Earlier this year, we reviewed reQall, a very smart task manager, organizer, and 'memory tool' for the iPhone and BlackBerry. It combines a calendar, integration with Outlook and Google Calendar (in the paid version for $2.99 a month), and to-do list functions with a surprisingly useful 'Memory Jogger' feature that brings up reminders depending on the time of the day, date, and a user's location. When we reviewed the app, we noted that it was already a very interesting product, but that it would surely benefit from the iPhone 3.0 release with push notifications, and today this new release for the iPhone 3.0 operating system has finally arrived.]]>
Free Transcriptions and Push Notifications
We got a chance to test the app out for the last few weeks, and the app does indeed make great use of the iPhone's ability to receive push notifications. This finally makes third-party calendars on the iPhone useful, and reQall is one of the first calendar/to-do list apps to make really good use of this feature.
One of reQall's best features is that it can turn voice memos and free-style notes like "meeting with Marshall at 2pm on Friday" into formatted text and enter these as appointments into your reQall calendar. The voice transcriptions were generally spot-on.
The big difference with the old version of reQall is that you will now actually get an alert pushed to the phone that reminds you of that appointment you just dictated into your phone. Before, if you used the free version, you had to open up the app, and what's the chance of a user actually doing that?
In the pro version, reQall already sent out SMS alerts, but now, even the free version of the app can send out push notifications. We have seen quite a few IM apps that used push well, but this is the first time that we have encountered an application that makes really good use of push notifications, but isn't an IM app.
Correction: reQall just told us that the free version will not support push notifications.
Locations
One of the apps' coolest features (though restricted to the pro version) is that you can also assign locations to tasks. Sadly, though, because developers can't wake up apps remotely and get a user's location without the app running, the app still has to be running for this feature to work well. You can, however, bring up a map and see nearby places that also have reminders attached to them.
The pro version of ReQall also nicely integrates with your contacts, which allows you to easily make calls or send emails right from your list of reminders.
Pro Version
To get the most out of reQall, however, you really need a paid account. For $2.99 a month, which is not a major expense, you also get great features like easier voice memo recording by simply holding the phone to your ear (similar to how the Google Mobile app works on the iPhone), reminders by SMS, and access to a more fully-featured "memory jogger' function, which tries to remind you of items that you might just have forgotten otherwise. For professional users, the integration with Outlook is probably also another must-have feature that is only available in the pro version.
The exact differences are a bit complicated, but reQall provides its users with a nice table that lists all the differences.
Even the free version provides great features, and now that the app's pro version supports push notifications, it can finally live up to its promise.
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