timer – Wandle Software

What you need to know about Rootn Tootn 2.0, our baby feed timer and reminder app, in four bullet points:

It launches today
It still allows you to record your baby’s eating and sleeping routine, setting reminders, writing notes, and all without the boring pastel pinks and blues
It’s a substantial update that optimises the app for iOS 7 and puts your most important content front and centre
It’s now free for new users with an in-app purchase that unlocks the full functionality

For both new and existing users, Rootn Tootn 2.0 offers the following changes:

New, cleaner look for iOS 7, including improved blur effect and more space for your reminders on the home screen
Enhanced contrast between the background image and your data so you can see what’s important to you more quickly than ever
Rejigged interface, with a more logical layout, putting the information you want to see more prominently
Tap and hold when finishing a timer to go straight to the notes screen

The free version — did I say that Rootn Tootn is now free to download? — gives you all the updates, all the enhancements, all the features of the full version but limits you to the two standard reminders and and the default background image. There is no advertising, no limits of how much data you can enter or how long you can use it.

A lot of work has gone into this release. We hope you like it.

The last time I released a new app was 2009. I’ve been busy, there have been plenty of updates since then, but a completely new, version 1.0 app is something special. Since that last release, the App Store has grown enormously. Just about every imaginable category has a number of competing app so I think it’s important to explain where Rootn Tootn, our new baby feed timer and reminder app, fits in and why you should consider buying it instead of one of its more established competitors.

After looking around the app store, I think you can put most competitors into one of two categories.

The first is what I’ll label “all-encompassing apps.” They record every last detail about your baby. Measurements for everything, eye colour, height, weight, inoculations, diaries, and… and… oh, and reminders.

Well, it all sounds great in principle but are you ever actually going to enter any of that information? Don’t all those extra options get in the way of the information that you really need?

So the guiding principle of Rootn Tootn is simplicity. You really only ever have to press a single button: to start the timer. It’s been designed to require as little of your time as possible. Let’s face it, time is at a premium, especially straight after birth.

Later I searched for a different term and came up with a bunch of other apps. They were very simple, had “baby” colours and confusing UIs.

I don’t believe that being a parent means you have to surrender to the cliches of pinks and blues, of cutsie clipart and baby language.

Rootn Tootn allows you to put your own pictures in the background and overlays your timers. Simple and clean. Honestly, would you rather see some clipart or a photograph of your own baby?

The confusing UIs were puzzling. Many are limited. Want a timer for anything other than feeding? Sorry. Have two babies, both on slightly different schedules? Nope.

In Rootn Tootn I think the simplicity belies a surprising depth. You can have as many timers as you like; you can have custom reminders; you can record the details (or not); you can add notes (or not); activities can have a duration (feeding) or just a frequency (changing a nappy/diaper).

So, back to the question posed in the first paragraph: why you should consider Rootn Tootn instead of one of its more established competitors? I think it offers a great balance between simplicity and features that you’ll actually use. It saves you time, it’s easy to use and it looks great. What more could you want?