While Apple may have complicated the field of to-do and reminder apps with the introduction of its own Reminders app in iOS 5, that doesn't mean other developers have given up. Checkmark, a new app from developer Snowman, has upped the ante with a superior implementation of one of Reminders's key features, location-based reminders.
My biggest problem with Apple's Reminders is the sheer frustration that comes with actually using the app. The process of entering items is slow, many of the features aren't fully fleshed out--for example, you can set a priority, but that priority doesn't show up anywhere--and you can set location-based reminders only for places listed in your Contacts. Checkmark addresses most of these issues and packages its features in a sleek, efficient interface that doesn't put the skeuomorphic cart before the horse, as it were.
The app is broken down into two handy lists of reminders: Where, for location-based reminders, and When, for time-based reminders--you switch between the two using Where and When buttons at the bottom of the screen. You won't find custom lists here; every reminder is tied to either a place or a time. Also note that there's no system of "priority" as in other apps of this ilk. I'm of the mind that assigning priorities is a time-sink, but if that's a feature you rely on, Checkmark isn't for you.
Checkmark's location-based reminders trump those of the Reminders app from the get-go. The app uses custom iOS-Home-screen-style pages of frequently visited locations. You add a location by using your current location, searching for a point of interest on a map, importing an address from your Contacts, or manually entering an address. This means that not only can you easily add locations such your home or work, but also other arbitrary places, such as your local drugstore, grocery store, library, post office, and so on. In my testing, this worked pretty well, although Checkmark occasionally failed to match locations such as my local coffee shop, or even my neighborhood Target, when I searched for them as points of interest; I had to instead add them via their street addresses.
When you trigger a location-based reminder by entering or leaving the geofence around the location, Checkmark sends you a reminder. In addition to onscreen notifications, you can choose for your reminders to include an alert sound, and you can opt to display an app-icon badge showing the number of pending reminders.
You can also view all your location-based reminders in a single list, delineated by location; if you choose to create a new reminder from this screen, you'll be asked to choose a location. When viewing the list, you can choose whether to view reminders that are currently active or those you've marked as completed, but there's no option to see both in the same list.
This article comes from:http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9229270/Checkmark_for_iPhone?taxonomyId=77
My biggest problem with Apple's Reminders is the sheer frustration that comes with actually using the app. The process of entering items is slow, many of the features aren't fully fleshed out--for example, you can set a priority, but that priority doesn't show up anywhere--and you can set location-based reminders only for places listed in your Contacts. Checkmark addresses most of these issues and packages its features in a sleek, efficient interface that doesn't put the skeuomorphic cart before the horse, as it were.
The app is broken down into two handy lists of reminders: Where, for location-based reminders, and When, for time-based reminders--you switch between the two using Where and When buttons at the bottom of the screen. You won't find custom lists here; every reminder is tied to either a place or a time. Also note that there's no system of "priority" as in other apps of this ilk. I'm of the mind that assigning priorities is a time-sink, but if that's a feature you rely on, Checkmark isn't for you.
Checkmark's location-based reminders trump those of the Reminders app from the get-go. The app uses custom iOS-Home-screen-style pages of frequently visited locations. You add a location by using your current location, searching for a point of interest on a map, importing an address from your Contacts, or manually entering an address. This means that not only can you easily add locations such your home or work, but also other arbitrary places, such as your local drugstore, grocery store, library, post office, and so on. In my testing, this worked pretty well, although Checkmark occasionally failed to match locations such as my local coffee shop, or even my neighborhood Target, when I searched for them as points of interest; I had to instead add them via their street addresses.
When you trigger a location-based reminder by entering or leaving the geofence around the location, Checkmark sends you a reminder. In addition to onscreen notifications, you can choose for your reminders to include an alert sound, and you can opt to display an app-icon badge showing the number of pending reminders.
You can also view all your location-based reminders in a single list, delineated by location; if you choose to create a new reminder from this screen, you'll be asked to choose a location. When viewing the list, you can choose whether to view reminders that are currently active or those you've marked as completed, but there's no option to see both in the same list.
This article comes from:http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9229270/Checkmark_for_iPhone?taxonomyId=77
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