"If there is an app for that"

Todoist: Todo List for Organizing Work and Errands

Ist Productivity Ltd.

The first thing you need to understand about NotePlan, if you don't already, is Markdown. Markdown is a syntax language that helps you format text using quick keyboard strokes. NotePlan uses Markdown extensively, both for creating to-do lists and for formatting your notes.

The "flavor" of Markdown is custom to NotePlan, but it still works outside of the app. You can export your notes and they'll appear nicely formatted, with bold, italics, and bulleted or ordered lists. You can also use the Markdown flavor to schedule events, simply by tapping the clock and then choosing what time you need to complete the action.

NotePlan is a fully-featured to-do list, calendar, and notes app done in a fresh way: using Markdown. It allows you to create checklists just by making bulleted or ordered lists. The app uses an extended "flavor" of Markdown, meaning it expands on the syntax language's capabilities. For example, you can mark things as completed with a simple keystroke, or use the clock icon to schedule a task. It integrates fully with a built-in calendar, so you can see your day at a glance.

You can also allow NotePlan to access your other calendars, allowing you to have all of your day's events in one place. This makes it easy to keep track of events that don't really fit into the scheme of a to-do list and notes app, making the calendar feature much more robust and useful than it might be otherwise.

Since NotePlan uses Markdown, I would have expected it to have a function to export your notes as rich-text format or PDF like other Markdown editors do. Unfortunately, that's not in the current feature set. You can share your notes via Mail, Dropbox, or other apps, but they are just exported as Markdown text files. You have to bring them into another Markdown editor to export them into something more elegant and readable.

I also couldn't find a way to take advantage of the full power of NotePlan without tapping on icons. I'd love to see some of the same features for keyboard shortcuts in the iOS version as the macOS variant. For example, in the macOS version of NotePlan, you can add "@12:00" to the end of a to-do, and it automatically schedules it for you. With iOS, you have to tap on the clock and then choose the date, with no way to set the time.

NotePlan is an excellent iOS app for planning your day and large projects, but it could be better. Tighter integration with Markdown, more use of the extended Markdown from macOS in the iOS version, and the ability to export as rich-text files or PDFs would be a welcome addition. Perhaps these features will come in the future. For now, this is a great app but it lacks a bit of polish.

Creating notes using Markdown

With NotePlan, you can create to-do lists as well as notes, using the Markdown syntax. It's easy to learn, and allows you to export your notes in rich text for gorgeous yet simple documents.

Add to-do checklists from your notes

When you're keeping notes, you can quickly add and schedule to-do checklists without ever leaving your note. Just type the asterisk (*) or tap the button and enter your to-do. You can even schedule it, and it will show in NotePlan's calendar view.

Schedule your day straight from the calendar

NotePlan allows you to schedule to-do items and jot down notes right in the calendar view. Just tap in the bottom of the screen, and you'll go into a note specific to that day. Then type away, creating your to-do list items for the day and keeping notes as you go.

Easily check off what you've completed

It's easy to check off what you've done. Just tap anywhere in that item, and then tap the checklist icon. That marks the item as done, and it shows that way in your calendar view.

Integration with your existing calendars

NotePlan can integrate with your existing calendars, so events you add there will show up in NotePlan. It makes for a terrific way to keep track of the day's events and important dates.

8.1

OVERALL

Lasting appeal 9

Does it well 9

Is engaging 8.5

iPhone Integration 7

User Interface 7

$11.99

NotePlan: Markdown Todo-List, Notes and Calendar

Eduard Metzger

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Should Nymphs & Wets Be Your Go-To App for Fly Tying Techniques?

June 14, 2017 by RSS Feed

When you're first picking up fly fishing, or when you want to up your game, knowing how to tie the knots and make the flies is crucial. After all, you want them to look real enough to attract the big one, and that's not always easy to do. Nymphs & Wets does a great job of showing how to do those things, but does it offer enough to make up for the ads and other in-app purchases? Let's find out.

App Feels Like

$1.99

Knots 3D

David Boren

$1.99

Fishing Knots Real 3D

Gabor Toth

$2.99

DIY Fly Fishing

Kenneth Sperry

When learning how to fly fish, the most difficult thing for many people is knowing how to tie flies, knots, and various patterns. It's definitely an enjoyable past-time, and can pay off with some great fish, but you've got to get a start somewhere. This free app will get you this beginning, teaching you the most basic nymphs, wets, and other fly fishing essentials. Once you've mastered those, you can unlock more advanced flies, knots, and patterns and learn them as well. The app uses detailed pictures along with great text to help you get things right the first time and every time.

When you're trying to learn how to tie a fly, you need a good instructor. This app does provide that, with excellent tutorials on how to tie the flies you need, from the most basic to the highly detailed and complex. It offers various categories of techniques, and gives you a healthy selection of different knots and patterns to make use of.

