Spring is finally on the way and we know this because Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent is February 17. If you’re a mobile Christian observing Lent this year, check out 40 Days – Lent Observance Tracker for iPhone and iPod Touch. 40 Days tracks your commitment to sacrifice, provides a calendar overview of the season, and gives good suggestions for atoning for your shortcomings by donating to selected charities or adding your own. Plus, it greets you with an inspirational quote or verse each time you launch the app.
40 Days – Lent Observance Tracker features both a daily and calendar view of the season of Lent. Prior to beginning, the app provides a list of suggested observances or allows you to choose your own. Choose to give up caffeine, alcohol, television, Twitter, or add your own specific sacrifices. Choose a value for each time you give in to temptation and 40 Days keeps a running total. You can choose a charity to donate this running total to after Easter and you can review your overall progress.
Though 40 Days – Lent Observance Tracker currently only works through Easter of this year, the developer promises a forthcoming update that will include support for next year and beyond. The interface is fairly straightforward and with the options to customize it, tracking your Lent observances is pretty simple. The one shortcoming is the inability to add events to the calendar, such as church and mass. In short, 40 Days was designed only to track your observances, such as prayer, fasting, and what you choose to give up in celebration of the season.
As far as the inspirational quotes, this is a nice touch. Each quote or verse is displayed with equally inspiring and seasonally appropriate, though not really reverent, pictures ranging from colorful eggs, baby chicks, and fluffy bunnies. You might get a quote from Mother Teresa or Walt Whitman or you might get a verse from the Bible, but either way, you are always greeted with a message of hope and love.
Those looking for a way to quickly and easily touch base with their progress while observing Lent will likely find 40 Days – Lent Observance Tracker to be a useful tool to help them succeed in their goals. Being simple to navigate and pleasant to look at, it’s a nice way for busy Christians to reflect and usher in the Easter holiday.
