Classes Review

I can now claim the title of college student—finally!—and gee, things are different. Among them is the way my schedule works. Four classes a day, in the same order every day, for the same duration, in the same rooms -- high school was simple, wasn't it? I'll memorize my new schedule eventually, of course, but until then I've been checking my planner at the end of every class, desperately trying to remember what comes next, and where, and when.

Thankfully, Classes is a simple app that removes the need for me to cling to my schedule like a life saver. Classes is everything you'd expect based on the title: an app for visualizing your class schedule. For each class, you can assign a time, date, and location, as well as other details such as department, class type (lab? precept? lecture?), and professor. You can also color-code your classes and set them to repeat. (The app supports a Week A/Week B system, too, if that applies.) It's a little annoying to designate a class that repeats on Mondays, and Wednesdays, and Fridays, but at least you only have to enter your classes once a semester, right? One feature that I definitely appreciate is the ability to add your own class types -- Princeton's "precept" isn't common enough to be a default.

Once you program your classes into the app, Classes will always open to display your current day's schedule, along with individual time until / time left designations for each class. Switch to landscape view, and a full week's schedule pops up.

Additionally, you can add homework assignments, exams, etc. to Classes using the Homework and Exams tabs. This struck me as a last-minute addition that doesn't add much to the app, though entering important exam dates might be a good idea.

Of course, you'll only use Classes for the first couple weeks of every semester; after that you'll probably memorize your schedule. But for the interim, it's a very useful app, with support for plenty of options and a decent eye candy factor to boot. If you don't want to carry your paper schedule and look like a wandering freshman, it's probably a good investment.