Checkmark is yet another one of those buzzy iPhone apps which people were talking about, blogging about and raving about, even before it officially launched. And today, it launched. It’s hard to resist taking a look at it, when even weeks before its debut, people were saying this is the “reminders app Apple should have made.” Wow, is it really that good?
So, what’s the big idea, you may ask? Checkmark lets you configure location-based reminders, meaning it can remind you to pick up milk when you’re at the grocery store. Or to call your spouse when you leave the office. You know the drill. Geofencing. It’s handy.
But geofenced reminders are not a new idea, to be clear. There are apps that are doing this already, including most notably Apple’s own Reminders application, which allows you to configure reminders at a particular time or a particular place.
However, Checkmark is both a more advanced version of Reminders, while also somehow managing to be easier to use. Instead choosing a location from your address book (if not your current location) as in Reminders, Checkmark adds a third option – “add from map.” And yes, the map has a search box so you can find the grocery store, office, school, or wherever else, and add it to your list of places. (Sometimes it’s really not hard to outperform Apple’s own apps, you know.)
Once configured, you can simply tap the appropriate icon on the Checkmark homescreen to add a location-based reminder (call home, don’t forgot, buy bread, etc.). And where Reminders only pings you with a reminder when you leave or arrive, Checkmark offers a variety of additional options, including 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes after or before. Of course, you can use Checkmark for time-based reminders, too, so you don’t have to bounce back and forth between this and another reminders/to-do app.
The app was produced by the folks over at Snowman, a new development company co-founded by Ryan Cash and Jordan Rosenberg in February 2012. Checkmark for iOS will be one of many products from the team, which is already at work on a Mac version. Ryan also teases that the iOS app is about to get a “big new feature” too, which will sit alongside “Where” and “When.” Hmm. We’re putting $5 on “Who.”
Checkmark is currently 99 cents in iTunes.
