If you’ve been looking for a fast and intuitive way to keep in touch with your contacts, allow me to introduce you to Veer. Veer is a new widget application by Code Atlas SRL that allows you to keep in touch with your favorite contacts using your favorite apps, all easily accessible from your iPhone’s notification center or via an always on (but unobtrusive) handle on your Android screen. Whether it’s SMS, phone calls, e-mails, instant messaging, navigation or websites, Veer simplifies the process to get there with this handy widget.
Veer is currently available for both iOS and Android. I used the iOS version on my iPhone 6, and I have to admit that I am quite impressed with how easy it is to set up and use. After downloading the app it only took me a couple of minutes to set up, and I was ready to rock n’ roll.
When you first open the app, Veer will ask to connect to your contacts. Once you grant the app the permissions it needs, the app then tells you the 3 simple steps you need to complete in order to make Veer visible in your notification center. Once you complete those three steps, you’re ready to go ahead configure the app to your liking.
With the free version of Veer you’re able to choose up to 5 favorite contacts and 4 favorite actions to display for each contact. The actions you choose to use are universal across all contacts, so whatever actions you choose as your favorites will be the same for all of your favorite contacts. You can also expand your list of Contacts and Actions by 5 extra slots if you choose to purchase the “Slots Pack” for $1.99, or you could grant yourself access to all paid features (past, present, and future) with the $4.99 Lifetime Pass. But, to be clear, the initial 5 favorite contacts and 4 favorite actions are all part of the free version.
There is an extensive list of actions available to you. The free actions include calling, texting, e-mail, Whatsapp, Maps, Facetime, Safari, and e-mail shortcuts, while a premium version will get you access to other popular third-party apps like Facebook Messenger, Skype call, Skype chat, Twitter, Chrome, and more. The list of supported third-party apps is already long, but Code Atlas assures that the list is always expanding.
There are a couple of things I noticed right away that I liked about Veer: There is an option to “Configure” and Refresh your contacts and actions right from the widget itself, and I find its minimalistic design appealing to the eye. It's worth mentioning that even though iOS and Android each have differently designed interfaces, both look good in my opinion. It’s about as simple as a widget can be while still being very useful.
Each option that I dabbled with in terms of my favorite actions worked seamlessly. The phone calls went through without a hitch, the SMS bubble took me right to the conversation I was having with each person, and the e-mail action popped up the phone’s native e-mail client with the e-mail address pre-populated. If your contact has a physical address associated with them, the Maps action seems to accurately populate the location. If they have a website, the Safari action generated the specified web page. Overall, everything here worked exactly as intended without any indication of a hiccup or a flutter.
Veer is about as intuitive as it gets when it comes to quick access to contacts using your favorite apps and actions. I have found the app to be extremely useful, and within the first day I’ve already started to use it frequently. The In-App purchases aren’t necessary in order to enjoy the app, but the options that are offered do enhance the experience quite a bit without costing a fortune. The cheaper $1.99 option gets you more than double what you get for free, and the $4.99 option not only grants you access to Veer in its entirety, but also future-proofs your purchase by promising future In-App purchases free to you.
Overall, I find Veer to be a useful app that I feel I would recommend anybody. I don’t talk to many people on a daily basis, but even so I find Veer to be a useful widget that I plan to keep on my phone.
If you’d like more information on Veer and Code Atlas, you can click here to visit their website and check out the press release. You can download Veer for free from the Google Play Store on your Android device or from the App Store on your iPhone or iPad.
