Filed under: Productivity, iPhone, App Review
Satchel is Backpack on the iPhone done right (finally)
Being a productivity nerd who happens to love technology has its benefits. Those of us who are happy to spend a Friday night creating and destroying a list of tasks have absolutely no shortage of quality applications upon which to practice and hone our weirdo craft.
For web-based task management there's the popular and venerable Backpack by 37Signals which, up until very recently, was in bad need of an equally awesome representation on our iPhones. I'm happy to say that the clouds have wandered west and the iPhone-toting Backpack lovers can rejoice at the advent of Satchel [App Store].
I know what you're thinking. "Dude, could you be a little more gushy about a freaking iPhone application?" Perhaps I could, but there's a reason that this article is written with such an overt sense of elation and joy. I love this application. It has succeeded where others (most notably, FrontPocket) have woefully failed. So, if you just want to know whether or not I "endorse" this product, the answer is yes. Read on if you're curious as to why.
Whenever I'm evaluating a client application that interacts with a web-based service via its API, my acid test is the answer to this question: "Could I fully utilize this service using only this application?". Satchel gets you most of the way there. With existing Backpack pages, you can view all of your notes and lists, edit the pages tags and even view attached images and files. You can also create new pages, but the API doesn't allow for creating anything other than Note and List elements within your new page (though, you can email files, etc. directly to it once it's created). The good news is, Satchel also has a "send an email to this page" button, so you can add content to your new page relatively easily. The Satchel crew also really spent some time on the list interface, making it easy to add, remove and reorder list items in a very iPhone-ish way.
Personally, I'm not a big user of the Backpack calendar (Google Calendar, if you're wondering), but Satchel makes interacting with your Backpack calendar a snap (at least, my relatively limited testing would suggest as much). The bad news is that you're not able to edit events on the calendar (or delete them) because this functionality isn't exposed by the Backpack API. I'm told that if the API does support this at some point, then so will Satchel. Otherwise, it looks and feels very similar to the stock Calendar app that ships with the iPhone, so it'll probably take new users all of three seconds to make sense of the interface. It also allows you to drill into specific calendars (if importing additional calendars via iCal feed is your bag). Reminders also work as advertised (which is huge for me, as I make pretty heavy use of this particular feature.
While you may be a little hesitant to drop the $9.99US on this one, I can say that it's worth every penny for the true Backpack fanatic. It's gone a long way to removing the barrier for those looking to embrace Backpack as a service, but feeling a little hamstrung by the lack of a decent mobile interface. If you love Backpack, you'll love Satchel [App Store].
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lee Barrington said 6:52PM on 5-17-2009
All you swine ever do now days is post reviews of apps and other 3rd party products. I don't know why I even come here anymore, engadget always scoops TUAW on the good stuff anyway.
Thats it, I'm through.
So long TUAW
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listservs said 7:22PM on 5-17-2009
Good riddance, Lee Barrington.
jojohnst said 7:23PM on 5-17-2009
yeah right. you know he'll be checking in tomorrow like the rest of us. TUAW is doing a fine job reporting on odds and ends and being a faceless repository for our unprocessed hostilities.
puhsitch said 8:37AM on 5-18-2009
There's nothing wrong with a little constructive criticism every now and then...but "swine"?? Gotta love those melodramatic reader exits on a tech blog.
justflybob said 11:05AM on 5-18-2009
Time to up your meds?
listservs said 7:21PM on 5-17-2009
I shelled out for this app, and was disappointed. It has several UI quirks that make it awkward to use, and have since deleted it. I urge anyone considering purchasing the app to try the free viewer first, and see if it works as you hope it would.
I wish 37 signals would recognize that its not 2005 anymore and put a little effort into making a usable iPhone-compatible site. Its a horrendous experience at present, and I have since decided to ditch Backpack altogether. If I'm going to put my life online, I want to be able to access it easily from my iPhone.
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bengottlieb said 7:52PM on 5-17-2009
listservs, what UI quirks did you find awkward? We're constantly trying to improve the product, and would like to make something that you find useful!
Ben (the developer of Satchel).
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loup407 said 8:38PM on 5-17-2009
two points:
1.) I agree with jjohnst, TUAW is doing a great job, keep it up!
2.) When will someone come out with an iPhone app for Highrise that works? The one that exists, recently re-named, is a joke for $10. As much as I love 37Signal products, I agree with listservs, if I can't get integration with my iPhone, I'll start looking around for something that DOES work.
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Maddy said 3:10AM on 5-18-2009
I'm not a big user of the Backpack calendar , but Satchel makes interacting with your Backpack calendar a snap . The bad news is that you're not able to edit events on the calendar because this functionality isn't exposed by the Backpack API. I'm told that if the API does support this at some point, then so will Satchel.
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gblairjr said 3:29AM on 5-18-2009
I hate it when tools mouth off... Back to the toolbox I say!
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Yaschan said 7:46AM on 5-18-2009
Looks excellent software! I will give it a go.
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Alex said 9:29AM on 5-18-2009
I bought this app as soon as I've seen it in the store, and have been mostly loving it since. The only issue that I have with it is it's SLOW... I hate the fact that it tries to connect first, and only THEN loads all the pages. There really should be an option to first work offline, and only try to connect if I tell it to.
BTW, listservs - and everybody else, you CAN use Backpack on iPhone browser, and you can make it looks very good. Check out iBackPack - http://violetpixel.com/ibp/
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listservs said 5:45PM on 5-19-2009
I would prefer the iBackpack approach, as it is far closer to the actual Backpack experience. I wish there was a way of avoiding having to inject the CSS in every page by hand though!
Greenscreen said 4:48PM on 5-18-2009
Why does the price always have to go at the bottom of the article, often after the jump. What's wrong with always listing it when you link to the App Store?
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Olga said 5:08AM on 5-19-2009
I use Task2Gather that has both great iPhone version and a free Web companion. It's very user-friendly and well designed. Try it here: http://task2gather.com.
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Scott said 9:56AM on 5-19-2009
I've heard good things about Satchel. Mainly, I've heard that it looks better, but doesn't offer much more in the way of functionality than FrontPocket.
BTW, I also heard the FrontPocket developer is partnering with the developer of Outpost on a redesign of FP, complete with a new name and increased functionality to reflect Backpack's ever-changing API. ;)
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