Task Ave

The app is incredibly simple, which is a welcome change from other GTD and to-do apps which often seem to have screen upon screen of overly detailed data entry to wade through. Honestly, if my brain required that much assistance, finding a decent to-do app would be the least of my worries. On the other hand, though, you can only assign tasks based on location, and not using dates, so if you’re looking for an app that doubles as an agenda, look elsewhere.

That’s not the point of Task Ave anyway. The point of the app is to help you avoid those instances where you promise to pick up milk on your way home from work, and then show up empty-handed at home to be greeted by an expectant (and subsequently disappointed) partner. Or to remind you that while you’re out in the north end of the city (where you never usually are), you should pick up some of those special croissants that they only seem to make there and nowhere else.

Task Ave is most definitely (pardon the pun) up to the task. The app opens with a Google Map centered on your location, and you can add tasks with the tap of a button. It’ll ask you for what you want to remember, and the location (there’s a searchable index or you can add your own). You can assign multiple items to the same location, and view your list at any time. When you come within a preset distance of the locations where you have tasks pending, Task Ave will notify you via local push notification on devices running iOS 4 or higher.

Being a downtown city-dweller, I find myself wishing Task Ave could be set to be more sensitive (the smallest distance it will let you set for receiving notifications is 500m, and a lot of the places I do most of my standard errands fall within that range), but it’s the best app I’ve found for this sort of thing. There’s also Task Aware, which features a more robust to-do component, but Task Ave’s simplicity and ease-of-use is a huge selling point. I find I won’t use more complicated apps for any length of time unless the functionality it delivers is truly spectacular. Task Ave threads the needle between functionality and usability near-perfectly.

App Appeal is an ongoing series in which we feature new and exciting apps for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad that offer something above and beyond the usual. If you’d like your app to be considered, contact us on Twitter @theappleblog.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req’d):

• How to Market Your iPhone App: A Developer’s Guide
• Mobile App Developer Survey: Profiles, Platforms and Monetization
• App Developers: Are You Ready for HTML5 and Metered Data?

Slowly but surely, push notification apps are trickling into the App Store, as you can see from this handy little list by AppAdvice.com. Some of them are less than impressive, since they offer strange niche functions that I could never picture myself actually using. Beejive IM came out last week, though, which has become by far my most-used app since, and now Remember The Milk (Free with RTM Pro account, iTunes link) is available, as of today, with push features.

A to-do app with push might just be the thing I need to get me to buckle down and actually use a to-do app with some kind of consistency. Sure, RTM for the iPhone requires that you have a Pro account with their service, which is a $25-a-year subscription, but I actually already have one from when the app was first released. Yes, I signed up many months ago and haven’t exactly taken great advantage of that subscription since, but version 1.1.0 gives me reason to believe I may actually begin to get my money’s worth.

The problem, for me, with to-do apps (whether they be desktop, web-based, or iPhone apps), is that for them to actually work, you kind of have to check them consistently. Sure, most allow you to send email alerts when a task’s due date is approaching, but my email comes in with such frequency that it’s very easy for a task reminder or two to slip through the cracks as I tackle more urgent messages. Now, RTM for iPhone will send me push notifications in the form of text alerts whenever a task’s due date is approaching, at a time determined by me that I set up via the web through my account settings. Audio alerts are oddly omitted from this version, but developers say that the addition is included in the next update.

Is it worth the $25 price of admission, when there are probably one-time purchase apps with similar features on the way as we speak? That depends on your to-do tasking practices. If, like me, you like the added convenience of having your list accessible from any Internet-connected platform (and offline, too, via Google Gears), then RTM, with its attendant free iPhone app, might be what you’re looking for. You could also hold out for Appigo ToDo’s push features, which are included in an update that’s already been submitted to Apple. Either way, if you’re looking for some way to get things done more efficiently, this implementation of Apple’s push could be the most practical yet.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• How Speech Technologies Will Transform Mobile Use
• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce

My recent look at Appigo Notebook for the iPhone and iPod touch had me reevaluating my choice of task management app for the platform. Conveniently, Appigo also offers Todo ($9.99, App Store), one of the leading task management apps in the App Store. While the “integration” Appigo offers between the two apps is more of a basic export function, it still does save some typing, which is nice on a device whose primary virtue is not text entry.

Right away, I can tell that Appigo Todo has done the basic things right. When it comes to task management, I am a man of very simple needs. I want an easy way to check off items as completed, some sort of task prioritization ability, and the ability to sort tasks by group. All of these things are there, with the added benefit that you can both mark a task completed and delete it from the home view, something which is not always possible with apps in this category.

Todo also offers a quick task option, which is great when you just want to remind yourself of something without getting in to too much detail. It’s the advanced functions that make Todo stand out from the pack, though. When creating a new task, you can choose from a number of preset types, which change the appearance of the task’s icon. Choosing one of these presets opens up additional options, like choosing a contact from your address book or entering a website URL.

You can also add Tags and Contexts to your tasks, above and beyond organizing them by lists, which are also fully customizable. If you’re an obsessive task tracker, your inbox can become pretty cluttered fairly quickly, so being able to filter in three different ways from very broad to very specific really adds to your ability to organize and drill down.

