Brilliant ideas only happen once in your life. You may have many of them but the likelihood is that each one will only occur to you a single time. If you don’t record it when the brainwave hits, you could miss it.

So, for all those out there sick of pulling out scraps of notepaper from their pockets without any idea what they mean, meet the app we’re hoping you installed when you first got your smartphone but forget that it’s there to use. It’s time to meet, or reacquaint yourself with, a surefire winner.

Evernote

Format

Android, iPhone, Windows and many more

Price

Free

Where

Here

Evernote is a simple enough idea. It’s a cloud-based filing system for notes. It’s a giant, searchable, back pocket with dividers. The phone, pad or desktop app - however you want to use it - allows you to take notes as pictures, written notes, audio notes or you can just upload a file. You give each one a title as you do so and you’re welcome to tag them too. Once you’re done, you hit upload and off they go into the cloud as if you’ve just attached a magical helium ballon. That’s probably how they’d show it in an advert, anyway.

While it’s a good service from a laptop, it really comes into its own on your mobile phone. You can take a photo of something you see that inspires you when you’re out on the hoof, or perhaps a Christmas gift idea or maybe just a ticket confirmation number or something that you’ll need later. It’s not hard to think of times where it comes in hand, you just have to remember that you have this service in your pocket in the first place. Best of all, of course, it’ll cost you nothing to try it out. Make sure you do.

Seen an app that you think should feature in App of the Day? Let us know.