If, like me, you’ve got a memory that makes a goldfish look like a Mastermind champion, the iPhone’s Notes application is an invaluable aide mémoire, but it’s no overstatement to say it has fewer features than a pen and pad.

Enter the not-so-modestly titled Awesome Note. This £2.39 application combines to-do list and notes duties in one smartly presented app that boasts enough features to satisfy the habitual note taker.

Chief among those features is folders: it’s possible to create custom, colour-coded folders for different projects, allowing you to keep work and personal notes separate. Folders can also be protected with a 4-digit pin, which is perfect for storing sensitive data such as the ever-changing door security numbers found in the modern office. I might actually be able to get into the PC Pro podcast studio this week, without battering the door down…

Notes can be adorned with more than just text. Seen a house for a sale down the street that you like the look of? You can take a photo with the iPhone camera and jot the address down, along with any observations about the state of the front garden. It’s also possible to clip maps of your current location to notes, which is again handy for property seekers, or for remembering where you parked the car in a strange town.

To-do list items can be set with both due dates and reminders to perform said task beforehand. Awesome Note supports push notifications, which means you’ll get an audible alarm and on-screen pop-up.

Awesome Note also includes some clever backup features. A backup file can be saved to any computer on the same Wi-Fi network, and there are also the options to synchronise files with Evernote and Google Docs – although why it doesn’t use the much more apt Google Notebook is a mystery. Indeed, the habit of saving each note as a separate document in Google Docs makes this a poor way of backing up the entire notebook.

The application’s design, while very clear and finger friendly, can also veer towards the Fisher Price, with some of the backgrounds looking like they’ve been scanned in from an art book for pre-school children. Fortunately, it’s possible to set the default background and font to something less cloying.

Overall, however, Awesome Note is a sound investment for anyone whose memory is far from elephantine. There’s a Lite version of the app for those want to try before the buy.

Want more iPhone app recommendations? Read our 73 best iPhone apps feature or choose from our earlier iPhone Apps of the Week.