The "Neer" Experience - part 1

For the June issue of Perspectives we are writing about digital experiences - taking a tool, app or website, test-driving it for a month, and reporting on our experiences. I'll be trying the mobile app "Neer," and after seeing it described as "the app that will save your marriage," I was definitely curious.

Neer is a location-sharing mobile app that lets you set "to do" reminders on your phone based on where you are. It works like this: you enter the task and the location where it needs to take place (e.g., "buy toothpaste at CVS on 123 Main Street") When you're passing that location, Neer sends you a reminder to perform the action. No check-in required.

One cool thing about Neer is that you can share your location and to-do list with a group of selected people - your "inner circle." For example, your spouse or roommate can send you a reminder to do a task when you go by a place. It also claims that you'll never have to send an "I'm almost there" text again, because your inner circle will be able to see your location when that feature will be turned on.

I've just started using Neer and haven't included any family or friends yet, so here are my initial impressions:

1. It's super easy to use - the interface makes it easy to pick a location and set a reminder. The only problem is, you have to find the place on a map and can't just enter the address in.The attention to detail is also great: when it's loading, it displays cute messages like "loading - please wait while our hamsters check the antennas."

2. The notification noise is LOUD and very distinctive, making it impossible to miss.

3. There's no "reminder" notification. So if you're passing by the location and can't complete your task at the time, it won't pop back up to remind you about it for next time.

Bonus - according to the FAQ's, Neer will learn and adjust to your schedule over time to save battery. I'm not sure how that works (it sounds like it's for recurring tasks, but there's no way to set those), but I'll try to mess around and see what that means.