In the four years I have been associated with this site, there are a few programs and apps which have really stood out above the rest of the pack.  There is only one, however, which has consistently stood above the pack on virtually every platform.   Pocket Informant has from WebIS has been among the premiere personal information managers on virtually every platform, including Windows Mobile, Blackberry, iPhone/iPod Touch, and Google Android (it has sadly not been available on WebOS).  Most recently, our friends at WebIS released Pocket Informant for the iPad, which is where we pick up our action in this review.

If you are not already familiar with Pocket Informant…then you must be new to the site…we have been covering the app since its early Windows Mobile days.  Since then, while there have been many changes to the app and its interface, WebIS has done a fantastic job of staying true its core which, of course, means a fantastic calendar and information manager for the iPad.  Let’s go ahead and take a look.

One of the things I have really enjoyed about the iPad is the screen size and resolution, which allows for a level of graphics detail and sophistication which has never been seen in mobile devices.  In Pocket Informant, for example, this means the main interface can involve more than just a list of your activities.  Pocket Informant’s interface simulates the very paper and ink day planners which the app seeks to replace.   

Just like a real day planner, there are several tabbed sections, which you can jump between.  These sections include: Today, Calendar, Tasks, and Settings.  I did think it would have been nice to include a few additional tabs here, like Notes, Contacts, Birthdays, or even the ability to create custom made tabs.  Doing so would ensure that, like a real day planner, Pocket Informant could give you instant access to the tools and information you need, regardless of what that might include.  Nonetheless, we are not here to discuss the things this app cannot do, we are here to talk about how it works.  So, let’s go ahead and check out each of the tabs offered in the app.

As you would probably expect, the central component of Pocket Informant, like any day planner, is the calendar.  Just as with other versions, Pocket Informant offers all of the usual views.  You can check out your calendar by week or month.  You can also switch to an hour-by-hour breakdown of your day, or even just a list of upcoming events.  One thing that was great in the calendar was that if you use multiple calendar sources or tags, then your events will be color coded in order to give you a more complete “at-a-glance” view. 

Tap any event to open a popup with all of the events’ details.  Tapping a date in month view will open a popup showing more detail about all of the events for the selected date.

Meanwhile, on the right hand side of the screen is a scrollable month-by-month view, allowing you to gaze far into the future, or back into the past.  A helpful tool to say the least (in portrait view, this month-by-month view will be hidden under the expandable arrow).

In addition to your calendar, Pocket Informant also serves as an effective task manager.  This really works well, allowing you to view your tasks organized by due date, actions,  individual folders or contexts, and plenty of other methods.  Tap on any task to expand it for additional information.   I was impressed by how easy the screen is to navigate and read.  The app did a fantastic job of allowing you to access your important tasks, and ensure that nothing fell through the crack.

Adding new appointments, events, or tasks is simple using the the plus signs on top of the screen.  These open a pair of simple, easy to use dialogues.  simply complete all of the blanks with the correct information, and your work here is done.  I was impressed by how closely this actually resembled the new item dialogue in the iPad’s native calendar.  Whether this was intentional or not, I thought it was fantastic because most users will already be familiar with the layout and functionality of that dialogue.

The other great feature here is that you can tie any appointment to a location or contact from your address book.  Doing do allows you to instantly find the location or address in Google Maps.  This is fantastic for those times when you have a meeting on the other side of town, and no idea how to get there.

The best feature in Pocket Informant, however, is its ability to sync with your online accounts.  The calendar will sync with your Google account, while tasks can sync with Toodledo from virtually anywhere (though surprisingly, not Google Tasks or Remember The Milk).  Since my ultimate goal is to never connect my iPad to a computer, this cloud access is absolutely essential for me, and I am thrilled to say that it worked absolutely perfectly.

Now that we have discussed the two primary features of the app: calendar and tasks, we can put them together and create the Today tab.  This is the tab which really helps answer the questions, “What’s Next…”  On one screen, it shows your appointments, events, and tasks for the day (it will show any tasks due today or overdue).  This is a fantastic way to keep track of and organize your day’s activities. 

Of course, not everything in the app needs to be the way I have shown it.  There are plenty of customization settings under the Settings tab.  I am not going to get into an in-depth discussion of all the different settings you can adjust here…there are plenty of customization options, don’t worry.  That being said, I would be remiss if I did not briefly mention the settings.  With past versions of Pocket Informant, which we reviewed here on JAMM, we have been pretty critical of the organization of the settings screen.  In essence, there were so many settings in such confusing dialogues that it always felt like a cluttered mess.  I was pretty excited, therefore, to see just how far webIS has come with this.  The settings tab in Pocket Informant for iPhone is well organized and easy to navigate.  That is really about all you can request.

I have been a fan of WebIS and Pocket Informant since I discovered it on Windows Mobile.  Since then, I have used Pocket Informant on almost every device I have owned(I say almost because the WebOS version never quite materialized).  Based upon that history, I feel pretty comfortable with the statement I am about to make.  Not only is this the best version of Pocket Informant available on any platform, it is one of the best apps WebIS has ever produced …EVER…on any platform.  Sure, there are a few omissions, such as the lack of a contacts tab, and other useful tab, but I am hopeful those features will be coming soon in future versions (particularly since many of them already exist in the Windows Mobile and iPhone versions for the most part).  What WebIS has given us is a simple, easy to use app, without sacrificing any of the power displayed in previous versions of the app.  Most importantly for me, though, is the clear evidence that the developers at WebIS listen to the input and feedback of their users.  Many of the features which we have requested (such as the cluttered settings menus), or which have been discussed in WebIS forums have already made their way into the initial release of the app.  In the end, it should be clear why Pocket Informant routinely appears on so many lists of the top apps on each of the various mobile platforms.  This is truly one of the first absolutely essential apps I have used on the iPad.

Pocket Informant for iPad was developed by WebIS, and is available in the iTunes App Store for $6.99. 

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