INTRODUCTION
I’ve never really had a diary. The closest I’ve gotten to having one is a notepad. The last time I read through it, I was flustered with memories. Although, most times, I wish I could re-live them.
A few days ago, I was looking through the notepad on my phone. I was left in awe when I saw how far I’ve come. I saw plans I wrote down. Some plans had been achieved, some still pending. I saw how much I’ve deviated. I saw how life could bring all the unplanned things to you, Some good things, some not so good.
Although, most were just scribbled ideas. but I still have the memories of those times in my head. Sometimes I wished I was elaborate with their description in my notes. I would have, if I thought of it as a diary instead of a notepad.
There are so many reasons why you’ll need a diary (as I’d come to find out). A diary can help you know yourself better. Reading through past events can help you discover yourself and give you a sense of direction.
So, many people I’ve encountered usually say they don’t know what they are passionate about. Look through your diary, you’ll get to discover it. If you look closely, you’ll see passion always leaves a trail. I wouldn’t want to elongate this blog post with reasons why you should keep a diary. So, I’m leaving a link just below the post, for anyone interested in reading further.
Today’s review is about the Activity diary app. Before I start the review, here are some few reasons why you should have a diary app;
• Security; A diary app has a password option. Suitable for keeping information from prying eyes
• Easy access; Nowadays, we always move around with our phones, it’s now easier to save memorable events
• Data Safety; Data can easily be backed up.
Other reasons why you should keep a diary app will be elaborated in an article in the links section. For now, let’s delve into the app review;
ACTIVITY DIARY
On opening the app, I was first greeted with the homepage. Activities such as; relaxing, cinema, cleaning cooking we're displayed. At first, I didn’t understand any of it. But after a few minutes, I got the hang of it.
I didn’t know what to expect on opening the app. Although, being a diary, I only expected to have where I can write notes. But the app exceeded my expectations with its features. In this review, I’d be writing about its user interface and the features afterward.
USER INTERFACE
First of all, I’d say this is the most colorful app on my phone yet. As colorful as it is, I still find it’s coloring to be calming. The app is user-friendly and easy to navigate. One thing I find helpful is the different color plates each activity carries. It makes it easier to locate an activity.
Although, there was a slight limitation on the user interface. It doesn’t have the night mode option. As one would have to deal with bright lights from one’s device at night. As for theme options, the app is doing just fine. The app already looks very colorful. Adding color themes would be a little over the top.
FEATURES
The activity diary is packed with some features that I find exciting. The features are listed on the sidebar, and they are;
• Select activity
• Diary
• Statistics
• Maps
• Add activities
• Edit Activities
SELECT ACTIVITY
This feature also doubles as the homepage of the app. The page has some preset activities that came with the app. When you click on any activity, a timer starts for it. On the same page, it has a statistics tab that shows me some information about my chosen activity like;
• Time
• Average duration
• Last time I started the activity
• Date
• Week and
• Month
Currently, the app stats read that I’ve spent up to 2 hours writing. It’s not entirely true though. Because it doesn’t account for the breaks I usually . And also the slight distractions I get from incoming messages on my device.
The page also has another tab for notes. This is the primary function of every diary from my perspective. Here, I write all the details of the activity I’m doing at that moment.
The most exciting and novel feature on this page is the camera. It allows you to take pictures. Just imagine the joy when you cannot only read but visualize your memories. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, if you can’t write a thousand words on a note, just take a picture.
DIARY
This is another primary feature of the app. Here I get to see all the past activity entries. The entries are listed and color-coded according to the activity. Just by scrolling through, I can see how much I frequent most activities. The activities with the most frequency are; writing and relaxing. This is because I’ve been at home for the past few days. I’m a teacher and my students are in their holiday season. So I’ve been getting a lot of free time lately.
On opening the diary entries, it displays the start/end time of the activity. The notes, and the pictures are also displayed on the note.
Although, just where the “start” and “end” icons are, there are some code symbols. I do think it’s a minor glitch in its coding. It doesn’t affect the user experience. But I will not fail to alert the developer to make a few bug fixes.
STATISTICS
This feature gives a general overview of the activities entered over time. The feature is really helpful. Most times, we repeat a lot of activities without really taking note. The features show how much time is being spent on every activity. One can better organize and maximize time allocation for different activities. It also shows the average time spent on each activity. It displays it in the form of a pie chart. From the screenshot of my phone, I’ve spent 10 hours, 51 minutes writing, and 10 hours, 31 minutes relaxing. Of course, the stats aren’t entirely true. I do forget to end the activity and enter new ones sometimes.
MAPS
In writing about special moments, one would want to recall every detail. The map feature helps to save the location for the activity entered. This way, you’ll always remember that special place you took that hike, or took a walk, or had that first kiss. Our brains are superb, but sometimes we fail to recall those little details of our lives. I think is evident the developer had the app well thought out.
Although my network signal is not strong that’s why my image is not showing my actual location on the map. I hope it’ll get better soon so I can have a better image of the illustration.
ADD ACTIVITY
Although, there were some default activities on the app. There are cases where the activity you want to carry out is not included in the default list. With this feature, you can easily create one. I didn’t find the “writing” activity on the app initially. I had to create it, along with a few others.
I particularly like the ease of creating activity. I just choose the activity title and a color code for the activity. This way, the activity displays on the homepage with my specific color code. Anytime I want to carry it out, I can tap on it, on the homepage.
EDIT/MANAGE ACTIVITIES
Clicking on this feature displays all the activities you’ve added in a list. You can edit or delete any activity from the list. I was able to change the color code for “writing”. An activity I created earlier. I was also able to delete some of the default activities. I don’t carry out woodworking, I don’t think I’ve done any woodworking activities recently. So, I had to delete it along with gardening.
SETTINGS /USER PARAMETERS
The settings of the app were well laid out. It comprises of different parameters that were grouped into the following;
• View
• Behavior
• Location
• Images
• Conditions
• Backup
View;
One can easily customize the date and the time under this parameter. It is used in rearranging the time duration format of activity. It would have been great if the developer added the day/night mode option in this category.
Behavior;
With this parameter, I can dictate how my activity icons are initiated. The notification option is also in this category. There's the option of keeping the current activity on the notification bar. This way, I get to easily find out how much time I’m spending on an activity
Conditions;
I didn’t understand this category at first. But afterwards, I discovered it was how activities were prioritized in the app. The app gives suggestions on some activities you might be interested in.
The other categories I didn’t mention are self-explanatory. The backup is stored on our device. So we are responsible for the safety of our personal information. It’s just like being responsible for our physical diary.
The app is very transparent on its privacy policy. It clearly states why and what permissions it needs and how our information is being used. Permissions needed are; Location access, network, and storage access.
SUMMARY
In this article, I’ve been able to review the activity diary app. Being the first diary app I’ve ever had, I’ll be able to take notes on my special moments. Although some limitations were of great concern to me.
Apart from the night mode theme, one thing I find the app to be lacking is the aspect of privacy. I expected the diary app to have some sort of security. The way it is set up, anyone can easily have access to our information.
Also, I expected the activity entries in the dairy section to be categorized. So one can easily refer to any past activity. Although, there is a search button. But categorizing it will save a lot of stress.
Although, having all these limitations, the app is still a very great app to try out. I don’t see it being uninstalled from my device anytime soon.
LINKS SECTION
• Github repository:https://github.com/ramack/ActivityDiary
• Download link: https://f-droid.org/packages/de.rampro.activitydiary/
RESOURCES
Other than the above, the content of this post was created based on my knowledge of the project, and mostly from my experience. Images used are mostly screenshots from my device. other images have their source links below them.