I’m not going to lie, Remember the Milk is an application that has never really appealed to me before now. I much preferred the more professional-looking task management apps such as Things and 2Do rather than one that has a hand-drawn cow for an icon.
Regardless, as the old saying goes, you should never judge a book by its cover, and so I have decided to give Remember the Milk a chance to prove itself as the app does indeed come highly recommended by many. Hit the jump to find out more.
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Creating an Account
Creating a new Remember the Milk account is the first item on the agenda. Thankfully, the registration process is quick and painless, although you will need to verify your e-mail address to unlock every feature that the app has to offer.
Registration is quick and painless, although you do need to verify your e-mail address.
Ugly Ducking No More
I must admit that once I had registered, Remember the Milk instantly transformed into a beautiful swan. OK, so maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but the app certainly looked a lot less dated than it did originally.
The Home screen comprises a menu bar, weekly calendar and task list.
As you can see from the screenshot above, the Home screen comprises a menu bar, weekly calendar and a sliver of the task list that can be viewed by sliding your finger to the left of the screen. From the menu bar, you are able to access the Settings section of the app, as well as its search function, tag and location directory, and Lists, which contains the categories to which each task is assigned.
Adding a Task
Adding a task to Remember the Milk is simple, and achievable through tapping + located on the menu bar in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. Doing this will produce a form where you can input necessary information such as the task name, due date and so forth.
Tap + to create a new task.
Additional information can be added by tapping Add Field. Here you are able to set a task to repeat instead of manually entering it each time, and tag it so that it is easier to find at a later date. You can also input the location of the task at hand and estimate how long it will take to complete, which will help you manage your time more effectively.
Delving Deeper
Adding a location to each task enables the app to draw up a list of activities that take place in that particular location. However, a new location may not be assigned unless it is manually searched for and added to the location directory beforehand. I lost count how many times I created a new task and assigned it a location, only to find out that I had to exit that particular task, visit the location directory, add my desired location and then edit that task once more. Frustrating? You bet!
Add Location and Smart Add are excellent for speeding up the process of getting things done.
Smart Add is an excellent way of creating a new task if you are in a hurry. Simply type your task into the Add Task field located on the task list and six icons will appear, which will allow you to input its due date, priority, category, location, repetition and time without having to navigate away from that screen like you would usually when creating a task.
User Interface
As I mentioned above, Remember the Milk is a lot less dated looking once you have completed the registration process, boasting a minimalist interface that is both easy to navigate and not too overwhelming.
If you are not a fan of the handwritten task list font, then there is an option to change that font to Helvetica in the settings, along with the app alert sound, which I thoroughly recommend switching to “Moo” for comedic value.
Go Pro
For $25 a year, you can upgrade to a Pro account which will sync every task online automatically rather than once a day. Additionally, you will receive a push reminder for any task due to be completed that day, priority support, the ability to sync with Microsoft Outlook, and get to be one of the first to try new features via the Pro Tester Program. Personally, I think that $25 is a rather steep price to pay for Pro membership, especially as most of the features listed above are available for free with other task management applications such as 2Do, for example.
The Verdict
OK, icon aside, Remember the Milk is not quite as hideous as I expected it to be. Sure, that awful cartoon cow does pop up every now and again but apart from that, Remember the Milk is actually pretty good.
The app itself is incredibly simple to navigate, and I like that the interface improved once I created an account as it seemed a little old-fashioned. One feature that I found especially useful is the ability to search for a task via location, which is great if you are visiting the city center, for example, and have a number of errands to run. Another is Smart Add, something I used regularly when in a hurry.
Will Remember the Milk replace my beloved Wunderlist? Probably not, but it is nice to know that I have another reliable option if Wunderlist ever kicked the bucket like fan-favorite Astrid did recently.