Add some color to your to-do list with Prio

Prio - Task List & Reminder ($0.99) by Yari D'areglia is a gorgeous new way to keep track of your tasks, reminders, and lists in a single app. If you aren’t satisfied with the many other to-do apps out there and prefer to have a bit more color in your life, then Prio could be worth checking out. It’s similar to other apps like Wunderlist and Clear.

For the past several years, I’ve been striving for organization and productivity when it comes to important things like work and other tasks I need to take care of each and every day. Through my journey, I’ve gone through many task management apps, including OmniFocus and Todoist, with the latter being my main service for almost a year now. Still, that doesn’t stop me from going out and exploring other options, because who knows, I may get converted by something better. That’s when I saw Prio on the App Store.

The thing about Prio that caught my eye was the design — it’s gorgeous. In fact, on first glance of the app, I immediately thought of other beautifully designed apps like Clear and Solar Weather. Prio features a beautiful color gradient background that not only looks great, but is easy on the eyes too. And if you aren’t a fan of the default pink-and-purple colors, there are 20 different color themes to choose from. There are bouncy animations throughout, and the sans serif typography suits it well and is easy to read. The interface of Prio may take a bit of getting used to, however, since it combines lists, tasks, and reminders in one, but the app uses taps and swipes to navigate, so it isn’t too bad.

Prio has a brief introductory tutorial on the first launch of the app that explains the basics, which are pretty straightforward, especially if you’ve used other to-do apps. To create a new item, just pull the screen down to get the text field and start typing, though be warned: it seems the number of characters is limited. Swiping left on an item will reveal a contextual menu where you can mark something as done or delete it. If your item needs more info, then just tap it to view the detail screen. The details view is where you can give it a priority level, due date, reminder, and even add it to a list.

The main view in Prio will be the “Active Tasks” list, which is where all items go by default. To create a new list, just tap on the “hamburger” button or swipe from the left edge, then select “Manage Lists,” which gives users the option to add or edit lists. You can create an unlimited number of lists for your organizational needs. To access your lists, just tap on the two circle button in the top right corner, then pick the one you want to view. Each list can have its own color theme, which you choose when creating or editing a list. Items that are in a list that are not yet completed will also show up in Active Tasks.

As you view items, the default sorting method is by creation, but the button at the bottom lets you sort by due date or priority as well, if that makes things easier. Marking off items as done also archives the task to the “Done List,” accessible through the side panel menu, and makes it possible to see your progress each day, just in case you need a pat on the back for being so productive.

Prio uses iCloud for syncing your data so that it’s accessible from multiple devices. The Notification Center widget shows Today’s Priorities only, along with a dot of the list theme color so you can see what’s coming up today with a single glance, but no way to mark an item as done.

While I like what Prio has going on for it right now, I’m not sure if it will be what I want to use in the long term. It is visually stunning, but there are several flaws that I experienced while testing it.

I wish the app made use of natural language input, so you could add due dates without having to go to another screen for it. I also am not fond of the limited amount of characters you can add for a task, and I’d like to see an option of adding notes. I can understand the due date only and having another option of getting a reminder, but I have tasks that are due by certain times, so it would be nice to include due times. The widget can be improved by including the list name (some people may not remember the color theme for every list) and having a checkmark for marking things off with a swipe, rather than opening the app.

Visually, Prio is one of the better looking to-do apps, but sometimes that isn’t all that matters. In terms of functionality, while Prio has the basics, things could be further improved for a better experience.

If you aren’t looking for something complex and want a beautiful design, then perhaps Prio would be for you. But if you need something more, then I would hold off on getting Prio until improvements are made in the future.

Prio is available only on the iPhone and is a $0.99 download.