I use AwayFind…a lot.
In fact, even though iOS 6 brought VIP into the mix, I still rely heavily on AwayFind because it is so much more customizable than what VIP could ever hope to be. Thanks to the service, I’m able to banish that blue icon featuring an envelope to one of the last screens on my iPhone. (Not to mention that AwayFind has a web interface that allows for even further customization, and is available for platforms other than the Mac and iOS (rejoice Android users, rejoice!.
AwayFind touts that it doesn’t focus on helping you with inbox management (although at its most basic, it does do that), but it helps you with “attention management”…and it’s tough to argue that point.
Today AwayFind just became more feature-rich, by introducing Alert Times and Calendar Exceptions into the mix. This feature allows for even more customization of your alerts and calendars, making your attention that much easier to manage.
Here are just some of the highlights of these new features:
- The ability to set Custom Alerts all of your alerts, and more flexibility with them – including when you’d like to receive them and when you don’t want to receive them. This applies both your “My Important People” and “Topics I’m Following” segments – Custom Alerts and Calendar Alerts have restrictions of their own that fall outside of this area.
- For Calendar Exceptions, you can remove or restrict alerts from those you have standing appointments with (or simply don’t need to receive them from). For example, I have all of my meetings set up in AwayFind, including a regular coffee excursion that I have with my friend Jim Henshaw every week. Now I can set up AwayFind so that I don’t get a notification before that meeting since I have it firmly entrenched in my brain that it’s happening anyway. Less is more when it comes to alerts, and this new feature helps me get that much closer to that ideal.
There are several other updates that AwayFind has seen as well, and you can learn about them (and more about Alert Times and Calendar Exceptions over at the AwayFind blog.
