Yes, there are dozens of apps out there that feature any number of different ways to keep your productivity levels at their maximum. Some of them catch my attention because they offer some new action to help speed up the workload.
Handle: To-Dos + Email + Calendar is a productivity app that features a section for Gmail, to-do lists, and access to your Google Calendar. We’ve got a quick app review of Handle for your reading pleasure.
Concept
Instead of using separate apps for your reminders, email, and calendar, this app brings it all together in one place. When you allow access for your Gmail email and Google calendars, all of the stuff you already work in is uploaded into one place (assuming you use Google’s email and calendar. If not, this app is not for you). Because all three productivity services are integrated into one app, you can use them to create a timeline to-do list, complete with due dates and reminders.
Design
The app is paper white. Everything is clean and crisp for a distraction-free experience. Emails can be displayed with only the subject line, or include a few lines from within the body of the message.
The calendar view will display the events for a selected day, or you can switch to full month mode in order to see a basic calendar (you won’t see any of your scheduled events in the monthly mode).
The to-do list is organized like a timeline with morning, afternoon, and evening events grouped accordingly. Events on your calendar will automatically appear on your to-do list.
App Use
After logging into your Google account, you will see your email and calendar populate with your current information. In the to-do section, daily events will already be listed. You can edit them the same way you would in Google Calendar, with repeats, alerts, start and end times, etc.
You can add a new item to the to-do list by tapping the “new” icon at the bottom of the page. Add a due date, reminder, or note. You can also move a to-do list to a sub folder if you have specific projects with tasks.
The one feature that makes this app stand out the most for me is that you can turn any email into a to-do item. When reading an email, tap the more tab at the bottom of the screen. Tap the “Create To Do” tab to turn that email into an item.
You can also add an email directly into your calendar and the information within the body of the message will appear in the notes section of the new event.
The Good
Much of my workday revolves around projects that I receive via email. I love being able to set a to-do item right from messages. When I set a due date, it will move down on the list to the appropriate section of my timeline.
The Bad
I use Gmail and Google Calendar, so I don’t mind that this app is dedicated to that specific service. However, I know a lot of our readers don’t use Google, so it would be much better if it supported other email and calendar applications.
Value
Handle is free with no advertisement support. The price doesn’t get any lower than that.
Conclusion
If you use Gmail and Google Calendars, this is going to make you happy. You can combine three different productivity actions into one app. It is available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Download it in the App Store today.
Related Apps
Any.DO is a to-do list manager that has a lot of excellent features. Plus, it is now available as a Mac app.