On Time Review

The prospect of On Time had me hopeful. But by its nature, “On Time” is a misleading name for this app by Sickrev Studios.

I envisioned being on time. Okay, now that’s unrealistic. I didn’t expect magic, but I did think On Time was more of an organizational app. I wrongly assumed that it would offer me an efficient mechanism for completing tasks and leave me feeling like I accomplished something. My bad! On Time is not an app about organization. It’s a navigation app that can help me drive or walk to my destination and be, one hopes, on time.

Walking as a time tracker is a neat feature – not many people do that anymore. People who live in the center of major metropolitan areas do walk. It certainly matters that one is on time, and being able to access a better route to work is important. Being able to bypass a parade, marathon, or entourage is also useful information for people who rely on their feet to get them where they’re going.

Otherwise, On Time tracks driving distance, adding a +5 minutes for buffer time. This feature is unimpressive because Google Maps already does this masterfully by allowing its users to select routes based on “least amount of traffic,” “most direct,” etc.

A third option that On Time features actually directs its users to apps like Google Maps and other GPS downloadables. Why then would I take a detour through On Time to get to Google Maps? If this were a leisurely trip that may sound reasonable, but not if I want to be on time. I can’t foresee using On Time for anything at all. The graphics are bland despite attempts to adopt the look of similar apps. Come to think of it, there are limited ways to accurately represent a map. Unless I’m searching for a destination that’s, ahem, not real.

I tried. I looked up Glocca Morra, wanting to know how things are there. Hogwarts and the Gumdrop Forest did not register on the map either. Next best thing was Bora-Bora, which I located in several permutations. This satisfied my curiosity, but not in any way that convinced me that On Time would be the appropriate avenue for doing so.