Getting Cozi (Review): Organizing A Growing Family, Digitally

I am fortunate enough to have young kids, ages 4 (Luke, soon to be 5 by the end of April), 3 (Caleb), and 5 months (Hannah… or “Babes” as Luke calls her). I love my growing family! And the larger my family grows, the busier I seem to get.

It’s become clear to me that as busy as I think I am right now with family activities, I’ve only reached the tip of the iceberg. My oldest is in pre-school 3 times a week, karate 2 times a week, and starts all-day Kindergarten in the Fall (and I’ve heard a rumor about soccer in the Fall, too). Caleb starts pre-school next year, and Hannah will be right on his heels.

I reflected on this growing challenge one Saturday morning with my wife, Tara. She suggested we find some way to organize a family calendar, digitally. Enter, Cozi (http://www.cozi.com/).

Cozi organizes your family life into 4 sections:

• Calendar
• To Do Lists
• Shopping
• Journal

Family Calendar Feature
The calendar is easily the best thing about Cozi. You can assign each person in your family a color code, then build out the calendar as you would in Outlook or Google Calendar, only with events color coded for who is involved. Recurrence is setup (just like Outlook), making it easy to populate your calendar quickly and thoroughly.

There is a single, linear view for the calendar (scroll up and down), which honestly makes it easy to navigate, even though it has no view or navigation variety. It is also easy to organize the calendar by individual.

Family To Do Lists Feature
It’s easy to organize several To Do lists for each individual setup in the calendar. For example, when my wife and I visit her parents each Sunday I have a checklist I can go by to make sure I don’t forget to bring anything important. You can also have shared To Do lists, and lists for individuals.

Family Shopping List Feature
This works exactly the same as the To Do list feature, complete with the ability to email a list to anyone.

Family Journal Feature
The idea of this feature is nice, but it’s not something I use much. Without the ability to socially share the funny story Caleb told, or the fact that Luke just broke a board at karate, or the cute picture of Hannah, it’s a bit cumbersome and unnecessary.

Best Feature
Organizing the calendar by individual makes it easy to see who is busy and who can help!

Biggest Bummer
Push notifications are not yet setup. I use the app on my iPhone 100% of the time. Preferably, I’d like to receive calendar notifications like I do from iCal, with just a couple of the important notes about the event pushed through as a reminder.

The app does allow for email and text message notifications, but the convenience of receiving push notifications is a big miss.

Overall Score: 8/10

Bottom Line on Cozi
The developers have correctly identified 4 primary areas of a family’s life that are in need of organization and coordination. But more features can be added to make Cozi even better. For example, the Shopping Lists can be evolved on the model of Grocery IQ, while the Journal could allow for social sharing (or allow you to toggle that feature off, depending on your family’s feelings about privacy on the web).

If you have a hectic family schedule, Cozi can help organize it for you. It’s easy enough for the entire family to use and free of charge, but not yet feature rich. Let’s cross our fingers in hopes the developers will ramp up soon!

ShoutFlow: People Discovery App

Looking for a new way to connect to people around you? Since the advent of the smartphones, location aware apps have been at the heart of the phone’s likeability. This application let’s you create a profile, add your interests and connect with people in your location.

Shout Flow is classified a “people discovery” app. Browse all the people nearby and share something in common, like your favorite tune. Interact socially, professionally or both. Browse people you should meet any location.

http://shoutflow.com/

Forecast: Where Social Is Going

Doug Craver forwarded me what I thought was another location based social application, but this app called Forecast is unique. FourSquare is designed for you to share where you are however Forecast is created discuss where you are going. The app is all about the future so then you can check-in with Foursquare when you arrive.

If you like foursquare, you’ll love Forecast! It is a fun and simple way for friends to share where they’re going. It’s social networking that’s actually social.

http://foreca.st/

Bookmark Apps in App Store?

Dear Apple,
Please add the availability to bookmark apps in the app store. When surfing through the app store you can send yourself the link but you can’t bookmark it. The ability to create a wishlist of apps you’d like to purchase would be helpful. I would imagine it would also increase sales.
Thank you,
Marc

Find A Grave

Where is your loved one buried? Where is your favorite celebrity’s monument? Recently I was searching for funeral information and I stumbled upon a website that keeps track of where graves are located. Yes, I realize Find A Grave is quite morbid, however the site serves as a useful tool and way to pay tribute. For example, here is Steve Jobs burial location.

http://findagrave.com

eMags with Zinio

How close are you to moving away from paper? The last time you went on a flight did you drag dozens of magazines along to kill time? Have you thought about switching to electronic magazines?

I have been using a great app on my iPad that delivers magazines electronically straight to the device called Zinio. They are now the largest newsstand and bookstore. You can purchase content once to be read on any screen. Get eMags like People, Newsweek, Wired and even Cleveland Magazine. Store dozens of electronic editions of you favorite magazine on your laptop, smartphone or tablet.

http://www.zinio.com/

iPad Cases for Kids

Did you recently buy an iPad for your kid? If so, you need a good case to protect it! Griffin recently launched a series of iPad cases just for kids. One special case is called the “Lightboard” and it allows your kid to draw and color directly on your iPad. You just slide in a piece of paper to start your kids drawing.

The site says, “It is a protective case and art table in one. Your iPad is surrounded in a shatter-resistant polycarbonate shell with openings for the speakers and headphone jack. A built-in polycarbonate screen shield protects your Multi-Touch display against scratches and impacts from even the most ardent artists.”

You can also download their LightBoard Trace app currently for free at the App Store. With the app you have more than 35 different things to draw and has a game that teaches kids how to write their name. When you use the LightBoard case, you can feel safe about letting your child play with your iPad. Thanks to Mike Kimmel for the tip on this one!

http://www.griffintechnology.com/ipad

App Tells What Your Watching

So you are flicking through the channels and you land on a show that you just can't place? With music you can use Shazam to tell you what song is playing, now there is IntoNow that will do the same thing for TV. I have been waiting for an app like this since the iPhone was released because I am a heavy channel surfer.

The website says, “IntoNow makes engaging with your friends around your favorite television shows easy and fun. Just tap the green button when you’re watching, and IntoNow will identify the show, right down to the episode. Once identified it’s easy to share with your friends on Twitter or Facebook.”

http://www.intonow.com/

Amazon Accepts Trade-ins for iDevices

What do you do with all those old iPhone and iPads? If you are among the many that always upgrade their Apple iDevices, then it just got easier. The article says “Amazon has just added a few new devices to its Electronics Trade-In program, including iPhones and iPads. The Amazon Trade-In Program allows you to receive an Amazon Gift Card in exchange for sending in your unwanted electronics.” Thanks to Mike Kimmel for info!

Full Story

Bully Block App

Last week I saw Bully Block circulating the evening news and I immediately went to the iTunes app store to grab it. However to my dismay, the cyberbullying app is currently only available on the Android. What does it do? The app enables the owner to block certain phone numbers from texting them. The concept for this app is simple but effective. I have not found one that functions the same on the iPhone, but what I have read plenty of reviews confirming that Bully Block is effective.

http://www.appbrain.com/app/bully-block/com.spyparent.bullyblock