Smartphone filing cabinet

[Gottawonder]

I bought my new rig 6 months ago and I have taken pictures of every mfg serial number, dry weight sticker, tire info sticker, license plate, registration, toll tag, etc and moved those all into a subfolder in my phone pictures called "RV" I can't tell you how often I've been on the computer and needed some of that info, and having a simple place to retrieve it without a lot of fuss is excellent. I'll move this to a "cloud" service (probably my Dropbox account) and have the info available to me whereever I am.

Gottawonder

[tomjsas]

Good idea!

[Evereddie]

I highly recommend Evernote for your phone. It lets you organize photos, text, record notes, video, tags each note where you were when you put it in, and syncs all to a cloud service which you can pull up on a computer and see what you stored via your phone. You make updates on your computer and it shows up on your phone. Free.

[97Powerstroke]

I needed a cloud based file system for my work, tried Evernote, but I didn't like the layout much. My work laptop had Microsoft OneNote installed so I tried it and love it. I downloaded the free app for the iPhone (and my work iPad) and I'm much more organized. I've been meaning to scan in all my 5'ver documents but haven't had any downtime lately.


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[Terier]

I would welcome more information on this so I can put my smartphone to use. How would I even get started setting something like this up?

[97Powerstroke]

Originally Posted by Terier

I would welcome more information on this so I can put my smartphone to use. How would I even get started setting something like this up?

Do you have an iPhone or Android device?


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[Terier]

I have an Android device.

[97Powerstroke]

If you want to go the Evernote route, you can link that to any email address. If you want OneNote, you need a hotmail, or Microsoft account. They are free.


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[Terier]

Thanks for the information. I will check out both options.

[97Powerstroke]

On you computer, go to Evernote.com or OneNote.com

Download the free apps.

On your phone, go to your App Store and search for them. Download the free apps.

You log in on both your computer and phone using the same email. It syncs to the cloud--make a change on one device and it changes in the other.

For example, on your computer, scan in your RV instruction manuals and wiring diagrams, take screen shots of useful info on the net, paste them in your document. I find this useful if I'm out shopping and need the right parts.

"Jing" is a free useful screenshot tool I use daily. You can take little screenshots, instead of using the PrintScreen button.


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[Gottawonder]

Dropbox also lets you sync up phones pads and computers, and you can also share folders with friends. A lot of times if I take a picture of something and want to send a buddy of mine, it's faster to dropbox it than email it. I "drop it" in my shared folder, then I have a copy from any device and he gets it too.

I have friends who are evernote fans, there are days I think I'm not organized enough to use it Dropbox lets me store things for me or send stuff back and forth to friends all from the same app. Evernote may do that too, I just haven't looked.


I took my road test today and as the test administrator was finishing up he said "Oh, I have to go back outside, I didn't write down your plate number." I grabbed my phone, popped up a pic of the plate and said "Here ya go."


I probably started doing this with things like airport parking spaces and rental car license plates. It's proven valuable over and over with the RV. I've dropbox'd any PDF owners manual I've used online, and continue to build the photo library as I go. I'm the first to admit there's zero organization to it, beyond "It's in the RV folder."

Gottawonder

[f5moab]

I have downloaded all available PDFs or other files onto my tablet and my phone, and scanned in manuals or info not readily available. However, I keep them on the phone and tablet. The info does not take that much space on either device.
I also scan in and store all my dog's vet information (shots, visits, etc.) Which helped a lot when I had to take my dog to a vet in WY.
Screen shot of dog's file folder...


Cloud based storage is nice, if you have access to the cloud.

[Gottawonder]

Originally Posted by f5moab

Cloud based storage is nice, if you have access to the cloud.

Actually, I agree with the spirit of this comment. With Dropbox, you wind up with the best of both worlds (I don't speak to the others mentioned because I don't know the in's and out's.) Whatever device I'm using, whatever I store in my Dropbox/RV folder on that device automatically sync's up with my other devices the next time they're online. So if I download a PDF while on my laptop, save it to my computer's Dropbox folder, it will automatically sync to my desktop and phone and tablet the next time they're connected to the internet. So the files are stored locally on those machines and are also accessible from any other browser using my login info at dropbox.com . If you accidentally delete a file that you wish you hadn't, you can go to your dropbox.com account and recover it. Once you install it on the devices, you just use it as if it was any other folder in your file system. All the sync between devices is automatic.

So, yes, I also have local copies on my devices, the sync'ing of those docs is just done automatically via dropbox.

You can also share specific folders with other individual dropbox users or make them public.



I think the only exception is MP3 and video, which either require manual download or you have the option on your cell phone. The name of the file will still show in Dropbox but it seems like on those larger files they require you to say "yes, download these." If you move an MP3 to your dropbox folder on your laptop it'll auto sync to your computer(s).


That's longwinded, but I hope it helps to clarify. Once the files sync, you can access it on those devices, internet or not.

[everett.devore]

Great idea making one now thanks.

[PhoneDude 8289]

Heck of a good idea, I'm going to start that now that we are home for a period of time. Now I have something to do.