When it comes to task managers and note-taking apps, iPhone users are spoiled with choices, as there are literally thousands of ideas out there on the App Store all crying for our attention and our credit cards. I?m a man of simple tastes, which is why I don?t really use my iPhone for note-taking ? I?ll probably use something like Drafts to scribble down something quickly when I?m on the move but I still rely on my trusty Moleskine for all my proper note taking. Yep, I?m old fashioned like that.
But when Elevatr was released back in May, my eye turned for two reasons. First, this looked like a nice, simple way to jot down my thoughts and ideas without having to waste an hour getting acquainted with the app. And secondly, the interface is so minimal and flat it?s positively infectious (and I?m a big fan of flat interfaces, which is why I?m looking forward to iOS 7 so much!). Read on after the break for my full thoughts about Elevatr and whether it is the de facto app for managing your ideas on the iPhone.
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First Thoughts
One of the first things I noticed about Elevatr was the fact it was free in the true sense of the word. There?s no in-app purchases to unlock extra features and no obtrusive advertising to speak of ? just a simple yet beautiful splash screen prompting you to create a new idea. Understand now that Elevatr is nothing fancy and doesn?t come with a lengthy App Store description or endless lists of features; it lets you jot down your business ideas and that?s about it, really.
The splash screen of Elevatr.
The main bulk of your idea is restricted to 140 characters, just like a tweet on Twitter, which I actually don?t mind at all. For me, an idea should just be a quick mental note of something that I want to work on later, not a lengthy description which takes me 10 minutes to type out, and I feel that this 140-character restriction allows me to be very selective with my ideas. I said that minimal was rife in Elevatr, and it?s certainly being mirrored here.
Entering a description for your idea. Keep it short, now.
Next, you need to give your idea a name. Just like the main body, this is restricted too ? it?s only 20 characters. Elevatr wants you to keep things short and snappy and it?s certainly working for me. The whole app is enshrined in that wonderful Avenir typeface, which first made an appearance on iOS with Apple Maps and I actually prefer it to Helvetica. It provides a refreshing change to the norm.
Once you?ve created your idea, it?ll pop up in a list showing you the title and the time since you last edited it. Anything you do in Elevatr is automatically saved to your iPhone?s memory, though there is a cloud sync function built into the app as well.
Working With Ideas
Elevatr is focused more towards business users and the default categories present when you tap on an idea certainly reflect this. Ideas are split down into five different sections: The Idea, The Market, The Product, Business Model and Execution. The description of the idea that we entered above when we created our idea appears in the Pitch section of the The Idea section, but of course we can add different notes to each individual section.
The main screen for your idea, showing all of the different sections.
Sections are displayed in beautiful coloured bars and all you need to do is tap on each one to bring up more options. In the The Idea section, for example, this is split down into the problem and the solution, each of which I can add notes to. Unlike the idea title, as we saw above, you aren?t restricted here and you can type away to your heart?s content. Elevatr will also allow you to attach photos to each individual section from your iPhone, making things easier to remember.
Entering some text for the Problem section. I think it?s relevant here.
The entire app is very well thought-out from a business point of view and it?s clear that the developers have put some real effort into making Elevatr as useful as possible for commercial ideas. In The Product section, for example, this is split down into Use Cases, Product Features and Brand Identity, making it really easy to pinpoint your ideas exactly. One thing I did notice, though, was that you can?t change the section headers ? something which I would liked to have seen and I hope that this feature is rectified in a future update.
Sharing Your Ideas
As I mentioned before, Elevatr features a built-in cloud service which allows you to share your ideas with other users and you?ll have to create an account first (don?t worry, this is completely free ? there?s no in-app purchase to enable sharing). Once created, you can choose to share either the whole idea (with all the different sections) or you can select individual sections to share.
Sharing your ideas via the built-in cloud service.
Ideas can either be shared publicly (with a built-in link which can be viewed on any platform, not just on the Elevatr app) or privately, for which you can create a password.
Final Thoughts
Elevatr is one of those rarities in the App Store ? it?s something that manages to be everything all at once. It?s beautifully designed, extremely easy to use and manages to be fun as well. I was extremely impressed by the flat design and the simplicity of the entire app; although Elevatr is business orientated, this doesn?t mean the developers have to bloat it up with a load of features that no one wants. It?s simple and it works damn well.
I would have liked to been able to edit the individual section headers (sometimes they don?t just cut it for me) but I can see this issue being addressed in a future app. For such a young app, the results are extremely impressive, and for a free one even more so. I can see Elevatr finding a warm and snug home on the iPhones of almost any business user, and I do hope that this great little app sticks around for a while because the results?do?impress.
Source: http://iphone.appstorm.net/reviews/productivity/elevatr-business-idea-management-revisited/
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