The next calendaring/organization application to review is SmartPad. I’ve actually had it the longest and used it for quite some time. When I reviewed it on the app store, the title of the review was “Best I’ve Found So Far”. It was true then (in June) but not necessarily so now.
What I liked
There is a lot to like in this app. I think they do a much better job of implementing notes for example, than the previous app I reviewed. It’s relatively trivial (a few taps and highlights) to turn bits and pieces of the note into tasks or events, which can be handy if using SmartPad in a meeting.
Other areas of note:
Having a tab dedicated to history is quite nice as well; I can easily figure out what I’ve done and when I did it with relative ease.
Search exists throughout everything, which would be handy if working with extensive calendars including lots of tasks and notes.
The graphics are anything but bland. Things stand out but are still easy on the eyes. It’s easy to distinguish bits of the built in UI from my data (events/notes/task).
They score some parts for making the footer navigation slider slightly bigger (although they lose just as many, if not more, for having a footer navigation slider at all).
Probably my favorite feature is the ease in which SmartPad enables you to automatically slip tasks into your day and calendar. They’ll take the working hours you input, and the amount of time you want to dedicate to tasks (say an hour) and then tell you what tasks from your lists to do, based on the amount of time each is scheduled to take. It is really quite a nice feature if you live and breathe by your task lists.
What I Disliked
It is b-u-g-g-y. Going into the settings screen, for example, and then exiting often gives me a blank white screen rather than my calendar. That lasts about 45 seconds and then it completely crashes. And I’m left having to reload whilst crossing my fingers that my data is still there (this is a real life crash occurring as I write this).
This was enough to make me look for something else (and why I had strong hopes for CalPad). It’s sad though that it comes down to this.
It’s not my only issue with SmartPad though. I seriously lament the lack of gesture support. This type of app screams for that on a touch device. Supposedly it’s coming in this app, and I’ll give it another go when it arrives (especially if the crashing stops) but it’s still a black mark on it.
Honestly though, these were my major gripes. Their combination (but primarily the bugginess) caused me to look elsewhere as I said.
Overall, I rated this app a 4 of 5 stars when I originally got it (rated on the appstore). Now, having had it longer and used it quite a bit more, I’d probably drop that down to a 3 of 5. It’s definitely an improvement over CalPad but not quite what I was looking for in the mythical perfect personal organizer app.
