XMind vs iThoughts

2023. Xmind now allows to track tasks



The latest update of mind-mapping application Xmind has introduced a new Task Tracking feature. This feature allows users to seamlessly incorporate tasks into their mind maps and easily monitor their progress. By doing so, you can effectively break down your objectives into smaller, more manageable steps, reducing their overall complexity and making them more attainable. This innovative addition caters to a wide range of needs, including planning, time management, and project management. Within this feature, you have the ability to create tasks and mark them as completed, enhancing your task management capabilities. Furthermore, you can monitor the ongoing status of task completion, gaining a clear understanding of your current position and what lies ahead. What adds a practical dimension to this is the ability to filter out less crucial information, allowing you to focus solely on the tasks that matter most to you. One of the primary benefits of task tracking is its role in task prioritization. By identifying and labeling your tasks, you gain a comprehensive view of what must be accomplished and can discern which tasks take precedence in terms of urgency and importance. This serves as a motivating factor, ensuring that you allocate your time and energy wisely and that critical tasks are not neglected.


2019. XMind adds audio-notes



Taking notes during meetings or lectures, as well as creating mind maps, can often be challenging tasks. However, XMind has introduced an effective solution with its new feature called Audio Note. Unlike traditional note-taking methods that rely on images and context, Audio Note focuses on recordings. Users can record audio related to specific topics and sync them with text on mind maps, providing further elaboration on corresponding subjects. This feature significantly enhances input efficiency, which is especially crucial when creating mind maps on mobile devices. With fleeting moments of inspiration, the ability to capture ideas instantly becomes invaluable. XMind has incorporated Audio Note into its iOS version, greatly improving the input efficiency for users. Additionally, Apple has also implemented a similar interaction feature in iOS 12.


2018. XMind ZEN features new engine and new designed themes



The latest release of XMind, known as XMind ZEN, utilizes a new engine that boasts impressive capabilities in terms of extending functions and graphics performance. With the implementation of SVG rendering, all elements within a mind map, including lines, themes, and diagrams, are flawlessly displayed. XMind ZEN offers 30 meticulously crafted themes, catering to diverse scenarios, whether you're a student or a business professional. These visually appealing themes enable effortless creation of stunning and polished mind maps. Additionally, there are 89 original stickers available, adding more elements and vibrant expressions to your maps. The newly introduced ZEN Mode allows you to maintain utmost focus on your thoughts. In this mode, your sole focus is on expressing and visualizing your ideas. The interface is intentionally designed to be clear, simple, and free from distractions or interruptions. We firmly believe that concentration is achieved by prioritizing and eliminating unnecessary elements. When it comes to focus, less is indeed more.


2017. iThoughts adds import to Mindmeister and SimpleMind



The latest release of the mind-mapping application, iThoughts, is now available. This update brings several exciting features, including Siri integration, Drag/Drop functionality, and a new method for marking tasks as complete. Additionally, a new feature called focus lock has been introduced, allowing users to keep a set of topics in focus regardless of the selected topic. To enhance task management, a new button has been added in the top corner, enabling users to mark a topic as 100% complete by dragging and dropping it onto the button, making it ideal for checklists. Furthermore, iThoughts now supports the import of Mindmeister (.mind) and SimpleMind (.smmx) mindmaps. The Doodle feature has also been enhanced with a resize option, allowing users to resize specific parts of their doodles using the +/- button in the toolbar. Additionally, there is improved support for Apple Pencil in the Doodle feature.


2017. iThoughts gets compressed layout and costs



The iOS, macOS, and Windows versions of the mind-mapping app iThoughts have received an update. One of the notable enhancements is the introduction of a new Style option called Compressed for maps. This feature reduces the margins around topics and minimizes the spacing between them, allowing for more information to be displayed on the screen. Another addition is the inclusion of a new task attribute called Cost. This attribute enables users to attach a simple floating point number to a topic, representing its associated cost. Furthermore, the Cost field supports rollup functionality, automatically calculating the cumulative cost of immediate child topics (similar to effort). Alongside these prominent updates, iThoughts now offers a spell check feature and introduces new keyboard shortcuts specifically in the Windows version.


2017. XMind Cloud gets a new look and feel



The online mind mapping tool XMind Cloud has received a significant update, introducing exciting new features and substantial improvements. With XMind Cloud, you gain the convenience of accessing, viewing, and editing your mind maps from anywhere you go. The update brings a host of enhancements, including the ability to add markers, notes, and hyperlinks with a simple click. The user interface has been redesigned to provide a simpler and more intuitive experience, making it effortless to accomplish your tasks. Notably, the performance has been greatly improved, resulting in faster file loading times, which significantly enhances work efficiency and improves the overall mind mapping experience. Additionally, the introduction of the Trash folder allows for easy recovery of deleted files, ensuring that you can retrieve important content with ease.


2017. iThoughts comes to Windows



The Windows version of the mind-mapping software iThoughts is now available, catering to users who predominantly work on desktop or laptop devices with keyboard and mouse input, while also supporting touch functionality. The primary objective during the development process has been to facilitate seamless work transitions between iOS, macOS, and Windows platforms. For this purpose, users have the flexibility to utilize either iCloud or Dropbox for keeping their maps synchronized across devices. Regardless of the device used, the maps will appear highly similar, although the appearance may be influenced by factors such as the availability of installed fonts. Similar to the iOS and macOS versions, the Windows version requires a separate purchase.


2016. XMind 8 adds a slide-based presentation



The latest release of the mind-mapping software, XMind, introduces XMind 8 with a fresh new look and enhanced functionality. This version offers a streamlined editing experience, allowing you to effortlessly open, close, and switch between views with a single click. This feature significantly boosts your work efficiency and greatly enhances your mind-mapping experience. XMind 8 also introduces a slide-based presentation feature, making the creation, delivery, and sharing of presentations easier than ever. By simply selecting the target topic and clicking the plus button, a new slide is automatically generated, simplifying the process. Moreover, the inclusion of new clip arts enables you to create more visually engaging mind maps. The developers have thoughtfully included a variety of pre-designed templates, making it effortless for anyone to create beautiful and intuitive mind maps using XMind.


2016. XMind launches mind-mapping Cloud



The latest release of the popular mind-mapping software, XMind 7.5, introduces XMind Cloud, a new feature that facilitates automatic file synchronization across multiple Mac/PCs. The developers claim that XMind Cloud is not only fast and secure but also user-friendly. Additionally, the software provides the convenience of online viewing and editing through a web browser. Users are granted 1 GB of cloud storage space. To streamline the sharing process, XMind 7.5 offers an enhanced sharing feature, allowing users to directly share their mind maps on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.


2015. iThoughts launched free app for iOS



The iThoughts app for iOS is available at a price of $10. However, for those who prefer to try it before purchasing, a new free app called iThoughts2go has been introduced. iThoughts2go serves as a free version of iThoughts, with one minor limitation. While maps of any size can be viewed, only maps containing fewer than 20 topics can be edited. Users can load maps into iThoughts2go through email, browser, or app sharing. Additionally, maps can be automatically synced through iCloud, Dropbox, or WebDAV cloud services. Furthermore, users have the option to import and export maps to and from various popular desktop application formats, including MindManager, iMindmap, Freemind/Freeplane, Novamind, XMind, Mindview, Mindmeister, Mindnode, Mindmapper, SimpleMind, and MyThoughts.