X

First Impression

I downloaded X on a Tuesday morning after my daughter mentioned it on Facebook. She said it would help me keep track of my doctor appointments and bridge club meetings. The icon looked clean enough, so I gave it a shot. First thing I noticed was the sign-up screen. Way too many boxes to fill in. Name, email, password, birthday, phone number – I felt like I was applying for a mortgage. Then it asked me to let it use my camera and my location. I thought, “Why does a calendar app need my camera?” I almost deleted it right there. But I pushed through because I promised my daughter I would try it for a week. The home screen was a mess of colorful buttons and little icons. Nothing was labeled clearly. I spent ten minutes just trying to figure out how to add a simple event. It felt like I needed a manual the size of a phone book.

What It Does Well

I’ll give X credit where it’s due. Once I finally understood how to make a to-do list, it actually worked pretty well. I added my weekly grocery list and my grandkids’ birthdays, and the app reminded me three days before each one. That was nice. The reminder sound is not too loud or annoying, just a gentle buzz. I also liked that you can color-code things. I made all my medical appointments red and social stuff blue. That made the screen easier to look at. Another good thing is that it works on my iPhone and also on my old iPad. My daughter set it up for me so I can see my lists on both devices. That’s handy when I’m sitting on the couch with the iPad. The little checkmark animation when you finish a task is satisfying. It gives you a tiny buzz, like a pat on the back. I started using it to track when I took my blood pressure medication, which my doctor has been nagging me about. So far, no missed doses. That’s a win.

Where It Falls Short

Now, for the bad stuff. This app is not for someone like me who just wants to write down a few notes and reminders. Everything is buried in menus. To change the color of a task, I had to tap the task, then tap three dots, then tap “edit,” then scroll down to a tiny paintbrush icon. That’s too many steps for a retiree. I accidentally deleted a whole list last Thursday because I tapped the wrong button. There was no “are you sure?” warning. It just vanished. Gone. Poof. That made me so mad I almost threw my phone. Also, the app keeps pushing me to upgrade to a paid version. I get ads popping up every time I open it, offering me “premium features” like more storage or custom backgrounds. I don’t need custom backgrounds. I need a button that stays where it is. The worst part? The app crashed twice in three days. The screen went black for a few seconds, then it restarted. I lost the note I was typing about my sister’s birthday gift. That’s just sloppy.

Is It Worth the Price?

Well, it costs zero dollars, so I can’t complain too much about money. But free doesn’t mean good. There are plenty of free apps that work better without all this confusion. My old Notes app on the iPhone never crashed on me. It didn’t have colorful buttons or fancy integrations, but it did one thing perfectly: it wrote things down. X tries to do too much. It has a chat feature, a file upload option, and even some kind of social feed. I don’t need my planner to be a social network. I’m not trying to make friends. I just want to know when my dentist appointment is. So is it worth the price? Yes, because it’s free. But if you count the time I wasted learning it, it cost me a whole afternoon. For a simpler person, I’d say look elsewhere.

Developer & Support

I had a problem last Sunday. The app kept telling me my password was wrong even though I typed it correctly. I clicked the “Contact Support” button in the settings. It opened a form that asked for my issue, a screenshot, and my account details. I typed everything out carefully. I even took a screenshot like they asked. Two days later, I got an email that said, “Thank you for reaching out. We are experiencing high volume. Please try restarting your device.” That’s not helpful at all. I already tried restarting. That’s the first thing I do when anything goes wrong. I wrote back and said, “I already tried that. Can you actually help?” It’s been four days now and no reply. Feels like they don’t care about users like me. My daughter said maybe I should call them, but there’s no phone number. Just that email form. So if you run into trouble, you’re on your own.

Privacy & Safety

This part makes me uncomfortable. When I first opened the app, it asked for permission to access my contacts, my camera, my microphone, and even my photos. Why does a to-do list app need my microphone? My friend Bob warned me about apps that ask for too much. I said no to all of them except contacts, because I thought maybe I could share my shopping list with my wife. Big mistake. The next day, I saw ads on Facebook for things I had typed into X. I wrote “buy new hearing aid batteries” and two hours later, an ad for hearing aids popped up on my newsfeed. That’s not a coincidence. I went into the app settings and turned off everything I could. But I still feel like they’re watching me. The privacy policy is a long legal document that I can’t understand. I showed it to my son and he said it says they “may share anonymized data with partners.” That’s fancy talk for selling your information. I don’t trust it.