CorkboardCurrent Version: 1.0.2

Idea organizer brings a bulletin board metaphor to your mobile device

by John Fuller, Macworld.com

The bulletin board has long been used as a place for storing ideas. Saltlick Labs takes the concept digital with Corkboard, a $1 idea organizer.

A Little Color for Your Corkboard: You can customize the color of the notes in Corkboard as well as add photos or contacts.

As a true metaphor, Corkboard stores your notes as post-its on a virtual bulletin board. Each note has space for a title and body text. You can customize the sticky notes with various colors. You can also attach photos and contacts to them.

Corkboard allows for multiple pages of notes that you can rename for better organization. The multi-page effect is not unlike the iPhone’s springboard, with much of the same functionality being retained. For instance, to re-arrange notes, you hold and drag the post-it icon of the corresponding note—just like you would if you were arranging app icons.

Corkboard performs very well, thanks to a stellar interface that responds snappily. Because things are pretty self-explanatory, it’s easy to get started without having to grapple with a learning curve.

I didn’t run into any bugs or quirks when using Corkboard. And I found it much more visual than the built-in Notes app that comes with Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch—the color-coding and page renaming capabilities make Corkboard a better organization tool.

That said, this is not an app aimed at power users. Long notes can be hard to read, and formatting is limited. At this time, you can’t sync notes to a Web client or desktop app—Saltlick Labs promises that capability in a future release.

When all’s said and done, Corkboard performs well for simple uses. If you’re just interested in jotting down quick ideas easily, this is a fantastic option. More advanced users will want to consider the higher-end note takers available in the App Store.

Corkboard is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 2.x software update.

[John Fuller is a freelance designer and writer from Texas.]