Developed by Simpli Co., Simpli is touted as a chance to improve the efficiency of day to day life with a single app that conveniently houses most productivity needs. It offers a small but useful array of in-app features that, simply put, would place it in the upper echelon when it comes to the mobile email client game.
Or I should say that I assume they would since I was never able to actually get the app to function on my iPhone 6. Unfortunately, its literal lack of usability isn’t the worst thing about this app.
Simpli vs. Its Competition
The developers of Simpli describe the app as “the first app that brings together your email, calendars, notes, lists with cloud storage access and custom tags across all your data.” It’s a great idea, and, when properly executed, can bring a big boost to a user’s productivity and efficiency. Don’t believe me? Just look at the Outlook app for iOS; it has most of the same features: a calendar function, email sorting (Simpli uses user generated tags, Outlook learns what is and what isn’t important to you to separate emails into ‘general’ and ‘focused’ categories) and cloud storage (Simpli only uses Dropbox, Outlook uses Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive and more). However, the biggest difference is between what accounts are supported; Simpli barely uses your Gmail account to support its features, where as the Outlook app can connect to and manage just about any email account you may have, including Gmail.
But say you’d prefer to focus mainly on your Google account; maybe your life really is so simple that you only have the one Google account. The app falls through again, considering that there are plenty of apps from Google available for iOS that help you manage your account without going through a third party. Gmail, Inbox, Google Calendars, etc. all offer the same array of features Simpli does (and a few more for good measure) plus an eye for integration that’ll give your Apple apps a run for their money.
Summary
The idea Simpli is based on is great; that’s why it’s been seized upon already by industry giants and little guys alike, all of whom manage to produce apps that work and bring some unique attribute to the playing field in an effort to standout on their own. Couple the fact that Simpli is operating on well trodden ground with the fact that the app has some serious functionality issues, and you’ll find that Simpli is simply too late.