If your eyes aren't very good, each image in the tutorials has a zoom function. You just tap on it, and you get a more detailed, larger view of the image and its accompanying text.

Whether you want to learn the Alexandra, the Black Zulu, or one of dozens of other fly fishing favorites, you'll find them within this app with detailed images and well-written instructions.

Now, the drawbacks. This app makes heavy use of full-screen advertisements. I'm not opposed to monetizing your app, but the developers seem to have gone hog-wild here.

With every screen change, you have to wait at least five seconds for an interactive ad to play before you can tap the X to dismiss it and go where you wanted to be in the first place.

If you're in a hurry to get that fly tied, this isn't the app for you. The ads are annoying enough that I'll be deleting the app from my iPhone in very short order. Then again, maybe I'll forget about fishing and just download one of the games the app keeps pushing on me. Not really, but you get my point.

Not only does Nymphs & Wets make extensive use of in-app ads, but it tries to monetize in other ways, too. This app has more in-app purchases than I've ever seen in its type before.

First, there's an in-app purchase to get rid of the ads. That's one purchase.

You can also spend money to unlock all of the tutorials in each category.

Finally, the app offers you the option to remove all ads and unlock all of the fly tutorials, for another, heftier charge.

Truthfully, the ads shouldn't pop up so often. Most apps only have them once or twice a day. The lack of much content also makes this app pretty frustrating.

This just isn't the app for me, and it's a shining example of what happens when developers get a bit too much on the greedy side. There are far too many ads, and not enough free content, to make this worth the space it takes on my iPhone. Truthfully, it's probably a great app, but I just can't get past all of the ads and other in-app purchases to make the most of it.

5.4

OVERALL

Does it well 8.5

User Interface 7

iPhone Integration 5

Lasting appeal 3

Is engaging 3.5

Nymphs & Wets: Fly Tying Techniques Knots Patterns

Stojan Pesic

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Get on the Road Again and Don't Miss a Thing With Roadtrippers

June 14, 2017 by RSS Feed

When you're preparing for a long road trip, or even a short one, you want to make the most of it. While you could go to AAA and let them prepare a TripTik for you, along with buying all of their guides to help you identify places to stay and visit, that's just not the best way anymore. Instead, you should harness the power of the internet and your smartphone, and let an app help you plan. That's what Roadtrippers is all about.

TripIt: Travel Organizer

TripIt Inc

inRoute Route Planner & GPS Navigator

Carob Apps, LLC

$2.99

Roadside America

This Exit LLC

With Roadtrippers, you can find the hottest spots as well as the most offbeat highlights along your trip. All you have to do is start your new trip, give the app your location and where you want to end up, and then choose what kinds of things you want to see. After that, the app will calculate the best route for you to take and what sites and other attractions might be along your travels. It's all quite easy, and very comprehensive.

Roadtrippers has a lot of great features. It will help you plan your trip, and has a comprehensive catalog of locations that you won't want to miss. You'll be able to find gas stations, restaurants and diners, as well as historical landmarks with ease. Roadtrippers also helps you locate campgrounds, if you want to rough it along the way. It even includes points of interest that aren't quite on the beaten path, like the world's largest wicker basket.

The app also allows you to browse pre-planned trips, if you need some inspiration. Just visit the Guides tab, and Roadtrippers will provide you with a treasure chest full of possibilities, like the ultimate Route 66 road trip or a week-long drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

While overall the app is easy to use, it has its drawbacks. There's no easy way I could find to plan legs of your trip, so you may find yourself using another map to plan stops for really long road trips. Once you figure out where you need to stop for the night, though, you can pretty easily add that to your itinerary.

The other drawback to Roadtrippers might not be a bad thing after all. There's just so much to see and do, and the app can create maps that are downright overwhelming with how many options they provide you. You have to pick and choose, since you won't be able to see everything and still get to your final destination.

Finally, the app ships you out to another title for actual navigation. While it includes its own map, Roadtrippers doesn't do turn-by-turn navigation. It works with Apple Maps and Google Maps, though, and sends you straight to those apps with your start and end points preselected.

All in all, this is a terrific choice for planning your next road trip. It's not perfect, but few apps are. What Roadtrippers does, plan your sightseeing, eating, and refueling locations, it does very well. I just wish I could do everything in a single app, even getting my turn-by-turn navigation.

