Moleskine Timepage review: A true day planner for the digital age

Of all the myriad things the iPhone has obsoleted by streamlining, the day planner is somewhere near the top of the list. It’s not just the relief from the burden of carrying around a thick book all day; to-do apps have elevated scheduling to the point where we all use them at some point throughout out day.

So it makes sense that an established nomadic notebook company like Moleskine would throw its hat into the ring. Timepage ($3 in the iTunes Store) isn’t is a new app, but over the course of the past 12 months Moleskine has been habitually tinkering and perfecting it, and with its most recent update, it’s ready to compete with the Fantasticals and Todoists of the world.

Elegant interface

Using Timepage feels a lot like turning the pages of a digital day planner. There’s an elegance and simplicity to the interface that’s not unlike using one of Moleskine’s classic leather-bound books. This isn’t about skeuomorphism (far from it, in fact), but rather a respect for the natural flow of the day planner. All of your appointments are contained within a single infinitely scrollable page, with a tab-like chronological list of dates running up the side hat lets you easily jump between appointments.

Tapping on a day expands the field to display any scheduled events and a brief weather forecast, while also letting you swipe to the next day. Individual events are packed with information (location, weather, notes, and related contacts) and reminders can be set to go off at a specific time—though notifications can be sporadically flaky. A particularly nice touch is a historical factoid that shows on days where nothing has been scheduled.

Save the date

You won’t find a traditional plus symbol beckoning you to add a new event in Timepage. Instead, you’ll need tap on a date first and pull down to bring up the input screen, which consists of little more than a text field and a time slider. Navigating to the specific day of your event might seem like a tedious step, but it’s actually quicker than using an additional slider; and like a physical day planner, it lets you see your other appointments and schedule accordingly.

A search field and settings menu are accessible by swiping from the right side of the screen, and a clean monthly calendar view can be found at the left. Customization options are plentiful, and while the ability to separately change the color of your timeline, days and events is appreciated, it’s Timepage’s more subtle preferences that makes it unique. For instance, you can adjust which days are shaded as well as the intensity, the type of travel (walking, driving or bicycling), or whether the weather report shows the actual or feels-like temperature.

Bottom line

It’s the attention to detail that makes Timepage feel so polished. Moleskine’s commitment to regular updates and its experience with scheduling has helped the company turn Timepage into one of the best task organizers this side of a day planner.