Flashback Review

Bored of the typical minimalist yet highly functional look that so many calendar apps love to embrace? Me too. Fortunately there's a savior in sight in the form of Flashback; an app that embraces sci-fi stylings, even if its functionality isn't quite perfect.

There were certainly teething problems initially, and I'm still not entirely sure why this was the case. Starting out, I couldn't add any new events through the app or view any existing events that were already on my Calendar. Why? I genuinely don't know. Everything was set up correctly but it wasn't until I synced with iCloud and added a new event to my calendar through a different app that Flashback decided to work correctly. I couldn't replicate this problem so I'm assuming it was a fluke, but something to bear in mind.

Either way, once working correctly Flashback is an interesting app to browse. With its distinctly science fiction-style look, it makes a change from the cleaner and more business-like interfaces that we've come to expect from the app genre. It's still clear to see, however, with an events bar running along the bottom proving particularly handy for those needing to check what's going on at a glance.

Adding an event is a different process from usual, requiring dragging around time circles to dictate the timings of an event. It takes a moment or two to truly figure out and is perhaps not quite as simple as other apps, but it looks cool. Similarly, adding an all-day event is straightforward enough through dragging a finger from the top of the screen, but it can sometimes interfere with iOS 7's notification center.

Other than that, Flashback is pretty smooth sailing. It offers the ability to add locations to events, as well as memos and alerts. While it might lack some of the finer features and more complex tools beloved of other apps, such as the ability to switch between calendars, the essentials it does offer are sufficient for the vast majority of users. For those looking for a more entertaining visual flourish to their daily routine, Flashback is an ideal alternative.