Memory Upgrade Review

Today’s review is of an interesting little app called Memory Upgrade from Xybyresoft (pronounced “zybersoft”). It is currently available on the App Catalog for $2.99.

When I first opened the app, I was a bit confused as to the best way to move forward. With a name like Memory Upgrade, I was thinking it was a flash card app or some utility to help me memorize things.

Turns out, it is actually a very handy task manager and todo list app. What makes it so handy? Search! Every item has a keyword associated with it that lets you find it very quickly. This creates a very clean interface. Other task managers have categories and other lists that you have to scroll through to find things. With Memory Upgrade, you simple search and you are good to go.

Adding an item is easily done. You actually have a few options here. You can store a simple blob of text or you can create a full list of items (like groceries). If you need to remember something specific, you can even take a picture. I mention in my video review that recently I was shopping at Target with my son. He saw a toy that he really loved. I didn’t want to buy it right then, but I did want to remember it for Christmas so I took a picture. If I had had this app at the time, then it would have been great because I could have given the picture some much needed context. This way I won’t be confused when I see that  I have a picture of Buzz Lightyear on my phone.

If you are saving sensitive data, like a password, you can mask it. When the item comes up in a search, the data cannot be seen. Clicking on the item will divulge the secrets. Nice.

The one major annoyance I found with the app is that it doesn’t save items automatically. In most apps, as soon as you type something, it is saved…there is no need for an actual save button. With this app, that is not the case. If you are saving something simple, then this isn’t a problem, but if you are creating a list, then the save button will move off screen. Once you are done typing it is very easy to forget to click the button before going back. Once you do that, the item you had been working on is gone forever. If you use the app enough, then you will probably get used to this, but I forgot to push the save button several times which got frustrating.

However, once you have the items in the app, retrieving them couldn’t be easier. Just start typing and here they come. As long as you haven’t misspelled or overshot the word you are looking for, you will find your items. Once the items have appeared in the search screen, you can copy the data into your clipboard with a single tap. This is a fabulous idea. Being able to simply paste into an email or a text message is just awesome.

The only thing negative I would say about the search is that if you forget your keyword, then you are pretty much outta luck. The only way to get them out is to starting hunting…one letter at a time. You will get there, but it may take a while. A nice way around this would be a feature that allows you to pull up all the items in one go.