There’s An App For That… And I Use…

Apple’s latest commercial is nothing short of brilliant. If you haven’t caught it take a look.

Why is it brilliant? Because it takes the normal way of looking at an app and turns it on its head. Instead of looking at an app and discovering what the app can do, the commercial suggests we think about WHAT we need to accomplish and then find the right app for doing it. It is a simple idea but a powerful one in that it views the iPhone as an invaluable tool for accomplishing life’s little tasks. But there is a problem.

With so many apps in the App Store, there is rarely just one app that can accomplish a given task. It isn’t "There’s an app for that." as much as it is "There are a bunch of apps for that, find the right one for you." Often easier said than done.

For example, if the task is "Read my RSS feeds" I have numerous good choices available. I could use NetNewsWire, Byline, Doppler, Feeder, iNews and the list goes on and on and on and on and on.

The challenge is finding the "Right app for that." So I thought might be interesting to look at specific tasks and WHICH app each of us uses and WHY. The first task is…

Taking Notes.

Yup, there’s an app for that.  In fact there are dozens of apps for that.

You could use Notebooks (recently reviewed by Brett).

You could use TakeANote (recently reviewed by me).

Or you could use Iconic Notes (also recently reviewed).

All of them are great apps for taking notes. The question is… WHICH DO YOU USE AND WHY???

For the longest time I used Evernote for taking notes. I loved the fact tat it would automatically sync the new notes to their servers so I could access them from any computer or internet-connected handheld. Thing is.. Evernote is a lousy app for taking notes. Sure you can take and later edit a note on your iPhone. You can also take a note on your iPhone and then edit it on a computer. But (and this is a huge but) it rarely works the other way. Too often notes taken in Evernote on a computer (or taken in another program and then saved in Evernote) are accessible on the iPhone but not editable on the handheld. More than once I discovered this fact too late and had to wait until I got home to be able to continue writing. Not Good!

What do I use instead? Appigo’s Notebook. I love it.

I love the fact that as soon as I save a note the app syncs it to my Toodledo account. I love the fact that I can write in both landscape and portrait. I love the fact that with the tap of a button I can insert today’s date, the current time, bullets or add formatting. And I LOVE the fact that if the note is in Toodledo it is always editable in Notebook. 

Need to take a note? There’s an app for that! And I use Notebook.