Smartphone Apps for Planning Your Day

On my previous post about attractive day planners, Holly commented that she doesn’t use a paper-planning system anymore because of her smartphone and that got me thinking–are there any apps out there that might encourage me to forgo the paper planner? So, I dove in and tried a few on for size. My final outcome–there are some really divine calendaring options out there if you want to use your smartphone. As for me, I found there were a few too many drawbacks, especially the small screen size, and the fact that paper’s so easy to flip back and forth with whereas an app requires a bit more maneuvering so I’ll be sticking with paper for the foreseeable future… At least until Santa delivers an iPad™.

Sai Suke

For the iPhone™, Sai Suke lets you manage your calendar on the iPhone or iPod Touch™. It syncs with Google Calendar™ and offers some fancy features like color coding and syncing between iCal or Outlook in addition to Google Calendar. It’s a $10 download making it a bit pricey for an app, though not pricey for a program, and the reviews are quite good. If you like to use Google Calendar, and have an iPhone, definitely take a look at Sai Suke.

Agendus for Blackberry™

Though Agendus for Blackberry is really popular, be warned that it doesn’t seem to be compatible with a Mac, only a Windows-based PC. (For that matter, it’s likely not compatible with Linux, either, but that’s less of a disappointment because so little is compatible with Linux.) It does have a nice feature that enables it to adapt to whatever theme you’re already using, but that seems like window-dressing for a program that’s arguably not as flexible as some of the others on the market. Still, if you have a Blackberry, this is the program several of our friends recommended with a shrug as “pretty much the only option.”

FCmobilelife™ Goals

From FranklinCovey, the FCmobilelife app for iPhones and iPod Touch lets you manage and view your progress on your big life goals. Though not a calendar, many people use their planners to organize their progress towards weekly, monthly, and annual goals, and this app looks like it might be helpful with that. If you’re happy with your phone’s calendar capabilities, but want to add this level of tracking ability to your goal planning, take a look at this option.

Android™ Agenda Widget

If you use an Android, the Agenda Widget offers a great blend of Google Calendar compatibility and customization. It also offers a free option and an upgraded (pay) version. It seems to be a relatively new widget, and wasn’t as feature-rich as some of the options for other smartphones, but it’s worth taking a look at.

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What do you think? Did any of these apps strike your fancy? Or do you already have a smartphone calendaring/scheduling app that you adore? And did all the ™s drive you as crazy as they did me?! (If you ask me, that’s reason enough to stick with paper–no one owns the trademark! ;-))