Mobility Digest Review: Checklist v2.1

Looking for a finger friendly, easy to use app to manage pretty much any kind of list. Then Checklist is for you. While not what you would call "feature rich" I was immediately attracted to this app for it’s streamlined and simple interface. It does one thing, and one thing well; manage checklists, plain and simple. The app will work on any VGA or WVGA device and has been tested on WM 6.5.X devices, but my guess is it will also work on WM6.1.

The settings menu offers a few basic options:

• Save on Exit – Don’t think I need to explain this one
• Keep backlight on – Or this one
• Custom Item Height – Changes the height of category and item blocks. The range is from 40 to 100pt in 10pt increments. I like the way it looks set at 60.
• Custom Text Size – Change the text size for category and item entries. The range is 5 to 15pt.
• Display Message Dialog – Turns on/off messages to indicate settings have been changed or data has been saved.
• Allow Grayed Checkboxes – Changes item checkboxes to triple state, where they toggle between; on, off & gray when tapped, to block out (gray out) unneeded checkboxes.
• Show Splash Screen – Think you can figure this one out

GETTING STARTED – The app opens with four icons at the bottom of the screen; Item Vault (more on that later), New – to add a category, Edit – to rename a category, and Delete – to delete a category. The right soft key Menu adds a few additional functions; Change Order – to move your categories up or down in the list, Save – to save your changes and Reconstruct Connection (more on that later). The left soft key Help menu provides a description of the icons.

Tap New and enter a name for your list. Unfortunately Checklist has not been optimized for landscape so you will need to use this app in portrait mode. Every entry/edit screen has the same two icons at the bottom; Disc – to approve or save your entry or X – to cancel. After saving your category (list) you are returned to the main screen. Selecting anything in Checklist requires a double-tap. The first tap will highlight an entry and a second tap will select it. Double tapping a category opens the Items screen. The icons at the bottom of the screen are the same as above, except the first icon (Item Vault) has been replaced with Back – returning you to the main (category) screen. The process for creating items is the same as categories; Tap New, type your item entry and tap Save. You can create as many categories and items as you like. And just as with categories, you can tap Menu/Change Order to easily reorder your item list. The Item/Edit screen adds additional functionality allowing you to copy or move an item to a different category. Nice feature. You check an item by double tapping an entry. You uncheck by double tapping again. No accidental selections while scrolling through a long list. I told you this app was simple.

The app takes a few seconds to load but once its open navigation is quick and responsive. Tapping Delete for category or item entries always brings up a verification dialog to avoid fat finger errors. You can tap anywhere on the item line to select it so "no stylus needed" to use this app.

ITEM VAULT is a hidden category that can be used to store unused item entries or to create templates for commonly used items. When in the Item screen, select Edit. From there you can Copy or Move an item into the Item Vault. Once populated, tapping Item Vault on the Main screen opens the Item Vault "items" screen, which looks just like any other items screen. You can use Edit to copy/move items into a selected category.

DESKTOP – Checklist comes with an optional companion desktop component. Checklist Desktop looks and works exactly the same as the device application. When running Active Sync, you can use Checklist Desktop to Retrieve or Send files to your device, or both I guess. I have not fully tested this feature. It had no problem pulling/updating three category lists from my device and loading them onto the desktop. But I am not sure how well it can synchronize when changes have been made to both lists, etc.

SUMMARY – An easy to use application that eliminates the need to keep lists on snippets of paper all over your house. Good to shopping, to do’s, packing for a trip, gift buying, just about anything. The app is currently at version 2.1, and is very stable. No bugs or issues after several weeks of use. The developer, Dadi68, has resisted requests for added features explaining that Checklist is a simple application and he plans to keep it that way. I did make one request; to have a way to globally uncheck all the items on a list which would be an easy way to reuse a list over and over. Hopefully it makes its way into the next version. You can find the app at XDA-Developers here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=719647 . And if you find this app to be useful, don’t forget to buy the developer a cup of coffee.