Realmac Software released Clear, a new iPhone to-do list manager to much anticipation today. The app not only requires iOS 5, but takes full advantage of the gesture system with its buttonless design. While it looks very appealing and is as simple as it gets, its complete independence from other core iOS features like push notifications or iCloud syncing, hold it back. Clear is, however, a solid option for those who really want to keep it simple.
Clear makes entering, deleting, reorganizing and creating tasks and lists effortless and, as mentioned, everything is accomplished with gestures. You pull down or pinch to add a new entry, tap and drag to reorder, swipe to delete and so on.
The app is three-tiered. The topmost layer shows all lists, the second specific lists and the third individual items. Again navigating between views is straightforward, intuitive and, you guessed it, gesture controlled. Clear is is brightly colored, highlighting the most urgent items in red. It’s a painless process to create something uncomplicated like a simple shopping list.
Right now it’s a form or function choice. There is no denying the retro-themed color scheme and boxy look are appealing, as is the idea of simplified task management. But, aside from the genuinely innovative gesture incorporation, Clear offers less than equally-simple apps especially Apple’s native Reminders. That said, it should be interesting to see where Realmac runs with this. With a little more iOS integration, the app has the potential to be a serious competitor in this ever-popular app category.
