Judging by the sheer number of todo list and task managers for Mac and iPhone a visitor from outer space wouldn’t know if earthlings were totally incompetent or fully competent creatures.
Of course, judging by all the weight loss and diet programs, a visitor from another planet might get the idea that much of humanity eats too much. Anyway, here’s another look at one of the most popular Mac and iPhone todo list apps.
Todo Or Not Todo?
A year or so ago iPhone users were treated to a clever todo app which bordered on simplistic. It’s called Clear and it is arguably the easiest to use and most usable iPhone todo task manager.
A few months later the same company came out with Clear for the Mac. These days I don’t even want to try a personal utility unless it’s available on both Mac and iPhone.
Unlike some todo task managers, Clear focuses on easy of use. No thinking. No categories. No drilling to find items.
What works on the Mac version works in a similar way on the iPhone version. Tap to enter a todo item. Swipe to complete a task.
And, the whole shebang– todo items on Mac and iPhone versions of Clear are synced up simply and quickly using Apple’s iCloud.
On the Mac version each list you create can be opened in a different window which makes organization a bit easier.
On the iPhone version you’ll need to remember a few more gestures, such as pulling down to create a new item, swiping to complete an item, pinching to navigate, and edge swiping to reveal your lists of items.
None of that looks too difficult to master, no?
If you’re looking for a feature laden todo task manager Clear isn’t the choice, Mac or iPhone.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the iPhone it’s that simple is sometimes better because we’ll actually use what’s usable, and ignore all the feature creep that sometimes show up in what should be simple apps.
Clear does not come with bells and whistles. Figuratively or literally. No alerts and alarms to set, no due dates to worry about. It’s just a list of items that you need to get done. A list that’s easily updated, prioritized, and deleted on the fly.