Purchases review [iPhone]

We're big fans of shopping lists, which is probably why it's always such an aggravation that we repeatedly forget to make one before going shopping. The result is that we find ourselves wandering blankly around the supermarket, mumbling like a mad old person wearing slippers outdoors, trying in vain to remember what it is that we desperately need; further aggravated by the surety that we'll instantly remember the nanosecond we walk back into the house.

Naturally the iPhone is our promised saviour, so we're always keen to test out shopping list apps in the hope that it'll make our detestable trips to Tescos a fraction more bearable. Or if not bearable, at least productive.

And Purchases seems to share this distressing mental block about grocery shopping, as it's built around the notion of databasing your consumer existence so you can compile lists quickly and effectively before dashing out of the door and into the fluorescent, half-price hell of a modern supermarket.

Rather than typing out each individual entry on your shopping list, Purchases encourages you to enter products as sub-category headings. Alongside entering its name, you also enter the unit in which this particular item is measured. For example, you create an entry for "Milk," and tell the app that it's measured out in pints by selecting the measurement unit from a list. If you prefer, you can add it in as litres, giving the lists a personal feel that helps with structuring shopping in your own way.

After your list has been populated with products, you can add them in time after time without the need to keep typing out "ketchup" or "pasta" every time you go to the shops. Tapping the increase and decrease buttons adds today's required value for that particular item, such as two pints of milk, or a kilogram of pasta.

Chances are you've got something of a regular list, too, that you pick up week by week. Purchases allows you to create and save individual lists, which can be very useful if you want separate supermarket lists, or a specific list of things you want from Wilkos, or the Chinese supermarket. There's no reason it can't take on more of a business lilt, too, if you find yourself regularly shopping for stationary supplies, or gear from a trade wholesalers.

The choices of available units are a small sticking point, with options such as "decilitres" and "hectograms," but no "bag" or "bottle." Fortunately you can add custom labels, so all is not lost, but it's one more job to do before you even get around to compiling your list. The developer couldn't account for every possibility, but it seems to be an odd choice of units by default.

But perhaps that's fitting. After all, it's always a peculiar experience pondering what kind of a life the person in front of you must have that warrants them buying two bottles of sherry, a t-shirt and twelve cans of Vim. Hopefully, after putting Purchases to good use, the person behind you at the till won't raise their eyebrow quite as hard when you start emptying out your trolley.