Clear
A minimal, whimsical, and clever list maker for iPhone.
Clear is a minimal but deceptively well-equipped list-making application for iOS. Initially released in 2012 (not a typo, over a decade ago), the app has recently received a complete 2.0 overhaul with a fun collectible business model, an elegant and simplistic design, and an intuitive & playful user interface. I've used it as my lightweight list-maker for the past few months and wanted to share my thoughts on this lovingly crafted iPhone app.
Clear 1.0 launched back in 2012 as a cross platform application for Mac, iPad, and iOS. It was reconstructed and reborn in 2023 as Clear 2.0 for the iPhone.
As background, Clear was created by Impending, a small design outfit behind apps, including Heads Up! & Hatch. Since my earliest days using the Mac, the folks involved with what would later be Impending have played an integral part in my affinity for the Mac. The art of David Lanham, one of the designers at Impending, has been my default desktop wallpaper over the years, and his design for Ollie, the Twitteriffic bird, and the icon for Fantastical are widely recognized and beloved. Phillip has been involved with many widely recognized projects, including MacHeist & MacThemes in the early 2000s, and developed many applications, perhaps most notably Heads Up! and Clear. The work behind this version of Clear has also included the work of Austin Sarner (of AppZapper fame) and Josh Mobley, along with contributions from various other talented designers and developers.
How I Use Clear
Clear list interface.
From experience, there are a couple of common ways people organize their lives. Some just don't; they wake up each day, and things unfold and occur to them, a chaotic Mr. Magoo-type life. Most do a sensible amount of organizing, using lists for groceries, preparing for travel, and helping organize errands. And then some appear obsessed with making lists. They might maintain a half dozen different task managers, each serving a distinct purpose, and their lives rotate between running from Kanban board to grocery list to reminders app. I fall into the latter category and have my lists spread across three applications: Reminders, Things, and Clear, with a history of using apps like Planny, Tasks, and dabbling with OmniFocus. People in all three camps might find Clear instrumental in beginning, supporting, and complimenting their lives.
I use Clear as my lightweight list manager for tracking small and straightforward things, including movies I want to watch, grocery lists, or quickly mapping out weekend errands. For more significant events, like planning a getaway or organizing tasks ahead of a course, I still prefer applications like Things to manage the project. However, you can still see how Clear fits your needs for these larger todos - it's all about person/list fit. I've come to love the bifurcation I've created with more significant projects allocated to Things and more day-to-day lists in Clear; it keeps my todos cleaner and me more focused.
But Clear's signature strengths - speed, simplicity, and delight - are where the app shines best. Two taps get me into any list where I can easily cross things off, set reminders, and add new todos. Without clutter or unnecessary ornamentation (i.e., text, graphics, toggles, etc.), Clear allows me to zip in, rip through, and leave the application in a flash. It's one of my least-used applications because I can quickly get in, get things done, and get out of the application in less time than it took you to read this paragraph. That's the hallmark of a good todo application in my books.
A sliver of the hundred plus unique icons available through the Clear storefront.
But saying that Clear lacks clutter or ornamentation isn't to say that it lacks beauty and personality. Quite the opposite. Clear includes a dizzying amount of customization, offering (at the time of writing) over 250 different colour themes to choose from and hundreds of unique icons, including dozens upon dozens created by David himself and a few by some well-known creators in the Apple community. The app features over a hundred different fonts to collect, nearing a hundred quote packs (ranging from The Art of War to Candy Facts, /r/ShowerThoughts to 90's fads), and over a dozen beautifully mastered sound packs. Clear is also one of the few apps I want to hear the sounds for because the advancing synthesized chime that plays each time I swipe to complete a todo fills my brain with a heavenly burst of dopamine. Multiplying all the possible sounds, fonts, quotes, icons, and themes gives you over 4 billion (not a typo) different permutations. It's unlikely that two Clear users are ever going to give Clear the same personalized touch.
Clear is also intelligently designed, and, much like visionOS, its UI works very intuitively. Tap an empty space and a new todo appears; pinching between two items pops open a new todo between them; swiping to the right crosses off an item while swiping to the right deletes items. A brief tutorial teaches these functions, but I love that Clear doesn't clutter the UI with images and glyphs denoting these functions; they only appear when needed. Clear has some power-user features, including reminders, setting times, and archiving lists. It lacks more advanced features like recurring reminders, intelligent event sorting, priority setting, or tagging, but these features have never been part of Clears DNA. If these features matter to you, more advanced apps exist.
Clear offers Widget support in small, medium, and large sizes. Widgets are non-interactive but can be stylized to any list you’ve created and themes you purchased.
Clear also offers a unique business model unlike any other app. The entire app is free, and there are no limitations on the number of lists you can create or what you can or can't do with the app. There are no ads; there are no subscriptions. Instead, Clear operates a storefront that offers new stock daily: this is where you get your hands on the various themes, quote packs, sounds, and icons. Each item retails for $1.99, and those funds support the app and its development. There's a motivation to to get items you like when you see them as stock routinely rotates through the store, and there's no telling when/if it will return, but for the most part, I've been able to contain myself to 1-2/week. So, the app can get expensive, but only of your own volition.
Concerning Limitations
Clear has created an identity as a simplistic list maker, so I will not ding it for lacking more power-user features. This app will only cover some of your needs if you want more advanced project organization, kanban boards, recurring events, etc. But as a simplistic list maker, it's as good as it gets. I wish Clear had a Mac counterpart and the iPad app took advantage of the larger display rather than being a stretched version of the iPhone app, and the lack of iCloud sync between devices is disappointing. The ability to duplicate/copy multiple events into other lists is not available (although items can be moved from one list to another). And while I like how Clear offers various screenshot formats for list sharing, I would love some ability to invite people into lists (shared grocery list, shared errands). Lastly, there is no way to sort items automatically, either alphabetically, by due date, or intelligently, like Reminders does with groceries. Some of these limitations may added in time, and some might not.
In Sum
Clear has made it clear that it likes to keep things simple and that constraint has a refreshing quality. Going into the app, it may or may not have everything you're looking for, but what it does is pretty special. A lot of care and delight has been poured into this app, and the app oozes it. Clear is available free on the App Store for iOS & iPadOS.
