Checkmark Reminder App for iPhone on Sale for $1

Apple’s location-based Reminders app for its iOS devices is the friendly nag we all need in our lives. Need to pick up a prescription? The app reminds you as you drive by your local CVS. And Siri makes the app even more useful by letting you set up new reminders using spoken commands so you don’t have to type.

And yet, Reminders lacks a number of valuable features found in the Checkmark iOS app, which is on sale this week for $1. (It normally costs $3.)

Unlike Reminders, Checkmark lets you create a list of favorite locations using a map, your contacts or your current location. Once a location is entered, you can tap it to create a new reminder associated with the location. And here’s the best part: You can set the reminder to ping you immediately upon arrival or departure at the location or at a designated time after, ranging from five to 60 minutes. You can also view a list of all reminders sorted by distance.

Sad to say, I often need more than one reminder to do something, so I appreciate another Checkmark feature missing from Apple’s Reminders. With Checkmark, you can set up a time-based reminder that repeats every hour, day, week or month.

Checkmark could use a few refinements. It’s a bit too easy to accidentally delete a reminder—one careless swipe and it’s history. Unlike to-do apps such as Clear, you can’t create a reminder that isn’t location- or time-based. And Siri doesn’t talk to Checkmark; only to the Apple Reminders app.

But these are minor quibbles. If you like Reminders, create a time-based reminder right now to download Checkmark for iPhone while it’s on sale.