24me (for iPhone) Review (2024)

Most of us could use help staying on top of the details of our busy lives. The iPhone app 24me (free) aims to provide just that, blending aspects of task management, calendaring, and bill-pay reminder systems into one slightly busy interface. 24me hooks itself into other apps and services you already use, from credit card accounts to Facebook, in order to deliver the information you need to keep up with your life. It's a powerful app that aims to do a lot, and once you learn how it works (and how to navigate its interface), it handles many miscellaneous tasks with aplomb.

When you connect 24me to other services that you use, it can remind you of upcoming birthdays as well as bills due. It lets you scheduling group meetings (you can sync the app to your other calendars, as well as invite attendees right from within the app) as well as tick off personal tasks as you complete them. Want to outsource a few errands? Connect 24me to TaskRabbit and name your price. A local person will pick up your dry cleaning or build your Ikea furniture.

24me doesn't have the same design minimalism and simplicity (which I find downright soothing) as, say, the to-do app Any.do for iPhone (free). 24me is less elegant, and more bubbly, with audio effects (whoosh noises when you strike off a task, for example) and a cheery blue and yellow color scheme. 24me also isn't the automation whiz that EasilyDo (free) is, although EasilyDo doesn't offer task-management. EasilyDo knows when you're late for an appointment based on your location and can send an automated text message letting colleagues know approximately when you'll arrive. But it doesn't have any features for simply typing out your daily to-do list.

All the obvious functionality that I expect from a task-manager is present and fully operational in 24me. When you write a to-do that's too long to display on screen, it scrolls so you can read it. Tasks can have notes attached to them, as well as due dates and a reminder alarm. You can even tag a task, although you can only assign one tag per task, which sort of defeats the purpose of tags. I guess tags here work more like folders.

Then there are the enhancements that put 24me above the realm of simple to-do list keeper. Link the app to Facebook, for example, and you'll automatically get reminders of upcoming birthdays. Hook into TaskRabbit to outsource small odd jobs. Connect to credit cards and banks to see reminders of upcoming bills (this piece works in conjunction with Check, formerly Pageonce), or frequent flier programs to keep tabs on when your miles might expire.

When you add a task, you can choose specific types of tasks: meet, call, text, errand, and gift. When a task comes due (or when you click on it from your calendar if you want to complete it early), 24me will have a button that says "Call" or "Do" and so forth to help you complete the action. A "Go" icon, likewise, pops open your preferred map app to get directions to the destination listed in the task. Neat.

24me comes with plenty of other features, too. It's chockfull of them, which felt overbearing at first but petered out the more I used the app. 24me is right for people who really want to centralize their tasks, calendar appointments, bill-pay reminders, and more into one app. On the other hand, it's not ideal for people who prefer compartmentalization, keeping their calendar appointments separate, for instance, from those reminders of their friends' upcoming birthdays. 24me is worth checking out if you're in need of a personal assistant/to-do app—all the more so since it's free. Give it time, however; you may need a few days to explore all its capabilities.