ISG Blog

Do you ever find yourself wanting to send a text message, just not right now? Maybe you want to remind someone later in the afternoon that you won't be at a practise? Or perhaps you want to say Happy Birthday to me but know my birthday is astill a couple of days away? (months actually!)

Well Text Later is an app that lets you create text messages then set a schedule for when they are sent. Have a closer look at Text Later in the Play Store: play.google.com/TextLater

Do you want to do more with your contacts? Things like making notes after a phone call, or maybe setting a reminded to follow up with people? If so Connections - Contact Notes may be an app you will want to try!

Check out the app here: play.google.com/Connections-Contact-Notes. In addition to a video showing you the application, there are screen shots and a lots more information.  

Google have released an app that is intended to help people be safer. It may be helpful to you depending on your situation. Essentially it means you never have to walk alone. The app lets you connect with people and alert them if your situation changes.

Check it out at googleforwork.blogspot.co.nz/CompanionApp 

So you're out of the office and you need to see a file but you don't have your laptop and you're not going to be back at the office today. Or maybe something urgent has come up and somebody has shared a file with you but you're travelling and only have your mobile phone.

You CAN access your Google Drive (including the AODocs based centre folder) from your mobile phone (or a tablet)! You don't even need to have set it up before you leave the office, you can install the app anywhere you have an internet connection (so anywhere that your mobile phone has reception)! We do recommend you install apps (and application updates) when connected to WiFi to preserve your mobile data. 

Start by installing the Google Drive app: play.google.com/googedrive then sign in with your Salvation Army Google account and see your Google Drive folders.

Today we're sharing another tip related to Google Sheets. We see lots of people using spreadsheets to stay organised and track various items and tasks related to the mission of The Salvation Army.

As with all things Google Drive and Google Apps related you can share your information with another user. This removes the need to send email attachments and then juggle multiple versions as people edit and update files. 

Sometimes spreadsheets contain more information than someone actually needs. Which is why it would be great if you could share just one tab of a Google Sheet with a person. Well you can! Watch this short video to learn how:

Staying with Google Sheets today we're sharing a tip that makes using it quick and easy. Remember that you can access Sheets from any computer with a browser, and from your phone with the app (just ensure you use your @salvationarmy.org.nz account so your data is protected).

Shortcuts make spreadsheet work a lot easier and there are plenty of great shortcuts available! In Google Sheets, adding a row one at a time can get repetitive. With the right-click drop down menu, you are able to add multiple rows at once.

Watch the video to see this quick tip in action:

Google Sheets is an app that is similar to Excel. It also has a mobile version (here) so you can install it on your phone. One of the great features about Google Sheets is that with it on your phone and using your @salvationarmy.org.nz account you can access your spreadsheets, anywhere! On a computer you just need a web browser and you get full functionality!

The mobile app (which does need to be installed from here), gives you edit access to your spreadsheets on the go. Using it with your @salvationarmy.org.nz account means it stays updated even if you're on your phone or your home computer!

So if you use spreedsheets regularly in your job consider using Google Sheets with your  @salvationarmy.org.nz account so you can keep all your relevant data in your pocket!

Do you need a journal to write in that is always with you (i.e. is an app on your phone)? Journey may be the app for you. Whatever you're needing to write down, Journey is a quick and beautiful app that lets you make notes, include photos, videos, almost anything. Tags and categories make it easy to organise and find things later.

Do you cut & paste on your phone and find it frustrating? Want to be able to cut & paste smarter? Clipboard Actions is an app that lets you customise what happens when you use your clipboard. With one touch you can see previous clipboard entries, search for a definition, translate, show on a map, call, email, and much more. 

If you regularly use the clipboard on your phone and want to make it easier to undertake simple actions then check out Clipboard Actions at the Google Play Store.

Google Keep is a note taking application developed by Google.

Google Keep is also available as a mobile app for the Android and iOS mobile operating systems and as a web application.

Easy to use for note taking or for making check lists, it's a useful tool which can be used for making that quick mental note about something you don't want to forget, or for creating your daily To Do list.  You can set reminders for specific times, and you can even "share" your individual notes with someone else so they can see what needs to be done!

If you haven't used it before I would highly recommend this app.  

Do you regularly get given business cards and want an easier what to add them into your contacts? Well there is an app for that! Cam Card app lets you take a photo of a business card and it extracts the name, company, number(s), email addresses, etc from the card and populates a new contact for you!

It also lets you send your card to people, manage contacts and do several other contact related tasks. So it is more than just a tool to capture contact information from a business card.

Did you know there is an app called Meter which acts as a live wallpaper for your phone.

It shows remaining battery life, mobile signal and notifications in the wallpaper which is easier to see than the small notifications that usually exist.

It is a data-driven live wallpaper. The wallpaper cycles through three visualizations with every unlock, and each can be manipulated by tilting and moving the device. This simple ambient display creates a peripheral awareness of your phone's status over the course of a day.

To download it, simply go to Google Play Store and search "METER".

Google Drive is a useful app as it provides access to files anywhere, anytime on any device (pc, smart phone or tablet).  However when creating or storing files in Google Drive for TSA work, its important users know how to store it in the right account.

"How do I know I'm using the right account on the phone?" is a question we have received and is a valid and vital question.

