Keeping Track Of The Small Things Should Be Doable
Doable ($0.99) by Tite I/S is an app that wants to be your time planner. No, this is not just another to-do app, like the many that flood the App Store. It's a new way to look at things that you have set as goals, whether they are big or small.
Let’s face it — goals should be realistic, and not out of reach for the average person, such as “being the next Steve Jobs.” Everyone should have some practical goals, like “Call parents,” “Read a book,” “Exercise,” “Learn something new,” or even household chores like “Do laundry.” These are items that you want to do, but they don’t really fit in a traditional to-do list, or at least they shouldn’t (why do I want these mixed up with my projects and other work-related items?). These items should be “doable,” and this app helps you accomplish that in a gorgeous way.
The first thing that caught my attention was the app’s custom design. Simply put, I am really liking how it looks, and the ease-of-use within the app. The typography fits the rest of the app nicely, and animations that are shown are incredibly fluid. As they say, “Sometimes beautiful form encourages greater function.”
When the app is first launched, you will get a brief tutorial on how to use it. Doable is actually pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it, but it is always good to see a concise introduction on learning the ropes.
To create doables, just tap on the + button on the main screen. Then you can give it a title, choose how often it should recur, and toggle a notification. If you need a custom notification, just tap on the “First Time” section and select the date and time you’d like.
The main screen will soon be populated with your doables. The app features some fake quotes at the top of the list, which are cute, but I would prefer to see more of my goals at once. Currently, there’s no option to hide these quotes, but maybe that can change in the future.
When you have accomplished one of your objectives, just swipe to the right on it. You’ll hear a satisfying “click” sound as the item moves down the list, ready for the next time. Tapping on one will allow you to see information, such as the last time you completed it, as well as stats (average interval, desired interval, and how early you are). If you ever change your mind about something, you can edit it or delete it.
Over time, the ring on an item will "fill up" as a measure of your progress. It's a nice way to see how often you are actually doing your doables, kind of like how Lift tracks your progress with building new habits. You can also see if an item is late.
I like the concept of Doable a lot, but it still needs one important thing added to make it complete: syncing and backup. I would like to have something like iCloud to move my doables over to my iPhone 5 this Friday. Hopefully this can be added soon.
Regardless, I still found Doable to be a joy to use. I recommend checking it out if you have things that just don’t fit in a conventional to-do list or calendar.
