on the export button, a file voxmemo.xml is created on the device. This contains all information about your memos apart from the photos. Those are stored as binary files on the device, along with a smaller thumbnail picture for faster access. In the free version, the file cannot be imported again, it is only good for further processing.

Backup and Restore (outside of the app)

You can access VoxMemos files using iTunes. All you need to do is connect your device to iTunes and navigate to the devices' apps window in iTunes. You will find VoxMemo in the list of apps that list their files on the computer. voxmemo.xml and the apps database are stored in the apps top level directory. Photos and thumbnails are stored in subdirectories. A subfolder is created for each month in which at least one memo has been stored. Since iTunes does not allow you to look into those subfolders, you need to copy them to your computer to access the photos (PNG files).

Backup: Using iTunes, copy the files to your computer to make a backup. It is important to copy all subdirectories and the database VM3.sqlite. I recommend regular backups!

Restore: Copy the files back using iTunes. Since iTunes does not allow you to copy directories back to a device, you can copy all picture files and thumbnails simply into the top level directory of VoxMemo. When VoxMemo is started from scratch the next time, it "consolidates" the picture files by moving them in the respective subdirectory. This means that the start of the app can be significantly delayed. Please note that if you restore the database VM3.sqlite, all memos captured in the meantime (between backup and restore) WILL BE LOST.

Be careful when restoring data. My liability is limited to the amount of money you paid for the app in the app store!

I am working on a paid version of VoxMemo that allows you to import memos and merge them into the existing database. See here for details. Since I work on the app solely as a hobby, I cannot garantee if or when this version will be available.

General Settings

IMG_2025.PNG (139647 Byte)

App Settings
Initial Address Search	While the app launches from the start, and the deivce is connected to the internet, you can have VoxMemo search geo addresses for all memos that do not yet have that information. This is typically the case if you create a memo while being offline, for example abroad. While the GPS position can be determined without internet connection, the address search requires this.
Search Text &	You can choose whether the textual memo search in the list or map view consider the memo text plus headlines, fields (category and geo address), or both.
Show Nbr of Memos	When you switch this off, VoxMemo does no longer show that little red oval with the memo numbers in list or map view.
Photo Start	If on, this opens the memo detail view showing the photo instead of the map (see here, point 6).
Memo List Settings
Group by Category	By default, memos are grouped by their age. You can modify this and group the memos by their category. In this case, the second memo shown is the second youngest in the category of the first memo, and so on.
Realtime Search	If this is on, each letter you type into the search field updates the list of found memos. If off, the search is performed only when you tap the "Search" key.
Facebook Style Dates	If on, dates are shown in the style that Facebook uses: "2 days ago" and so on. If off, dates are displayed as usual dates.
Random Colors	Just for fun. If this is on, the color of the recording cell is chosen randomly. Only eye friendly (pastel) colors are used.
Memo Details Settings
Start with Pic	If on, the detail view initially displays the photo, if one is associated with the memo. Otherwise, it opens showing the map.
Initially Open	If on, new memos are open. If not, they are closed.
Mail Map Image	If you check this, a picture of the memo map will be mailed along with the memo and a photo, when you share a memo via e-mail.

Speech Settings

IMG_2027.PNG (119444 Byte)

Language and Voice
ASR Language	Allows you to choose the speech recogition language (ASR = Automatic Speech Recognition). You can choose from a number of supported languages from Nuance. As a cloud service, ASR is only supported if the device is connected to the internet. A fast connection is recommended. Please note that the number of voice inputs per day is limited. If you get an error message, please use the keyboard instead. It should work again tomorrow. When you use VoxMemo for the first time, it makes an educated guess what language and voice to use. depending on your device settings.
TTS Voice	Make a choice of a text-to-speech voice for reading out texts. For many languages Nuance offers two voices, typically a male and a female one. Please note that the number of voice outputs per day is limited. It should work again tomorrow.
System Language	This read only cell displays the current locale setting of your device.
Options
Microphone in List	If on, a recording cell is displayed above your memos. You can tap it to vox-a-memo, i.e. speak what shall be the text of your memo.
Microphone in Map	If on, you can press the microphone button in the map view and start speaking a new memo.
Auto TTS	If on, the memo text is automatically spoken if you open the detail view of a memo.
TTS Echo	If on, your speech input is instantly repeated using the current TTS voice.
Recognition	You can choose whether a newly recognized text shall be inserted at the cursor position, shall replace the complete text, or VoxMemo shall ask what to do. The latter is the default.
Instant Entry	This is useful for quick memo capturing. If on, a memo that has been spoken using the microphone in the list or map is stored, and the detail view closes again, allowing you to speak the next memo. You should try the nice effect when instant entry is combined with TTS echo :-) Please note that sometimes GPS is not fast enough to assign a proper location to the quickly created memo. If you need that information, you should revisit the memo and assign the current location to it.

Messaging Options

IMG_2031.PNG (149694 Byte)

Mails	Here you can enter a list of mail addresses which will be used as the default recipient list if you share a memo via mail. Adresses must be separated with a space.
SMS	Here, one phone number can be stored to be used as the default addressee for a memo text message.

User Categories

IMG_2032.PNG (66488 Byte) This should be obvious :-)

Previous Versions

Version	Changes	Documentation
1.1	Audio Level Feedback while Recording Speech Removed Tab "More" from toolbar New General Setting "Photo Start" Option to e-mail memo map Initial Auto Detection of Speech Settings Added speech recognition languages Added text-to-speech voices Bugfixes	Link
1.0	Initial Release	Link

Ricki, June 2013