Instaviz Reviews – Page 4
4/5 rating based on 60 reviews. Read all reviews for Instaviz for iPhone.
Instaviz is paid iOS app published by Pixelglow Software
My kingdom for a carriage return...
Largo8
This app has tons of potential but I don't think it's worth $10 yet. I'd like to see the inclusion of a carriage return /word wrap and the ability to change the figure type after it's in the chart (my finger sketching is sketchy at best - I keep getting a square when I draw a diamond). Would be nice to be able to create the structure as you go - if I connect the side of one object to the side of another then go horizontal, bottom to top then go vertical.
My New Favorite Thing
NorthCoast Anne
This is a wonderful diagramming application! I love being able to use the touch screen to draw shapes and conectors, and then delete what doesn't work, with just a quick shake of the ipod. It's not immediately obvious, but it's easy to define a style for a shape - if you draw one elipse, then set the properties (font, line, background, colors and styles for each), then every elipse you add will have the same properties (for that chart only, it seems). Draw a square, set the properties, and all will follow, etc. So you don't have to go through full customization of every single item you add. The color selector is a creative inspiration, and allows you to make some really snazzy diagrams. I exported the diagrams via wi-fi to my free box.net account, and was really pleased by the quality of the PDF files, which I was able to put very quickly into a Keynote presentation. Once you play with this application for just a little while, you'll learn how this app "thinks" and find quick ways to put elements and connectors exactly where you want them. The only downside for me, as someone else mentioned, is that you can only have a single line of text in each box. Wouldn't it be great to have a return key, so we can have the text and an appropriately sized box? But as is, this app is still lots of fun to use, and gives you the ability to create beautiful diagrams. I know I'll find myself wanting to diagram everything!
Not ready for prime time
Mruseless
I was severely disappointed in this app. There is no way to change the shape once placed. You also cannot move items around manually if you want to. No way to automatically wrap text! This means if you paste in a paragraph, for example, it comes out as one huge long line of text. If that text is in a circle, the circle is HUGE. The only way to fix it is to go back an MANUALLY put "\n" in every spot you want a line break. That makes this program unusable for me. A waste of $10. My only hope is that they add these features in the future.
Too Confining
SJP-iPad
I came looking for a flowcharting program which would allow me to create the standard flowcharts found in computer programming. I saw that this program seemed to contain the basic symbols and connectors that should make that possible. Then, once I began to use the actual application, I found that it was terribly confining. I was unable to resize the symbols (with their size determined by the amount of single-line text in them). I was unable to move them, but forced to accept the locations that the app selected for them. I could not control where the connecting lines exited or entered a shape (such as having the "yes" connector go out the bottom of a diamond and the "no" go out the left or right side of the diamond). In short, I was basically at the mercy of the application, which I honestly found quite frustrating. Finally I created a flowchart allowing the app to have its way, and while the shape was quite odd and unstandard, it was usable. If the creators will allow for more user control of the shapes, sizes, locations, etc., this will be an excellent application. As it is, it should be a free app until more fully developed.
Flow Charts made Easy !
Rad99004
Talk about making the process of making a flow chart easy ! Looks like more updates are on the way. Developer Please add: Object resize Ability to select and make same type of objects the same size Ability to move objects and anchor in selected position For auto positioning of linked items allow selection from top to bottom or Left to right External to the object Text caption allow custom Back ground color or image
Excelent!
Rodolfoag
It's a great App, very usefull! Just need change the label input field to a textarea field, to allow users type a new line without use "\n".
An excellent app that would be outstanding with a few enhancements
LivingAnExaminedLife
I work in the consulting division for a large enterprise software company. This app is worth $10 and would be worth more with some enhancements outlined below. It is really powerful to be able to walk into a customer meeting, have a complex whiteboard session, and churn out a clean almost-PowerPoint quality diagram within 5 minutes of the meeting’s end. Instaviz does that, and almost (but not quite) to the level we need for systems architecture work. Frequently my colleagues and I design two kinds of diagrams in Visio: Data Flows and System Architectures. It’s a painstaking and incredibly slow process of clciking and dragging at the PC. Instaviz does 75% of what we need it to do in 1/10th the amount of time as Visio. We can actually go into a meeting and come out with a PDF document for the client – instantly. No more long nights with Visio (though cross-compatibility is there if needed). Love that we can produce a PowerPoint-ready diagram in near real-time following the conclusion of an IT architecture brainstorming session! That being said, I have some feedback that would help take the app to the next level. 1. Allow anchoring shapes to specific “layers,” like the layers of a cake. For Data Flow diagrams, Instaviz needs to allow “anchoring” of like-minded shapes to specific “layers” in a document. This is needed when there is a branched sequence where some branches of the process skip some steps, but still need to remain visually grouped with their sibling shapes. This enhancement would require a UI gesture to lasso or otherwise group shapes by “family or layer.” Shapes that belong with a specific family/layer would always be visually grouped together according to the layout rules that you are already applying to the farthest-away member of that family/layer. 2. Enable the user to tap-to-covert from a basic shape to a simple vector graphic picture (i.e., instead of a square, a simple colour vector image of a server, or a depiction of a user). You could sell these graphics as an in-app purchase – for example, buy the “IT icons pack” for $3.99. If you could change a shape into any one of my 9 favourite vector images (users; servers; firewalls; desktops; mobile devices; databases; clouds; storage disk; load balancers). I’d be willing to pay, say, at least $5-10 for an in-app purchase. (It would save me more than enough time to justify that cost -- having a pretty architecture diagram with vector-based pictures instead of shapes.) 3. Enable manual positioning of shapes as is possible in Visio (i.e., option to disable Instaviz’s auto-positioning of shapes). Just an option to fall back on when the app doesn’t layout the elements ideally. (But to be clear, the auto-positioning of elements is perhaps the biggest selling point of the Instaviz for me so to disable it would be something I would only do on occasion). 4. If possible, exported PDFs should default to “Fit Page” zoom-level when opening on desktop PCs. Currently the exported PDFs default to “Fit Width” when opened in Adobe; I believe there is a public API method to force PDFs to open “Fit Page.” Fit Page is by far the preferred default viewing option for the majority of diagram PDFs – otherwise you force the recipient of the PDF to click “zoom out” multiple times. 5. Allow adding a simple Page Title to either of the upper corners of the document. A basic text field would suffice. As it is, because I am patient and dogged, I can use Instaviz to and invent work-arounds that cobble-together 40-50% of the types of diagrams I produce. But, if you address issues 1 and 2 above (and hopefully issues 3, 4, and 5), the app will be indispensible.
really frustrating
Talytara
for me what's needed is having (1) both directed and non-directed lines, (2) the possibility of crossed lines, (3) the ability to arrange nodes, and (3) an easier way to remove nodes I tried lots of work-arounds for determining the left-right arrangement of nodes but got defeated every time
Almost perfect
NynjaWitay
As far as creating diagrams goes, this app is great. While changing a nodes shape is possible, it is very difficult to do without creating a whole new node accidentally. There is an import/export option, but it took me a couple tries to get the file imported on my iPhone. Exporting seemed fine. What I really want is syncing to a cloud service like dropbox without having to manually import/export. If this app could sync files, I'd give it 5 stars.