Please Simplify Highlighting process

Danny Zacharias
Danny Zacharias Member Posts: 184
edited November 21 in English Forum

the latest mobile app has slowed down my reading ability quite a bit. My preference is to read on my iPad, but to highlight text while reading now involves the actual highlighting, followed by clicking on it to “edit note,” and then specify the notebook. This is A LOT of clicking to make a highlight.

the minimum that could be done to help is to go back to the way the previous app anticipated the notebook by defaulting to the last used notebook. Another enhancement that would really help is to have the notebook choice option available when I choose the highlight style.

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Comments

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) Member, MVP Posts: 36,469 ✭✭✭

    but to highlight text while reading now involves the actual highlighting, followed by clicking on it to “edit note,” and then specify the notebook. This is A LOT of clicking to make a highlight.

    Why are you putting the highlight into a notebook? 

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  • Danny Zacharias
    Danny Zacharias Member Posts: 184

    Because I’m not an animal

    seriously though, I want highlights and notes all in notebooks - and typically after I read a book and make highlights, I go back through the highlights and make notes on some of them

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) Member, MVP Posts: 36,469 ✭✭✭

    The new notes tool makes this obsolete. You can filter your notes in multiple ways, including by resource. 

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  • Mark Barnes
    Mark Barnes Member Posts: 15,432

    seriously though, I want highlights and notes all in notebooks - and typically after I read a book and make highlights, I go back through the highlights and make notes on some of them

    If you use desktop Logos, it's a doddle to move all highlights/notes from a particular resource into a specific notebook. Perhaps you could do that after you've read the book? Although as JT says, you really don't need to now that you can filter by resource.

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  • Danny Zacharias
    Danny Zacharias Member Posts: 184

    I disagree. I recognize, use, and enjoy the new features of Notes. I know all of the ways I can filter. But when working through a book, notes and highlights don't always land in the same notebook for me. So the fact that I can filter to see all of the notes from a particular source doesn't necessarily do me much good if I'm looking at a notebook where I am gathering info on a particular subject. This could be helped if I could add tags to my notes or highlights in the mobile app, but that isn't a possibility yet either.

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) Member, MVP Posts: 36,469 ✭✭✭

    So the fact that I can filter to see all of the notes from a particular source doesn't necessarily do me much good if I'm looking at a notebook where I am gathering info on a particular subject.

    OK, thanks for the clarification. I understand your issue better. Most users never viewed highlights as "notes." For them, the new system is a great advantage. 

    I think what would be beneficial for users like you is for the "sticky" setting to come back.

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  • Mark Barnes
    Mark Barnes Member Posts: 15,432

    But when working through a book, notes and highlights don't always land in the same notebook for me.

    So to be clear, the problem is that it's now difficult to ensure that unanchored notes (on a topic) end up in the same place as highlights/notes you take from a book on that same topic?

    I presume you know you can force a highlighting palette into a particular notebook? Although what wouldn't solve the problem entirely, it should help.

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  • Graham Criddle
    Graham Criddle Member, MVP Posts: 32,424 ✭✭✭

    I presume you know you can force a highlighting palette into a particular notebook?

    I don't believe this is possible on mobile - and I don't think (though am not sure) that settings on desktop are synced to / honoured on mobile

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) Member, MVP Posts: 36,469 ✭✭✭

    I don't believe this is possible on mobile

    Nor would it be desirable! Why create 100 palettes for 100 topics? The sticky setting should be brought back as a power user option. 

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  • Danny Zacharias
    Danny Zacharias Member Posts: 184

    No, definitely don't want all of that – what I'm requesting is I think pretty simple. When you make a note in the mobile app, there is a drop-down at the top to choose which notebook to put the file in. In creating a highlight, only the highlight style option appears. I'm just wanting the the drop-down to choose the notebook to be there.

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) Member, MVP Posts: 36,469 ✭✭✭

    In creating a highlight, only the highlight style option appears. I'm just wanting the the drop-down to choose the notebook to be there.

    I don't think I follow. If I understand correctly, that would cause a hardship for most users (adding an extra step) who simply want to create a highlight and don't view them as notes. Have I misunderstood? 

    The old system forced all highlights into a note "document". My compromise solution would be to allow power users to force highlights into a "notebook", and to send all notes into the last used one (aka "sticky"). 

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  • Danny Zacharias
    Danny Zacharias Member Posts: 184

    Here's a screenshot of the popup that comes up when making a highlight

    Here's one when making a note:

    I'm just wanting that little notebook dropdown on the top of the note dialogue to also be present in the highlight dialogue. But the "sticky" feature would do as well :-)

  • Mattillo
    Mattillo Member Posts: 6,113 ✭✭✭
    Mine always defaults to blue no matter how many times I select yellow as the highlight color. Highlighting is definitely frustrating on my iOS device
  • Doc B
    Doc B Member Posts: 3,533 ✭✭✭

    Because I’m not an animal

    Also seriously, I've given up trying to use mobile as a tool...it's never been efficient nor intuitive. It's no more than a simple reader with a lot of unusable, buried features as far as I can tell. Very unfortunate as it could be dynamite.

    Eating a steady diet of government cheese, and living in a van down by the river.