8.8

OVERALL

iPhone Integration 10

Lasting appeal 9

Does it well 9.5

User Interface 8.5

Is engaging 7

Roadtrippers - Trip Planner Map & Travel Guides

Roadtrippers

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With Scheduled, You Don't Have to Forget to Text People Just Because It's Late

June 13, 2017 by RSS Feed

I think everyone's had that brilliant idea they wanted to text to someone, but it was the middle of the night. We've all forgotten to send that "Happy birthday" text message until either the last minute or the next day. What if you had an easy-to-use app that would remind you with a ready-to-send text message? That's what Scheduled is all about

$0.99

Schedule SMS Pro - Send Text Scheduler

Chuan Xu

$1.99

SMS HERO - Schedule any sms to be sent on time

SOFTBROKE OU

Here’s how Scheduled works. First, you schedule a text message by choosing the contact you want to send it to, entering the text message you want to send, and specifying the date and time you want the text message to be sent. You will then get reminded when it’s time to send the text message, and you can choose the messaging app you want to use with the text message already copied in the message field — the app supports Messages, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Twitter, Mail (for emailing the message), and Phone (for calling the contact to deliver your message yourself).

Scheduled does a fantastic job of reminding you when it's time to send that text message. You get a notification, you choose which messaging service you want to use, and Scheduled fills in everything for you. All you have to do is tap send. The app works with a wide variety of messaging platforms: Messages, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, and email, just to name a few. It is reliable, works well, and even supports repeating messages so you can schedule your happy birthday text messages once and never forget them again. If you have your birthdays on your calendar, Scheduled can even import them into the app to make setting up those reminders even easier. The only thing it doesn't do is automatically send those messages, but the developers say they are working on that.

Without an in-app purchase, you are limited to just three scheduled text messages. That's rather limiting, and a fairly odd number to cut you off at. If you don't make the in-app purchase when you first launch the app, it's difficult to find a way to buy the upgrade short of searching in the App Store again. Finally, choosing the date to send your text is a bit cumbersome. I'd like to see calendar popup, instead of the date wheel selector.

Scheduled is an excellent choice for managing your text messages before you send them. It integrates well with your contacts, works with just about every messaging platform you can imagine, and even supports repeating messages. The only thing it doesn't do is automatically send the message for you, but few (if any) of its competitors are able to do that yet. It's not something that Apple encourages or endorses. If you're looking for a way to make sure you remember to send that important text message, look no further.

8.8

OVERALL

Lasting appeal 9.5

iPhone Integration 9.5

User Interface 9

Does it well 8.5

Is engaging 7.5

Scheduled — Schedule your text messages

Brthrs Agency

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Rediscover Your Love of Podcasts With Breaker

June 12, 2017 by RSS Feed

Podcast apps are nothing new, but most of them encourage solitary experiences. What if you want to share your podcast love with others, or learn about new shows from your friends and a growing community? There hasn't been much of that, despite how popular podcasting has become. Breaker aims to fill that gap, so let's see how well it does.

App Feels Like

Overcast: Podcast Player

Overcast Radio, LLC

$3.99

Castro: Podcast Player

Supertop Software

Castaway - Podcast Player

Philip Viso

There are plenty of podcast players available on the App Store, but it's still refreshing to find one that's easy to use and also makes sharing your experience fun. Breaker does that, and more. The app allows you to manage your podcast subscriptions, importing them from the iOS Podcast app, Overcast, Castro, or Pocket Casts. That's a great way to get started with the app, and a welcome feature. Once your podcasts are subscribed and you've followed some other users of the Breaker community, it's time for discovery. You can find new shows to watch or listen to, share your favorites with the community, or even let Facebook know what you're enjoying. Breaker makes podcast discovery easy and fun.

Breaker does an excellent job of helping you discover new podcasts to listen to. You can read about what your friends are listening to or watching, as well as find new content from a growing community. You can also quickly share your own favorite podcast episodes with others, letting them see what's hot and what's not. The app has a quick on-boarding process, so you aren't bogged down with tens of minutes of filling out forms. It also imports your podcast subscriptions from the most popular competing players, making it simple to switch over to Breaker. This app was clearly developed thoughtfully and with plenty of attention to detail.

The user interface behind Breaker isn't as elegant as some other apps. You might even say it's fairly basic. However, even that can be good, because it's an easy app to use. The main downfall to this app is that the main feed screen doesn't offer enough variety in the trending podcasts. Only a few show up, when there are plenty more that could be listed. Breaker should, in my opinion, give me my playlist of subscriptions as well as a comprehensive discovery list after that, all from the main screen. We don't need two separate screens for discovery, so the discovery tab should either be eliminated or all of the hot episodes today moved to that location.

If you're looking to make your podcast experience more social, this is the app for you. It provides a simple, easy-to-use interface. Breaker makes discovering new podcasts a very social and enjoyable experience, and the community is growing daily. You can easily invite your friends to Breaker, and share your favorite podcast episodes through a wide variety of social media and other channels.

8.0

OVERALL

iPhone Integration 10

Lasting appeal 9

Does it well 9

Is engaging 8

User Interface 4

Breaker

Breaker Inc.

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credit : appadvice