If you’ve got here, then you’re probably wondering what just happened to your copy of iThoughts - it looks ‘different’ - probably similar to the image below…
This is the new (to iOS11) Files UI that comes built into iOS. Apple now encourage all app developers to use this standard way of opening documents. For a while now, iThoughts has supported this new way alongside the original way of opening mind map documents. Starting with iThoughts v7 this will be the ONLY way to open documents.
Why is this a good thing?
You can open maps stored in places like Dropbox, OneDrive and iCloud (and any other cloud provider that has chosen to integrate with the iOS system Files app.) NB: At the time of writing GDrive doesn’t work - you’ll need to harass Google about this - only they can fix it. See ‘Top Tip’ below.
No need to manually configure ‘syncing’ anymore - just open the map directly (as above)
Configure ‘Favourite’ folders.
Tag maps (which will then sync between Mac/iOS devices)
Use the exact same interface as the iWork apps, the Files app and countless others.
Drag and Drop documents around (even creating new windows in iOS13)
What about my previous syncing setup?
Prior to iThoughts v7, if you wanted to keep your maps synced across devices you needed to manually configure a ‘linked folder’. iThoughts then communicated directly with Dropbox or WebDAV and kept your maps up to date. Starting with iThoughts v7, it is recommended that you use the ‘Locations’ section within the Files UI to open maps directly on Dropbox/OneDrive etc. and let the Files UI take care of syncing.
That said, if you previously had a linked folder configured then it will continue to sync as it always did. You will find the ‘linked folder’ under the iThoughts folder in the ‘On My iPad’ location. Unfortunately there is no visual way to distinguish a linked folder from any other folder - but it should be obvious based on its contents. As before, any updates to maps in there will be synced automatically. To change the linked folder settings, close any open maps and choose the Cloud option from the menu under the Gear toolbar button.
Top Tip
There is an app call FileBrowser which enables the iOS Files Interface to access files on all sorts of servers (WebDAV, Amazon etc.) I have no connection with the company behind FileBrowser, but it appears to work pretty well. I’ve been testing with the FileBrowser for Business version.