This simple database is too simple for its own good

In my household, we have years-old receipts stored in grocery bags, and no memory of who borrowed our favorite, not-made-anymore PlayStation games, both of which could be remedied by a database. Instead of just storing information, a true database acts on it, reminding you about deadlines, dynamically sorting contacts based on upcoming birthdays, and otherwise remixing your data. But iDatabase 1.0 does none of this. You’re better off with the grocery bag.

After installing iDatabase, you’ll get to its purpose: storing data. This software imports comma-separated-value files (CSV) that come from Excel or any spreadsheet application. But it slurps in everything as text fields, eliminating most of the organizational usefulness that a database could offer.

The minimal layout works on databases with a few fields, but since you can't change the design, long databases get complicated as you scroll for details.

iDatabase relies on a handful of possible data fields, including a date, text entry, and multiple-choice menu. But each field brings bugs or shortcomings; for example, the date field doesn’t show a pop-up calendar, and certain decimal numbers can’t be entered at all, producing an error.

Beyond bugs, the software lacks crucial basics. You can only view records sorted by a few fields, and you can’t configure more complicated searches, such as finding all business dinner expenses from last month. Meanwhile, basic calculations require trips through repetitive pop-up settings.

The bottom line. Just because software is designed and priced for simple data entry doesn’t make it a database. iDatabase lacks crucial organizational features. “Glorified notepad” would be more accurate.­