Complete Tasks To Keep CARROT Happy, Or Feel Her Wrath

CARROT: The Todo List with a Personality ($0.99) by Grailr will motivate you to accomplish your tasks. You know, before you feel the wrath of an angry robot personality (GLaDOS, anyone?).

Todo lists and Get Things Done (GTD) apps are great, because you keep all of that stuff you have to do organized in one place. But the problem with these is the lack of motivation — sure, you can add things in, but what keeps you coming back to check and mark them off as done? Unless you’re incredibly disciplined, you probably will forget over time. That’s why there are more fun ways to manage your tasks, like EpicWin, and now, CARROT.

The first thing that caught my eye with CARROT is the deceptively simple interface. It’s minimal, yet I still find it beautiful. And when you throw in the robot personality in it, well, you’ve got a winner here. Everything is laid out and intuitive, so there’s absolutely no learning curve. And if you’ve used various todo list apps in the past, then it’s the same basic gestures that go into effect here. The sound effects in CARROT are also amazing, and I recommend you keep them on, as it’s part of the charm.

When you start using CARROT, you will have three todo items that will explain how to use the app. Basically, swipe right to mark it off as done, swipe left to access the app menu, and pull down to add a new item.

There are two themes in CARROT. When she (I’m going to think of her like GLaDOS, so therefore, it’s a she) is happy, the theme will be white background with black text, and a blue experience bar. However, CARROT can become upset, and this will cause a mood swing. When this happens, the theme will change to a black background with white text, and a red experience bar. She can be upset when you begin to slack off, so keep up with your tasks! There’s also another way to make her angry …

If she is upset, you will get less experience points for completing tasks. It’s best to keep her happy if you want to level up faster, but it is always entertaining to see the wrath of a computer.

When you level up, you can also unlock more content in the app. These will range from more features (such as icon badge, edit & delete, completed item list, alerts) to fun stuff, like mini-games and mood extenders. You can view the entire list of unlockables in the menu, where you can also see surprises awaiting you (they are marked by “???”). CARROT even has a story behind it, so you’ll really want to work towards unlocking that.

I love the combination of todo list and virtual pet that is found in CARROT. The reward of unlocking features as you use the app is also quite an experience in itself, which should help you get motivated to actually using your todo list.

The only thing that is currently missing is a way to backup and sync your data, such as through iCloud or Dropbox. The developer does say he has big plans for the app, so hopefully a backup and syncing solution is part of that. It would also be great to see this on the iPad as well.

If you need an extra push for using a todo list, give CARROT a try. It’s just the right amount of fun and productivity that should keep you coming back for more.

You can get CARROT and her magical whimsy in the App Store for your iPhonefor only $0.99.