By now, I’m sure you have seen all the press Realmac Software has been getting with their ‘Clear’ To Do app. All that was shown was a nice video of the app being used. But, me included, all got excited about a new use of finger gestures to get things done on our iPhones.
The concept is simple, make getting to the work easy and it can get done. With Clear, it appears your tasks are your own and seeing, managing and clearing off the list is what is important.
Clear does not offer sharing your list with others, or saving to your cloud storage, or adding icons to list items, or setting a due date, or creating repeating tasks (well, sort of). Clear does offer the ability to create list of things you need to get done and work through that list without tapping. It is also very enlightening that check boxes and ‘tap for more info’ isn’t needed, Realmac Software is offering a fresh look at UI possibilities.
Onto what your get for your hard earned dollar (US$, introductory pricing). Everything in Clear has been divided down to three layers. There is a list of projects, above that layer is the settings area and below each project is the list of items that make up the project. With the exception of typing a title, everything is done with a swipe… ‘gestures’ has come to the iPhone!
Start off by setting up a new Project. Just tap the screen to create a project and type in it’s name. The number that appears next to the Project name is the quantity of un-finished tasks in that list. If you accidentally tap and a new project box appears, just don’t type anything in it for a title and any other action will result in Clear removing the empty/no named project. When your ready to start your list, tap Done on the keyboard, then tap the Project.
Tapping the Project title will take you to a screen to start your list. Tap the screen to create a new Task item, then type in what the task is. To create another task, tap Done on the keyboard or just tap the screen. Clear offers the ability to rename Tasks and Project titles by simply tapping the text.
Just keep adding items to your Clear task list. When your list is longer than a page and you have no place to tap to create new, remember you can still add new tasks by pulling the list down slightly to see a ‘Pull to Create Item’ then ‘Release’… at which time, you should release to add! Pulling the list down further will take you up a layer to the Projects list.
Don’t worry about getting the items created in the order you need them to be. To resort your list just drag an item up/down with your finger. The coloring on that item will change to it’s new place on the list. Darker at top for ‘next’ or ‘high priority’ to lighter coloring farther down the list.
When your done with a Task, just move it to the right. Clear also offers this action at the Project layer is you want to mark a whole project as done in one swipe. A simple swipe of my thumb and the task is done… it seems more natural than tapping a check box, yet I have lived with checkbox lists my whole life.
Continue reading “It’s Clear, Simple Can Be Better – A new look at iPhone Task Lists”
