Daily iPhone App: Commit

Sometimes staying committed to a daily task is difficult. You get busy with other activities, and then you totally forget that you promised to exercise (or write a letter, or practice piano) every day. If you have difficulty integrating new activities into your daily life, then you should check out Commit for the iPhone.

Commit is one of those apps that does one thing and does it well. The app is a basic reminder system for daily activities. It sounds a lot like Reminders in iOS 5, but Commit is designed to track how often you do your tasks, not just send you an alert.

You start by adding a task that you want to do every day. The app presents you with a statement like "I will 'xyz' every day" and asks you to fill in the "xyz" with your activity. You can setup a reminder at a specific time and then hit the "Commit" button to add it to your list of tasks. Once you have a full list, you can open the app each day and check off the activities you've completed.

Commit keeps track of how many days in a row you've completed your task, which is a powerful motivator. Once you reach double digits, you don't want to miss a day and fall back to zero. It's also satisfying to see more orange bars for the days you completed your task, and less brown ones that scream "I failed to reach my goal."

Though Commit excels many ways, it does have a few deficiencies. First, the app only supports daily tasks, so you can't use it to track something you do once a week. The app also won't let you go back and check off a day. I guess it's designed to keep you honest about doing something daily, but there are times you just forget to mark off your progress. It would be nice to be able to go back and fill in those days you missed.

These missing features don't detract from the overall utility of the app, though. It's still useful for reminding you of activities and tracking how committed you are to them. The app also has a pleasing UI and is incredibly easy to use, which is perfect for an app that's supposed to be a motivator. When you're trying to get things done, the last thing you want is a clunky app getting in the way.

Commit only costs 99-cents, which is money well-spent if the app can help you establish healthy and helpful habits. You can also get more information on the app at the developer's website.