technology books: Catch Notes for iPhone and iPad review: Organize all your ideas, notes, and reminders

Catch Notes for iPhone and iPad review: Organize all your ideas, notes, and reminders

If you're looking for a fresh take on a get things done app, Catch Notes for iPhone and iPad does just that. Not only does Catch Notes combine reminders, notes, ideas, and checklists into one app, it does it with a great interface while also supporting many common task types. Whether you want to upload photos, take free hand notes, or be reminded to do something, Catch Notes can do it all within one singular app.

Catch Notes starts by allowing you to create spaces for better organizing your data. By default, you can create up to five spaces for free. After that, you can buy additional spaces as an in-app purchase. For most users, five spaces will be plenty to at least get started. These areas can be used in any manner you'd like. For instance, you can have one space for work and another for home. You can also choose to re-order them by simply dragging them in the main list in any order you'd like. If you consistently work on several projects at one time that you'd like to keep separate, you may have a need for more spaces.

Once you have set up your spaces and organized Catch notes the way you'd like, you can start adding notes and other types of content into any space you'd like. Along the bottom of Catch Notes, tap on the "+" sign to start creating and adding content. Supported media types include standard text notes, reminders (with notifications), photos, audio notes, and checklists. You can create as many of these items as you'd like within any space. For people attempting to organize many projects, you can create several checklists within a space for as many projects as you'd like. Catch Notes also supports hashtags which makes searching for notes easier. Just tag them however you'd like. Catch Notes will start aggregating tags you use frequently as you type them for quicker tagging.

You can share spaces with other Catch Notes users as well. This way you can collaborate on projects or group tasks easier and without having to email or compare notes. If you do need to share something with someone that isn't using Catch Notes, you can always do so by emailing any note you have stored. You can also attach photos to existing notes by either snapping a new picture or using one that already exists in your camera roll.

The good

Easy to set up and start using in a matter of seconds
The initial five space allotment will be plenty for most users
Notifications work well eliminate the need for a reminders app on top of a task management app
Great interface that's not only clean, but has a sensible workflow
Native sync at no additional cost, which is great if you want to use both the iPhone and iPad version

The bad

No way to change notification tone
It'd be nice to see more share options, such as to other apps or via other delivery methods other than email

The bottom line

Catch Notes is very reminiscent Evernote with the added ability for reminders. The only down side is that Catch Notes doesn't have a Mac counterpart at this time. For most users that have a need to manage multiple projects or notes, they'll most likely want the ability from their Mac as well. If that sounds like you, a productivity suite such as Things is probably a better option.

If you aren't a Mac user or don't care about having a desktop client, Catch Notes makes a great alternative to some of the more expensive get things done apps out there. Considering you can get started at no cost to you, there's nothing to lose by at least giving it a try.