inShort App Reviews

….for planning my projects and remembering stuff getting done. Especially the timelines are important to me. Go on and I am looking for every improvement!

I like the application and could see potential for using it many purposes and ways. I could see the user forum being reasonably active and the developer being active to make improvements to the app. But I hope there is more support for learning how to use it, in addition to the current user guide pdf. Especially, I am struggling with setting up the schedule plans for my dissertation analysis/writing. Video tutorials will help and templates(like a dissertation writer like me) will also help.

Although ideal for project planning, I found inShort to be the only tool that allows me to originize complex thought processes and idea matrices that live in my mind but sometimes need to live in other minds also. I’ve tried many other programs but found myself having to mold my ideas to fit their structure. inShort alows me to create the structure that makes sense for my ideas.

I’m new with the app, but I love that it starts with a comprehensive tutorial so I don’t grow frustrated trying to fumble through learning. It is clear and I was able to get my initial project (planning a house move) set up in under 20 minutes! I was looking for an app that has an iOS component because we are continually changnig and adding to our plan. This app meets the need!

I’m new to these kinds of apps, having used some flow charts and mind mapping in the past. This app seems like the missing link that pulls it all together in creating a clear course of action. I plan on using this to manage some complex product production workflows as well as in working out complex software problems.

Most other apps featured in the store were over-priced and had terrible reviews. I do read reviews before purchasing. When I see a handful of reviews and they are all positive I tend to believe they’re written by the developer’s buddies. I took the leap on this one. I am pleasantly surprised by how well made this app is. The tutorial is good, not great, but good enough. That does not deminish how well made this app is. I bought this thinking of creating simple orgnization and work flow charts but I can see how this can be used to teach and train employees on a step by step basis. It can also help me organizing,scheduling and completing projects. Great job!

This has program has made all of my project management and process development a breeze. The drill through feature and the gantt chart are excellent features that provide informative plans and leave no questions. Excellent product!!

Based on Mac Power User recommendations, I tried inShort out. At almost $40, “tried” really amounts to a non-trivial gamble, but happily, inShort appears promising, and I believe it can ultimately scratch my itch, which is primarily to create various process charts, with supplementary information, to educate others in basic process analysis and improvement. That said, I agree with those who suggest the tutorial would benefit from some tweaks, and probably most importantly, the app almost begs for some video tutorials. (I understand and appreciate the developer’s purpose for the tutorial - to make us familiar with the structure of the program as we read the tutorial; I just think it’s not quite “there” yet, and video support would be extremely helpful.) Another issue that could fustrate users (it did me) is unexplained compatibility glitches. Here’s an example: I created a basic four-step process flow chart, and tried to copy it to Word, to include it in a quick process improvement writeup as part of my “educate others” use case. It didn’t work. At all. After 15 minutes of searching—including the forums, which assured me I could do so—I couldn’t do it. Im reasonably capable on my Mac, and I was stumped. It turns out, I had been using the 2011 version of Word (arbitrarily open at the time) and I needed to use the 2016 version. How did I learn this? Trial & error. If my workplace hadn’t just upgraded Office very recently, I would’ve not had the newest version, and would’ve been stunned by the misimpression that the app couldnt do something so basic. In closing, before I block your view of the forest with these probably smalller trees, the feature set seems very solid—I especially appreciate Theory of Constraints—and offers some nice complements to my trusted primary project management apps.

tl;dr Low initial learning curve with an advanced feature set that stays out of your way until you are ready to use it. Awesome technical support! First, I want to thank the dev for helping me through issues with repeated crashes of the software..actually it wasn’t crashing…I was asking it to display 2000 years on a Gantt chart and my computer ran out of memory! He subsequently answered my 1/2 dozen other operational questions within 24 hours. After trying GanttProject and ProjectLibre I was searching for something that was more modern and provided a little more flexibility / features. I initially needed flow chart and Gantt chart capabilities but can’t justify the $150 - 300 expense for the “big guys.” I checked out online options (Wrike, Smartsheet) but, after my experience using OneNote Desktop compared to OneNote Online I feel like the web apps still need time to deliver on a rich feature-set. So I “settled” for inShort because of price and reviews and I am not disappointed! After a quick read of the Help file I was able to jump right in. Unfamiliar with the official world of project management, the terms were unfamiliar to me and it took several readings of the help file before I even started to grasp the higher concepts. However, this did not get in the way of me desigining my project. It was a great experience to look at my project from this perspective and the drilldown feature is now something that I find crucial as it keeps the top level diagram clean and clear. I appreciate that the Help file discusses theory as well as implementation.

