There’s a new iPhone app on the block, Clear, a todo app with an innovative gestural twist. Sure the iPhone comes with Reminders, which can actually remind you, but Clear uses multi-touch gestures (pinch, swipe), different navigation and separate screens to give you a unique experience I’ve not seen often in an iPhone app. Clear is cool… it’s the todo app for the stylish app user (and designers), but the big question is, will it make me finally use a todo app to keep track of things to do.
The best thing about iPhone apps is how quickly and easily it is to take a basic app concept and make it better. Clear is simple, that’s it’s strength. And it can very easily get better. The funny thing, Clear has everyone talking. Maybe that’s good PR as people are tweeting and blogging about it, or could it be this app is pure eye-candy. Since Clear was built from the ground up for the touch interface in mind, the app is based solely on the use of now-common touch gestures: swipes, pulls and pinches. There are no buttons and surprisingly simple to use. Most todo apps are complex, making a simple task even more complicated. But there are a few limits, such as having to keep list items limited to 26 characters. I sometimes think nothing beats a pen and paper—that’s what drew me to Do it tomorrow which mimics the pen on paper notebook style todo list while also trying to be simple by only focusing one day at a time. Clear doesn’t act like an iPhone app, but it’s completely true to the minimal approach Apple has pioneered. And unlike many apps such as Do it tomorrow or several of Apple’s own apps, Clear doesn’t try to replicate the look of a real world notebook, again by being true to this new technology that’s becoming common place.
Check out the Clear app on iTunes (iTunes UK)