TechMom Tuesday – Remind Me to Review Something…

TechMom

I write a monthly column over at AlliOSNews. It’s a techie site – extolling all the goodies and gunpowder on the Apple OS. (SHINY TOY!) I’m TechMom. And these are my stories on how technology is really used. When I remember…

(I’m well aware it’s Wednesday. If you want TechMom Tuesday on Tuesdays, head on over to AlliOSNews for all things Apple. TechMom Tuesday is typically published the first Tuesday of every month; last month I forgot. So this month I reviewed reminders. I reserve the right to rant more or less as the technical goings-on, well…go on.)

Did you miss me in February? (In my defense you did get two TechMom Tuesday posts in January.)

Nevertheless, it is with a heartfelt apology that I shall now regale you with my thoughts on Apple Reminders. (Because I totally could have used a reminder for the last TechMom post. And since we’re airing confessions – I’m writing this right now because a reminder just buzzed at me from my shiny iPhone 5 toy.)

I’ve been trying to go paperless for a while now. Between the terrific toddling twosome creating confetti out of receipts and other important papers and my giant dogs who seem to believe pulped paper products are a culinary delicacy, the precariously placed post-its weren’t cutting it any longer.

Also, I was forgetting things.

Managing my tasks as work (SHOCKINGLY, I am not a professional full-time blogger), tracking family commitments, remembering doctors appointments, calendaring my blogging exploits, random to-dos, a shared honey-do list, the grocery store checklist indicating whether or not we’re out of Cheerios, and of course noting the movies that my friends seem to be so incredulous that I haven’t yet seen. (Who am I? Where are we?)

I needed something that would ideally encompass all of the above in one fabulous app.

And Apple Reminders is a standard app on all my iDevices (and my MacBook, but I couldn’t figure out a clever iPhrase for that one).

Reminders - Desktop

The Good:

  • It reminded me of stuff to do.
  • Integrates with Outlook tasks for work purposes. (I couldn’t test Apple Mail notes, because, well – that died.
  • I can share lists. And everyone with an iPhone already has the app. (Honey…I’ve got a great idea! Also, Clinton can cull my crazy ideas long before they’re threatening to go live on the AlliOSNews site.)

The Bad:

  • I am restricted to one folder (“Tasks”) for my work tasks.
  • If you aren’t a complete Apple shop, you miss out on desktop access – which could be a pretty big pain for work items.
  • There is very little space for in-depth notes about the task.

The Ugly:

  • Can you see my shopping list? We’re out of toddler snacks AND wine! (APOCOLYPSE NOW!)

Overall, Reminders is okay. It’s not great; I don’t think it sucks.

It served its purpose – blinking up reminders of the items I entered in. However, Reminders very much works best as a straight series of lists, not a comprehensive life organizer.

Now, because I know “meh” isn’t really a review you can do much with, I’ve gone a step further to look at some of the other productivity apps available.

If Reminders is just to basic for you, check out WunderList.

WunderList

It’s a free (highly rated) app that syncs across all your devices – including a Web portal and PC desktop plan – and also sharable provided your desired share-ee also has the app.

With a more comprehensive notes section as well as sub-tasks you can enter, WunderList is a much cleaner option for paperless life task organization.

If only one of the apps could now remind me what direction my iPhone toddled off… (FYI – Find iPhone app does not share which toy bin your shiny toy has been stashed in.)

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