Post-it Tries Its Hand at Mobile Technology with PopNotes

The Post-it note has been a staple of forgetful people for decades, helping unorganized souls like myself remember grocery lists, important phone numbers and assignment deadlines (if you’ve ever had Post-it notes sticking to every surface in your dorm room or office you know what I’m talking about). 3M, the company behind the ubiquitous Post-its, has now tried to digitalize one of their most popular products, and the result is a mixed bag of nice features and somewhat lacking usability. The first thing you have to do is create an account with a username and password in order to start writing and “posting” notes. Creating digital Post-its is easy with finger drawing, text inputs and options for changing font size and background color. Once your note is created, you can “post” it to your current location or anywhere else you desire, setting up a reminder when you get near to the location and a one, three or sixth month expiration period for the note.  

Sharing notes with friends is available, but you have to go through your contacts and invite people one by one to join PopNotes in order for them to view your notes. There is no social media integration and only people who have the app installed have access to notes and locations.  

The idea is interesting; have a friend post a note to a particular location and when you happen to walk by that place a notification will pop up and you will be able to see that note and post one of your own. The folks at 3M have done a decent job at digitalizing the Post-it note, but the novelty wears away fast and leaves a sticky residue of missed opportunities. Until the functionality of this app is improved, I’m sticking with the analog version and posting notes around my room. AppPicker Rating: 3/5 Stars Pick It Up in the App Store:  Post-it PopNotes App Type: Universal (designed for both iPhone & iPad) Other apps by 3M