I started by trying to create the mind map in iThoughts on the iPad with Settings in Slideover, but sadly Apple doesn’t allow Settings in Slideover. A bit weird to set up the first time out of the gate, but once it’s set up, the syncing is flawless. I like it because it’s cross platform with Mac, iOS and Windows clients and you can share maps between clients using Dropbox. I grabbed my trusty iThoughts mind mapping tool from. I figured the menu structure would be awesome for laying out the different options in iOS 11’s Settings. I wanted to have a way to search that actually DID search.

Recently Apple added Search to Settings, but in my usage it often doesn’t find the setting I seek, even when I’ve typed in the exact name I later discover through hunting around. What’s the problem to be solved here? Personally, I find myself often digging around in Settings muttering to myself, “Where IS that setting? Was it in Mail, iCloud? Or was it in iCloud, Mail?” I did not understand the utter madness into which I was about to descend when I undertook this project. I decided to mind map all, and I mean all of the Settings in iOS 11. Or mapping all of the specs of the different iPhone models Apple is selling? Who can forget the minute detail I went to in order to determine the size of the iPhone X screen? Or how about actually reading NIST Special Publication 800-63B in order to understand what the rules are about two-factor authentication and our banks? And then there’s documenting every minute change in the different MacBook Pro models to help you decide which one to buy.

Ithoughts mind map