When on your mobile device, you can open the Google Drive app by selecting this icon

You can see any accounts you have loaded on your device by selecting the icon with 3 parallel lines as shown here

Once you select the icon, you will be shown the  something similar to the following screen:

In this example you can see both my TSA Google account as well as my personal one.  If your personal one is showing, then you just need to select the down arrow and you will be provided the following options:

Select the correct account you wish to view.  If you do not have a TSA Google Account set up on your phone, then simply select "+ Add Account" and follow the on-screen prompts.

Using your TSA Google Account will ensure that if ever you have issues with missing files, or errors, or you require assistance, then iSG are able to help you.  

Ever been somewhere when you really wanted to get a copy of a whiteboard or piece of paper into your digital file system? It seems so hard without a scanner (all FujiXerox copiers can act as scanners and send files to your email). The great news is that you're already carrying a scanner in your pocket!

Sound difficult? Well it is really easy and working this way keeps all your information in a Salvation Army managed system which is vital for security and privacy - NB: it will only be in a Salvation Army managed system IF you use Google Drive with your This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. logon.

Ready to scan?

1. Start the Google Drive app
2. Click on the floating + (usually bottom right)
3. Tap on the SCAN option (picture 1 below)
4. Take a photo of the whiteboard / paper / screen that you need to capture
5. Either add another page (picture 2 below) or complete the scan 
6. Use the file later from any of your devices

Enjoy this little feature that helps capture and secure information into a place that lets you share it with people you're working with.

PICTURE 1:

PICTURE 2:

We've posted about the My Vodafone app previously but we seem to regularly get questions about it. The most useful part of it is that it helps you manage your usage and maximise your plan. I check the app every couple of days to make sure I'm not going to run out data or minutes (I've yet to come close to using all my text messages)!

So if you regularly are incurring extra charges, or aren't sure how many minutes or megabytes you're actually using get the My Vodafone app and see everything related to your mobile usage. 

Sometimes it seems as though if I didn't have a to do list I wouldn't actually do anything. There is so much to get done in a day, so many interruptions, and so little time! To Do lists help me catch the important things that I really need to get done today. They also let me see what I didn't get done yesterday so make it a priority today.

IBM Notes has a good To Do app included that syncs to your smartphone. This means your To Do list is on your phone (which is probably always with you) and at your desk (where things sometimes get done).

We've also just finished a series on Google Keep which can be used as your to do list. Personally I use it as a PostIt note app and have digital sticky notes with things I need to remember. In addition to Google Keep and the IBM Notes To Do app there are two other apps we think are worth considering. They are:

• any.do
• todoist

Yes there are lots of other apps out there. However we think these two work really well and let you access you To Do list not only on your phone, but at your desk. They all let you set alarms which is sometimes critical to completing a task. 

Personally I use 2 To Do apps. This means that I have a personal list and a work list. That means I don't look at my list, get depressed about how long it is, so ignore it and go buy a coffee!

This is the last post in the short series we've been running on Google Keep. It is also probably one of my favorite features and I use it a lot particularly when I'm in a driving. In my car I have a cradle so I don't have to touch my phone. Then I say OK Google Now and my phone wakes up, so I say Note to self and get prompted as follows. You can also say note to self send monthly report to executive and a similar chain of events will follow:

As you can see there are lots more options than just Google Keep. And even better whenever you have a keyboard onscreen to type you can tap the microphone and speak to your phone!

Select (with a single tap) the app you want to use to create this voice note. 

One final tip which isn't related to Google Keep, rather to Android and using your voice to control it ... If you haven't enabled the wake on OK Google Now voice command you can still speak to your phone. Just tap on the little microphone on the Google Search bar:

Don't forget about the little microphone on your keyboard either ... that lets you talk to any app instead of using seek & peck method of typing or swipe (we blogged about that in the Type FAST on Your Mobile post)!

Sometimes when you make a note it is as much for someone else as it is for you. Maybe it is a job you're working on together and Google Keep notes or checklists are helping you collaborate. Or maybe you're preparing a presentation and you want some help gathering the bullet points.

Whatever the case with Google Keep you can share your note(s) with anyone else. In fact you can share a note with multiple people! Simply start or open a note and click on the person:

Now just type the name or names of the people you want to include. By default (when you're signed in with your salvationarmy.org.nz account it will automatically find people who work for The Salvation Army. Once you've added all the people you want to include simply tap on save and then get back to your job 

Finding notes is easy when you only have one or two, but we've seen many monitors with dozens of sticky notes placed around it. So while making notes is a great idea, finding them (especially on a mobile device) can be a little difficult.

Google Keep has this covered! You can colour code your notes. This means that instead of just having pretty notes you can make orange apply to phone messages, green to information you need to remember, blue to work you need to complete, yellow to mission ideas, etc. You can also use the search feature and select the type of note it was:

Google Keep really makes it easy to keep notes organised and haver them appear at your finger tips when you need them.

Keeping a note that you have to do something is great, but sometimes (personally speaking) I need a reminder. For me the best kind of reminder is one that as I walk into work says, hey go see X when you get to work. Google Keep lets you create a reminder for either a specific date and time OR a specific location!

To create a reminder enter your text (or steal the text from photo using our tip yesterday) then tap on the reminder text at the bottom of the note:

This will popup a choice of either day & time OR location based:

Then simply type in the address you want to be reminded at. This works really well for reminding me of things I need to do when I get to work, or home, or the supermarket, or anywhere else you may go to get things done!