To use this application to its potential will take me some time, but I am getting the hang of it. It is great that the tool itself can be used as a learning aid, but it needs more examples as illustrated by screen capture. This may be the tool that organizes my short and long term planning and can be used to communicate a project to others, but I still am getting there. I use the iPad pro extensively and the fact that a version exists for iOS is particuarly interesting to me. Looking forward to eventual mastery!

inShort is a tool that allows me to architect my projects. From the simplest project flow, to large multi-year projects. I can create and think through various levels of detail quickly and easily. Per the authors guidance, and based on George Miller’s “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two”, inShort easily helps me to keep the project focus at the right level of detail to communicate a project. This ability to focus is artfully implemented using the drill-down, roll-up paradigm. After all, project planning is only really useful when you can easily communicate and understand your project ideas. Add in the Gantt charts, Reports, and the Flow Diagram PDF’s which use Interactive Links, this program has exceeded my expectations. You will want to spend your first experience going through the tutorial and also grabbing a copy of the User Guide on the authors website. After completing those introductions you may just find yourself thinking a little bit differently about how to manage your projects. I did.

It takes a little bit of work to fully grasp all the nuances, but once I started working with inShort I found it quite powerful. The very first project I outlined made the value apparent.

I have been given several tasks this summer which require me to work with several projrects and interns as well. I wanted a place to bring everything together and try and manage each project and the people involved. After searching the App store I came across inShort and based on reviews (I read quite a lot) I decided the sale was good enough for me to jump on. Of course the reviews that stuck with me were the ones that were premised on my review. They can see the potential but are just starting off and it seems like it is a lot to take in. I took this as a positive as I felt it would be robust enough to get it working how you want when you become fluent in how the App works. But yes, I opened it and went through tuturial/guide and still had many questions about where to start. Opened a new project and begin to flesh it out. I liken it to something like Illustrator or Affinity Designer. Great apps with lots of tools but when you first begin you spend more time clicking all the menus looking for certain things or just “to see what does this do?”. So far this seems quite robust for my needs and have a couple of weeks to flesh out my ideas before I begin my projects. I am looking forward to really getting to the nuts and bolts of project planning and do not regret my decision to buy it. In the end you should realize that my 5 stars is based on what I would like to do and my understanding of what the app will do for me. Project managers may find it too limiting where I do not see a ceiling yet.

Its very early for me with this app. It seems like the author is not a native English speaker and the documentation is written in quite a strange style. Its possible that it was automatically translated and then cleaned up some. This is the apps biggest weakness; the basic diagramming features are easy enough to use but once you get into scheduling and resource planning it starts getting really hard to follow. That said, the app is clean and seems well thought out and it looks like it has a lot of potential. I look forward to learning more.

We make mobile apps and have been looking for something that could help us with the visual data process, app flow plus tracking resousrecs. So far it fits the bill with lots of addition other options to branch out to! One thing I would like to see is a windows verson maybe a reader, so people running a PC can open the projects as well.

Having some limited experience with ToC and Pert/Gantt project planning, my first impressions are that this is above average in capability. It also seems to be easy enough to get started with, yet, to get full value, you will have to put time into learning it. The instructions are not bad, though i wouldn’t call it a tutorial. However, since they are delivered as a project, and you have to use the project to review it, you are essentially doing a tutorial. But it leaves some gaps of understanding, to me, anyway. I will review it some more later.

I honestly question the reviews written here after I’ve tried the software myself. It’s extremely clunky, poor UI, and simply INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING to use. I want to PLAN my work, it’s impossible to set range of tasks and so on. Horrible. What a waste of money!

This is an amazing app to plan the big perspective and follow- up on the process in a structured and convenient display paradigm. I fell in love with the iPad version, but having this powerful deck in my hands right on the desktop is absolutely stunning- thank You so much, Yuri! The only vital thing missing is proper sync across Macs and iPads- but the developer is aware of this and is already implementing it. This one’s a must-tryout for everyone planning ahead or in need of presenting a difficult procedure to a team / collaboration partners. Keep innovating, Yuri, it’s SO worth the time and effort!

I am a long fan of this app and am using this on iOS as well. Its so great to see it on the Mac too now! Love it! Highly recommended for your project.

I bought this app to structurize my work. I spent one entire day on understanding it - without success. In three words: Not-selfexplanatory, complicated, expensive. I regrett spending money on this.