Dear Diary: A review of Momento

By
On November 23, 2010

Momento is a journal type of application, but with a unique twist. Instead of just recording one journal entry a day, with Momento you are supposed to record interesting moments throughout the day. Whenever there is something you want to remember, you just open up Momento, which allows you to record it quickly. This app is a fantastic alternative for those who like to keep some sort of diary each day.

Features

For only $1.99, the creators of this app sure packed a lot of features into it. As you record each moment, you can tag people, places, events, and even add custom tags in order to quickly search for and find certain moments. You can even add photos to moments for a visual reminder, and rate them based on how good they are. A calendar view allows you to jump to a specific date, those of you with iOS 4 can backup your moments, and you can even set a password to prevent other people from viewing your moments. You can also connect with certain websites to import information and activities you share online.

Review

The first problem I noticed is that is does not support multitasking.  This means if you answer a call or respond to a text while creating a moment, you will lose it and have to start it over. Hopefully this issue is addressed in the next update and they add support for multitasking.

Aside from that Momento is a great application. If you already keep a diary, I would suggest trying this out as a substitute, and if you do not keep one but want to, this is a great way to get started. This app not only simplifies the process of keeping a journal, it also adds many features that you would not have with a regular journal. As opposed to writing everything at the end of the day, it is now a quick and easy process to create a moment, and adding tags and pictures to keep them organized is a breeze. The ability to type in landscape mode is always welcome, and the feeds are a great addition. Momento does an excellent job at making it fun to keep a journal, and even if you think you have no interest in it, trying this might get you hooked!

All of the aforementioned features of Momento give it a huge advantage of the standard way to keep a diary. A diary is static and limited; it is more difficult to change, and if you want to find a specific event from a specific day it could take quite a while. Momento changes all of this, and allows you to edit any of your moments and make revisions as necessary. Want to show your friend a few cool parts of your most recent vacation? Tags speed up the process of finding them. Every feature contained within this app was designed very well, which makes this app a perfect choice for keeping a journal.

Conclusion

Momento is a fantastic app for anyone who keeps a journal or wants to start keeping one. Even if you don’t, it can’t hurt to give this app a try, because it makes keeping a journal, easy, quick, and fun. With tags and photos, finding moments is just as easy as making them, and the pictures are great for being able to recall the moment exactly as it happened. The ability to rate moments is great for things like vacations, allowing you to quickly find which days were the best and which ones were not so great. The password protection option is a handy feature for those of you who are concerned about privacy, and the ability to backup your data is always a benefit. I don’t understand why this app does not supports iOS 4 and multitasking, but hopefully that gets added soon, as that seems to be the one drawback of Momento.

Developers Note

Whilst Momento doesn’t currently support multitasking, it does store moments as drafts when quit or interrupted (by a phone call for example). When relaunching Momento and tapping the ‘New Moment’ button, you will return to the moment you had started to write.

Multitasking is something we plan to include in a future version.