CARROT Review

It's not often that you can call a To Do list productivity app "scary," though that's exactly the right word to describe CARROT. Or, to give it its full name, The Todo List with a Personality, and what a personality it is. Think GLaDOS of Portal fame and that's very much like CARROT. The app lacks some of the finer features of a To Do list app, but there's no doubt that it has its own brand of charm.

The interface itself is very clean. Users are presented with a mostly blank screen with pulling down initiating the ability to add an item, and swiping right to complete such a task. Completing tasks allows the user to gain experience, eventually levelling up. More importantly, it keeps the intimidating CARROT happy. An eye on the top right corner of the app represents CARROT and changes color according to her mood. Poke it repeatedly and, well, how would anyone react if they kept getting poked in the eye?

It's fun watching CARROT react, given she gets very moody if tasks aren't completed, but also if she feels that the user is cheating and clearing tasks faster than they're actually being finished. Rewards appear too as levels are accrued, such as a "cat", but don't expect such rewards to be as they seem.

The actual To Do part of the app is quite limited. There's no way of saving tasks to repeat another time, nor calendar settings or anything else vaguely complex, but that's not really the point behind CARROT. It's a light hearted kind of productivity app. There's issues with CARROT itself, such as her rage even when the user has dared to go to sleep for the night, but then I guess AI constructs wouldn't understand the point behind sleeping.

There's an odd sense of disappointment when something, even a simple app, chastises one for not completing a task or chore, and CARROT taps into that nicely. Will it replace something like Clear or Fantastical? No, but it's a fun, light hearted alternative.