Entering tasks demands entering just two quick lines of information.

How many times have you pulled into your driveway and realized you meant to stop for milk or pop by the dry cleaners? You could've saved yourself all those special trips if you had Task Ave chirp reminders whenever you cruise by particular places.

Adding errands couldn't be much easier. Type in what you need to do and where you need to do it, and Task Ave adds a pin to its integrated Google map. The lack of access to your library of contacts seems odd, but you'll build a stored list of previously flagged locations over time. Once you've told it your chores, Task Ave earns its keep in short order by faithfully reminding you to get the oil changed, drop off that rented DVD, or swing by your sick kid's school for his homework.

Forget what one of your Google Map pushpins is for? Just tap it for a reminder.

Mind you, there are many features missing from Task Ave that you could find in other apps. For instance, you can't assign dates or times to any jobs, define task orders or dependencies, or import information from anywhere. Of course, those same features too often turn other apps into cluttered patience-testers that soak up more time than they save. Task Ave's focused simplicity makes it an efficient companion that pipes up when appropriate and then gets the heck out of your way.

Completed tasks can be set to disappear immediately, or stick around for an interval.

Naturally, leaning on GPS nonstop will wring out your battery with a quickness, but Task Ave's battery-saving setting can calculate position based on nearby cell towers with all the accuracy you're likely to need. Sidewalk-bound urbanites will clamor for a proximity setting of less than 500 meters, while those out in the boonies will wish for a net wider than the maximum of 13 kilometers, but most users should find the selections between those extremes sufficient.

You can't define time ranges for tasks, so sometimes you'll get reminders that the hour renders moot.

Unfortunately, we did find that changing the measure of distance from kilometers to miles broke proximity detection altogether on our Verizon iPhone. Leaving the metric system in play had no impact at all on Task Ave's day-to-day usefulness, but it's certainly an issue we'd like to see addressed in an update.

The bottom line. Despite a couple of minor open issues, Task Ave boasts an ease of use that makes it ideal for staying on top of transient location-based responsibilities.