iOS versus Android for deadline tracking:
- iOS: better calendar and reminder integration, cleaner notification management, excellent widgets for countdowns.
- Android: better widgets historically, easier sideloading of niche academic apps, Google Calendar native.
The apps themselves (WikiCFP, Conference Alerts, OpenReview) are web-based and platform-neutral. The phone OS barely matters.
What matters: a shared lab calendar that everyone actually checks, alerts set for abstract registration (not just paper deadlines), and a single source of truth for the lab's target venues.
Share the calendar with co-authors; a deadline only you know about is a deadline you will miss alone.
Keep the checklist visible; out of sight is out of mind during crunch week. Sources: IEEE, ACM Pick the platform you already carry. Then set three alerts per deadline: four weeks out (writing sprint starts), one week out (freeze experiments), and 48 hours out (submit early, servers crash). The OS is irrelevant; the alert discipline is everything.