Agent, the new life companion app from the TagStand team, is now available for purchase in the Play Store. At only $1.99, it’s worth the investment, considering the ease of use and seamless functionality. While you can certainly cobble together apps that will come close to the utility of Agent, nothing ties it together so beautifully or with such purpose.
Agent is comprised of a myriad of settings and features, designed to act as a concierge of sorts. The goal is to make the technology disappear when you need it to, and come to life when you least expect it. Currently, you can choose from five “agents” — Battery, Sleep, Parking, Meeting, and Drive — and all have proprietary functions with the aim of assisting you in your day-to-day activities. Agent will let you sleep, silence your device for meetings, and even remember where you parked. Best of all, you can customize the settings to fit your lifestyle or habits.
In diving through the app, we found plenty of tweaks and modifications to make life simpler for anyone, at any time of day. From setting the device to conserve battery at a given power level, to having it respond automatically via text to anyone who calls during the night, Agent is impressive.
A really interesting feature is Agent’s ability to silence your device when you’re in a meeting. It automatically checks your calendar, and notices when you’re occupied. No more embarrassing buzzes or awkward ringtones going off during a terse negotiation, or dinner date with the family.
Perhaps the most useful feature is the parking agent, which uses GPS to determine when you’ve been travelling and stopped. When you park, Agent will earmark your GPS location and save it for you, and is available via a Google Map inside the app. You’re free to wander around aimlessly through the city, and Agent will always know where you parked.
Of course, the drive agent is also going to come in handy for many of us. Like the Moto X’s read aloud feature, drive will read your messages to you while your hands are firmly planted on the wheel. You can auto answer calls, and select just who you want Agent to connect you to automatically. Agent will also respond to text messages automatically, letting needy friends and family know you’re a bit preoccupied at the moment.
For those of us who are a bit too busy to remember setting our device up at various points in our day, Agent is a great choice. Having Agent on your devices is like having an assistant who monitors your devices while you are getting things done, leaving you to think about real-life issues rather than if your phone or tablet is on silent. That alone is worth the price.
