Yesterday I received the email newsletter from Filofax announcing their new Filofax Reminder App (https://filofax.com/pages/app) to accompany their diary inserts. I imagine this will appeal to people who like a combined paper + digital planning system.
The email says:
"We understand that not everyone wants to carry their physical planner with them on the go, that's why we are proud to present our new Filofax Reminder App, a first-of-its-kind app that links your diary to your phone. Stay organised with our revolutionary refills featuring QR code technology."
It goes on to give these instructions on how to use the QR code on the diary pages and the app together:
"Step 1: Fill in your Filofax diary with any important dates or events.
Step 2: Download the free InkLink app and scan the QR code to add a new reminder.
Step 3: Take a photo of the entry and create the reminder.
Step 4: Set the date & time you want to be reminded of."
There is a short video on the website that shows examples of use.
It looks like all the Personal and A5 weekly and day per page diary pages for academic year 2024-2025, and for 2025 will have the QR codes on the day spaces to be compatible with the app.
To be honest I don't know how I feel about this app. I already use my phone's calendar app to set reminders and alarms for appointments. This app looks like it has more steps to input an entry (due to taking a photo of the diary page), but the advantage is you would see an actual photo of your diary page in the reminder, and you can categorise according to whether it's an appointment or a task. I can see how this would be useful for people who usually use a calendar app plus a separate app for tasks; having both in one app would streamline the process.
There are other planner brands (Moleskine comes to mind) that have apps to combine paper and digital planning. I've never used any of these, but I have noticed some come and go, which makes me wonder about their effectiveness and/ or popularity. The advantage of this Filofax app is, unlike the Moleskine app, you don't need any other equipment (no special pen, etc) to use it.
What do you think about this new app to combine paper + digital planning? I think it's a step in the right direction, but is it the most streamlined solution? I'd love to know your thoughts. Do you think you will be using this app?
And as always on Fridays, feel free to ask and/or discuss anything ring binder organiser related!