Pocket Informant

I’ve been using Informant since it first became available many many years ago. I keep using it mainly because it’s the only calendar app I’ve found that allows one to use a large collection of emoticons, emojis, and icons extensively in the various calendar views. However I’m getting really tired of the constant sync issues. It’s supposed to sync across multiple devices but 90% of the time that doesn’t work. My husband and I often double book because the appointments I put in don’t sync to his device and vice versa. Also, despite paying a monthly subscription fee, I constantly get locked out of syncing for supposed “terminated or lapsed subscription”. I have to select “Restore Purchases” and reset up the sync account several times a month. Then no matter what I do I end up with events duplicated 4-6 times. I tried to contact tech support through the app but it crashes every time I select the support option. The other irritating thing is the lack of skin tone variations for the people emoji. My family is brown skinned and it would be really nice to be able to pick a brown skin girl when putting in an appointment for my daughter. Years ago Informant did have some additional color choices but at some point they disappeared. I contacted support and was told emojis in different skin tones weren’t supported????? As soon as I find a suitable alternative I’m gone!

I used Pocket informant in 2013 but became frustrated with the inability to prioritize tasks. Finally went back to paper planning due to lack of customizability. I decided to give digital planning another try, and being familiar with pocket informant tried it first. While the app is visually pleasing, and much easier to use, still unable to prioritize tasks. It would be super easy to drag and drop, especially since this is available in the project view. The tasks actually laid up and seem like they’re going to move, but then don’t stay re-ordered. Very frustrating. The notes section needs a lot of work. Unfortunately I’m going to have to continue to use Notability for this functionality. There’s no Apple Pencil support which is a big drawback. One nice thing is the ability to customize to GTD or Franklin Covey. However neither of these systems is conducive to putting in tasks quickly, which is why you need to be able to manually re-order tasks on the go. I’ve had to contact support twice, the first time I never got an answer, the second time their response was less than awesome since it was essentially sorry no but hey go re-posted on this website and give the engineers some ideas. If this were a free app that would be an acceptable response but I paid for a year subscription so I think maybe you could just forward my email on and save me the trip.

I completely concur with the ‘WalrusTexas’ review: I also chose Pocket Informant when I switched from Palm to iPhone because there wasn’t a calendar app out there that could manage all the repeating event/task iterations I need for my 8 life-areas with enough color choices to help visually distinguish them quickly. I’ve been recommending this app highly for years (yes, since Palm bit the dust) and assuring them that the relatively high cost was worth EVERY cent they’d pay for it! However, I too find the roller dial to select appt times cumbersome because the right thumb (my preference in use) tends to hit the ‘most bites’ section when I’m trying to reach over it to pick the hour section. This feature still needs some work. I’ve submitted a suggestion that might solve 90-95% of this problem. Add a button or place to choose “__:00” or “__:30” for the minutes with one tap. 95% of the time appts or tasks are scheduled or rescheduled on the hour or half hour, so this would greatly expedite entries, as I often overshoot the :00 or :30 when I’m using the roller bar 10-20x per day! Thank you in advance for your consideration. Keep up the great work! LOVE this app‼️