The two-person team at Leef had a few issues with the current crop of productivity apps, namely the complex features and superfluous visuals that can render them almost counterproductive. With Tinker ($0.99), the creators wanted to avoid the design and usability flaws they saw in other apps, and instead, give users a direct and efficient approach to achieving short-term goals.
So what makes Tinker different from the slew of other organizational apps that can be found in the App Store? It all starts with duration-based goals, which are set up to determine how much time you would like to spend on a particular task.
Obviously goal-setting is the driving force behind any productivity app. Tinker, however, makes each goal interactive by demonstrating the activity without having to switch views.
"Tinker is the easiest way to create short goals and complete them," says co-creator Joe Kennedy. "You literally pinch out a circle to add information related to your goal, and once started, see that goal fill up throughout it's duration."
When the goal is created, you can visualize your progress, and pause a goal's time by simply covering the screen. You'll recieve a notification once your goal is complete or when you’re ready to start a new one.
While Tinker is still a newcomer to the App Store, the Leef team is pleasantly surprised by the success it has had in its limited run, reaching #3 in Top Paid Productivity and and getting featured by Apple in the Best New Productivity Apps section.
Looking ahead, improvements for Tinker will likely include iPad support, a recurring goal option, a history view to track your past completed goals, and virtual rewards for when you complete a goal. A widget for tracking the progress of active goals and interactive notifications are also possible additions we may see in future updates.
For now, Tinker is only available for iPhone and can be found in the App Store for $0.99. To stay up to date on Tinker news and developments, you can follow @TinkerApp or visit http://leef.io/tinker/.
