How to get started
I have questions about editing a Mind Map
Where can I purchase SimpleMind? for Android??
How do I transfer Mind Maps created with SimpleMind Free to the Full version?
What Android versions are supported?
How to use the SimpleMind for Android license on a new device
I purchased SimpleMind via Google Play, but still get 'License not found'. What to do?
Where are my Mind Maps stored?
How to back-up Local Mind Maps
How to use SimpleMind with Dropbox or Google Drive
How to connect SimpleMind to Dropbox or Google Drive
How to copy a Local Mind Map to the cloud
How to set up an External Directory
Importing a Mind Map
Importing Freemind files
How do I transfer my Mind Maps to a another Android device or a PC/Mac?
How to share a Mind Map
How to create an outline
How to export a Mind Map to a word processor or spreadsheet
How to print a Mind Map
How to get rid of the Trash image displayed in the Mind Map editor
Which keyboard shortcuts does SimpleMind support?
Zooming out disables editing
Note: several features as mentioned on this page are only available in SimpleMind for Android Full edition but not in SimpleMind Free for Android. Check the feature matrix for details.
A Mind Map is a visual representation of hierarchical information that includes a central idea surrounded by connected branches of associated topics. It's a great way to organize your thoughts and to share your thoughts with others. A Mind Map starts with a central theme to which you can add topics (bubbles, balloons). You can add child topics to each topic. A topic and all of its child topics are called a branch.
When first starting SimpleMind for Android Pro a new Mind Map will open. Enter any text as your Central Theme. To add more Topics, use the
When using the full edition, we recommend linking SimpleMind with Dropbox or Google Drive first to avoid losing any work.
SimpleMind for Android supports Android version 3.2 and higher, some features are only available in newer versions of Android. It is optimized for both phones and tablets.
SimpleMind for Android is available from Google Play and Amazon. Google Play allows installing on most devices. Amazon allows installing on all Android devices with the Amazon Store installed.
SimpleMind is also available for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows.
The iPad and iPhone version can only be purchased from Apple's iTunes,
or if you have the free SimpleMind+ version: use InApp Purchase to get full functionality.
The desktop version for Mac and Windows can be purchased from our website.
SimpleMind for Android is not available in a bundle with SimpleMind Desktop or SimpleMind for iPad/iPhone.
First install the Full version let run it once.
Open SimpleMind Free, tap menu to go the the Mind Maps explorer. Use the Share command from the toolbar to Export the Mind Maps to SimpleMind Full edition.
This will start the SimpleMind Importer. Tap import and all Mind Maps will be transferred to the full edition. Note: Mind Maps already existing in the Full Edition are not overwritten. When the process is complete you will see a notification.
Close SimpleMind Free and start SimpleMind Full to verify all Mind Maps are imported OK. If so, you can uninstall SimpleMind Free.
The SimpleMind for Android license is tied to your Google or Amazonn account, depending where you purchased it. SimpleMind bought in Google Play can be installed an unlimited amount of times on any Android device with the same account. Check here for details. It works the same for Amazon, except Apps purchased via Amazon are only available on Android devices with Amazon installed.
To use SimpleMind on a different platform, Mac, Windows or iPad and iPhone you will need to purchase a license for that platform.
SimpleMind for Android uses the Google Play store for license validation. Unfortunately this is sometimes not reliable. Here are some things you can do to get your valid copy of SimpleMind running:
SimpleMind for Android can store Mind Maps:
To keep Local Mind Maps safe, make back-ups on a regular basis. That way, the Mind Maps are safe if your device gets stolen, drowned or accidentally uninstalled. Make sure you store your back-up in a cloud (for instance, use the Dropbox app) or send it by mail for safekeeping.
In the Local Mind Map Explorer you'll find the Export all Mind Maps command. This creates a single archive with extension .smmstore containing all Mind Maps and other relevant information. Send this archive to an App of your choice, for example the Dropbox app or mail app.
To restore the backup, import the .smmstore archive.
In this video you will see
Step 1: How to back-up Local Mind Maps
Step 2A: How to restore the back-up from Dropbox
Step 2B: How to restore the back-up from a mail attachment
SimpleMind has native, build-in support for Dropbox and Google Drive. This allows automatic synchronizing of Mind Maps with other Android devices, Windows or Mac desktops and iPad/iPhone via your cloud's account.
After connecting SimpleMind to the cloud Mind Maps can be directly opened from and saved to Dropbox or Google Drive.
