Leopard Spotlight: iPhone notes syncing confirmed
It was widely expected but the big Leopard features list page we posted on earlier confirms it: notes syncing of some sort is finally coming to the iPhone. This feature will be integrated into the new Mail.app, and the notes folder will basically be handled like a email mailbox, "so you can retrieve notes from any Mac or PC or access them from your iPhone." This will presumably be possible though .mac notes syncing which is also revealed on the page. Unfortunately, however, it looks like Marker Felt is here to stay. I just hope that some good solution is worked out for integrating these Mail.app notes with other popular snippet applications like Yojimbo, etc.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ChrismUSAF said 11:47AM on 10-16-2007
I don't think we're stuck with marker felt anymore! According to the Leopard features page: "including graphics, colored text, and attachments"
Reply
Andy said 11:55AM on 10-16-2007
"Your notes folder acts like an email mailbox, so you can retrieve notes from any Mac or PC or access them from your iPhone."
I'll bet that means it is stored as an email message. Not really a 'sync', just accessed in a different method. So, not really an iPhone sync.
Reply
jack said 11:59AM on 10-16-2007
I just hope that some good solution is worked out for integrating these Mail.app notes with other popular snippet applications like Yojimbo, etc.
No, hopefully it works well enough yojimbo isn't needed (of course that could just be my bias showing since I think yojimbo sucks and is overpriced).
Reply
Rob Blatt said 12:00PM on 10-16-2007
That might just mean colored marker felt.
Reply
Mat Lu said 12:04PM on 10-16-2007
@2: that occurred to me as well, hence the "syncing of some sort" in the original post. I think it would be rather cool to have the notes be an IMAP type mailbox that would be fully accessible on any platform.
Reply
Aron Trimble said 12:12PM on 10-16-2007
"Leopard Spotlight" - Yeah, I see what you did there...
Reply
fitzage said 12:21PM on 10-16-2007
Actually, it doesn't say a thing about synching. It says it will be stored in an IMAP mailbox. If it was talking about synching, then it wouldn't say it works with PCs.
You and ars technica forgot how to read, evidently.
Reply
St3phen said 12:31PM on 10-16-2007
And, uh, how does this address Windows-using iPhone owners who need To-Do's & syncing Notes?
Reply
craig said 12:39PM on 10-16-2007
someone needs to email the "Handwriting" font to Steve Jobs.
Reply
jack said 1:08PM on 10-16-2007
Will it work on a non-intel mac?
Reply
webmaster said 1:30PM on 10-16-2007
Agreed on the Felt Marker! On a 2" screen bold condensed is NOT a good idea... basic design 1 class, hard to believe Apple missed that.
Reply
Stephen Lang said 1:48PM on 10-16-2007
I'm actually pleasantly surprised by Marker Felt. I think it works pretty well because it is very readable and is a relatively narrow font, so you can fit more characters on the small screen.
One of the better customized Palm fonts was the old narrow HandEra fonts, similar in principle (but way more professional looking.)
Reply
Keith said 2:42PM on 10-16-2007
(Note to self)....
Call Marge
RE: Horror
Reply
ConsultDifferent said 5:33PM on 10-16-2007
Doesn't really matter how it's achieved, the fact that notes can be created and edited on the Mac, and the updated and carried on iPhone is what matters most... it's clear that Apple is gravitating towards making Mail.app the focus and center of communications, while iTunes is the center of all things iPod/iPhone.
Of course, to unlock these features, I expect Apple to be releasing a new firmware update either same day as Leopard's release, or before the end of the month. It'd be curious to see what happens to hacks at that point.
Reply
mark said 7:37PM on 10-16-2007
@12: i agree. i really like marker felt -- it's clean, readable, and its condensed width accommodates a surprising amount of text on the page.
@11: i don't think marker felt is technically a "bold" font at all. sure, its strokes are thicker than average, but it doesn't possess all of the qualities of a truly bold font. this is semantic, of course, and naturally you're still entitled not to like the font. :-) but i don't think it's quite accurate to accuse apple of committing a faux pas by using a "bold" font on a 2" screen.
Reply
Bloobie said 9:26PM on 10-16-2007
Considering that these notes are accessible from a PC, I would bet that this will be tied completely with .Mac. The only way they would show up as "Notes" on a Windows computer would be through .Mac Mail (on the web). The iPhone would just sync it to .Mac.
Reply
ConsultDifferent said 1:49AM on 10-17-2007
No. If notes are just another IMAP folder called 'notes', then there is no need for dot-mac syncing, particularly as Apple would not make such an elemental feature dependent on a dot-mac susbscription.
They will provide other features that will make us want to purchase dot-mac. Sync'd notes is not one of them.
Reply
James F said 4:24AM on 10-17-2007
I wish they'd get this on the iPod touch. I wonder if it will work with hacked iTouches.
Reply
Rich Cook said 7:17PM on 10-19-2007
They have modified that blurb very recently, it now reads "2. "Your notes folder acts like an email mailbox, so you can retrieve notes from any Mac or PC." The reference to the iPhone has been deleted! Great. :-(
Reply