Synchronization with the cloud is done inside SimpleMind at regular intervals and at shutdown. To manually force synchronization, use the 'Synchronize' command from the cloud Explorer toolbar. When SimpleMind synchronizes with the cloud it will synchronize:
Marking a Mind Map Off-line available
Marking a Map as Off-line available allows you to work on the Mind Map, even when you are not connected to the internet.
By default a Mind Map will only be synchronized when opened in SimpleMind and you are connected to the internet. Mind Maps that have not been opened are not synchronized. Marking a Mind Map as 'Off-line available' assures the Mind Map is synchronized even if it is not opened.
To do so, tap the menu top open the Mind Map Explorer. Invoke the action bar for the Mind Map you want to make off-line available. On the action bar, tap the pin.
The video below shows how SimpleMind works with the cloud. In the video Dropbox is shown, it works the same for Google Drive.
Once connected to the cloud you can use the Cloud's Explorer to browse the directory structure and directly open Mind Maps from the cloud.
After connecting to the cloud, local Mind Maps can be copied to the cloud.
See the video above, 'how to copy a local Mind Map' starts at the 35 second mark.
After you have copied your local Mind Map to the cloud you can delete the local Mind Map since it's now a duplicate.
Note: You can also copy a mind map on Dropbox to Google Drive (and vice versa) this way.
Mind Maps can be stored in a public directory on the device. Optionally, you may use a third party app to synchronize this public directory with other devices.
To set up an External Directory:
The default external directory is directory SimpleMind in public root directory. To change this, use 'Change External Directory' from the (overflow) menu. Use the arrow to browse back to the desired folder.
SimpleMind for Android can import native files (.smmx), Local Mind Map back-ups (.smmstore) FreeMind (.mm) and .opml files.
To import a file from a different Mind Map application (XMind etc.), please check if that program supports converting to Freemind (.mm) or .opml.
Using native cloud support is the easiest way to import Mind Maps.
If you don't have Dropbox or Google Drive, use this method.
The importer handles native files (.smmx), Mind Map back-ups (.smmstore) FreeMind (.mm) and .opml files.
SimpleMind for Android full edition can import Freemind files (.mm). Freemind Import is quite limited and only intended for a one-time import to convert the Freemind Mind Map to the native SimpleMind format. SimpleMind will extract text, notes and hierarchy from the Freemind file. All other attributes such as links and icons are ignored. Any rich text is flattened to plain text. Freemind does not save spatial information and SimpleMind uses its own lay outer to position topics. Once imported, the Mind Map is stored in the native .smmx format.
See also: Importing a Mind Map
Using Dropbox or Google Drive is the easiest way to transfer Mind Maps with other devices running SimpleMind.
Alternatively, select Share Mind Map ? Send Mind Map and send the Mind Map in native .smmx format to an Android app.
For example the Mail App. Use this app to transfer the Mind Map to the desktop or another Android device.
See Share for a video
Sharing a Mind Map is possible in native .smmx format, as .pdf (Android 4.4 and up), a .png image, a .jpeg image, html outline, text outline, Freemind .mm and .opml.
You can also use the share command to send the Mind Map in any format to the cloud app. The cloud app will then upload the file to the cloud. This also works for other cloud apps, like OneDrive. This is a one time send. Exported files will not be synchronized when a Local Mind Map is changed. If you want to synchronize your Mind Maps with another device also running SimpleMind, use the built-in Dropbox or Google Drive support.
To create an outline document, export a Mind Map as .html outline. The .html outline maintains the hierarchical structure in the Mind Map. It can be imported in word processors and spreadsheets. This will result in a hierarchical list with topic texts. Each topic has a sub-list containing its sub-topic texts. Use the Bullets and Numbering options in the word processor to number these lists to your liking.
If you delete a Mind Map it is moved to the Trash folder, rather than actually deleting it. Similar to how the mail app treats deleting email messages. To draw your attention to the fact that the Mind Map is actually deleted, a trash images is displayed in the editor background. To get rid of the trash background image, undelete the Mind Map by moving it to any other folder. The same applies to Mind Maps created in the Trash folder. Use Empty Trash to completely irreversibly delete the Mind Map.
If you use an external keyboard, the SimpleMind Mind Map editor supports the following keyboard short cuts:
Zooming out too far will disable editing functions. To prevent unwanted changes the Mind Map will become read only.
Zoom in to bring back the normal functionality.
Note: Do you feel SimpleMind switches to read-only too soon? If you wish you can adjust the editor scale factor, this will change the zoom factor.