Appigo Todo offers a variety of synchronization options. If you’re partial to locally stored data, you can go the desktop route, using the Appigo Sync desktop application, which allows Mac users to sync their Todo tasks with Apple’s iCal. No Windows version exists, although Appigo reports that one is currently in the works. If you’re more of a cloud kind of user, you can sync with either Toodledo.com or Remember the Milk, making this the app of choice for those who want to keep their options open.

Aside from being one of the most robust task management apps available for the iPhone, Appigo Todo is also one of the most expensive. That said, if you’re serious about getting things done, it might be just what you’re looking for. Anyone interested can also try out Todo Lite (App Store) for free before they lay down any serious cash.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• The Future of Work Platforms: An Overview
• Mobile Q4: All Eyes Were on Android, 4G and the Rising Tablet Tide
• Report: A Mobile Video Market Overview

The latest application from Cultured Code is Things, a task organizer and to-do list manager for Mac and iPhone. It centers around the ideas encompassed in Getting Things Done (GTD) and makes it easy to break down and organize tasks.

Far from being a straight forward To Do list manager, Things provides separation between tasks due now, scheduled for a future date, postponed indefinitely, or completed. Comprehensive features make searching and organizing your tasks a piece of cake.

Features and Function

Things is broken down into a number of different sections:

• Next: The Next list contains single to-dos and action steps from active projects. These are items that you plan on completing in the near future.
• Inbox: This provides a quick way to get an idea out of your head quickly and place it, unfiled, into Things.
• Today: Your list of things you want to complete Today, along with scheduled items which are due today.
• Scheduled: Used for all to-dos that you want to start at a later date. Once that date arrives, they will be automatically moved to Today.
• Someday: A place for ideas you might want to pursue in the future.
• Logbook: Every day when you open Things for the first time, all to-dos completed on the previous day are moved to the Logbook.

The Interface

The user interface for Things has been heralded by many as exquisitely ‘Mac-like’. Icons, colors, graphics and gradients all take on a sleek and professional appearance; Things has an overwhelming sense of quality.

With many applications, you find yourself struggling a little at first to understand exactly how it works. Apple is exceptional at creating apps which just ‘feel’ right, though unfortunately many other Mac developers aren’t quite as intuitive. Thankfully, Things is an app which can be mastered five minutes after opening, on account of the useful tips and comments scattered around the interface.

Things allows you to set a system-wide hotkey to open a “quick-entry” dialog, where you can enter a task, add tags, notes, and decide where to file it. Personally, I find myself much more likely to use an app on a regular basis if the interface inspires and impresses me every time I open it. Things undoubtedly falls into this category.

Things for iPhone

An accompanying application is also available for iPhone. This offers very similar functionality to the desktop version, with identical separate areas for storing tasks. Syncing is facilitated via Wi-Fi when both your iPhone and Mac are on the same network. I don’t believe this is an ideal solution — it would be more practical to sync over whichever network is available (Wi-Fi, 3G, Edge etc) in a similar fashion to Mail or NetNewsWire.

The iPhone version of Things is similarly well designed, with a range of different time saving additions. To Do items can be added to today’s schedule through tapping a ‘star’ icon next to each item, with different colors making it easy to see which items are scheduled, due today, or overdue.

Competitors

While Things has put itself forward as a powerful contender in the GTD software area, it does come up against a number of competing applications. Nick Cernis has conducted an in-depth analysis of the different competing applications.

The essential differences between each app are:

• iGTD2 – Completely free, and designed specifically for GTD. Highlights include tabbing and a menu bar item for adding tasks quickly.
• Midnight Inbox – $35 for a single user license, with features including automation of collecting tasks and a method to check you’re not drifting off track when working.
• OmniFocus – $80 for a single user license. It allows you to easily ‘plan now, focus later’, with a satisfying “clean up” brush — almost as gratifying as crossing a To Do out on a paper pad.

The Road to Release

Things 1.0 is scheduled to be released in just over a week at the 2009 Macworld Expo. The application is available as a free download at present, and will cost $49 when released in January. A $10 discount is available if you subscribe to their email newsletter before the official launch. The team sounds as though they’ll be busy in the run up to Macworld:

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be hard at work finishing up the final features for the 1.0 release. We’ll also be working on some really cool accompanying details, including screencasts and a really cool print ad.

For those of you making the journey to the Moscone Center in San Francisco come January, Cultured Code will be located in the Mac Developer Pavilion (booth #1438).

Conclusion

Things provides a great tool for managing your daily tasks and to dos. It’s simple to quickly put an idea or thought into the application, and the interface provides all the functionality you require without getting in the way.

I’m excited to see the features that will be added in the final version and will certainly be purchasing the application when released. If you’re looking for a tool to accompany an organized lifestyle, Things seems to be a great option.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Mobile Q4: All Eyes Were on Android, 4G and the Rising Tablet Tide
• Report: A Mobile Video Market Overview
• In Q3, the Tablet and 4G Were the Big Stories

Goals have tasks associated with them, though I found that I never needed this amount of granularity for a goal. Perhaps it is just my style of work but I found myself writing tasks to complete as my goals, and even if they required multiple action items I didn’t need need to store them.

I’ll cut right to the chase, this isn’t a must have application. It does its job well and there isn’t a lot to the application, which in some ways is a strong point. It’s the first version, so I am taking that into consideration for the review.

The LifeShaker interface doesn’t have the Mac experience at all. The uniqueness of the interface is actually a bit of a throw back right away because it feels more like a Java application than a Cocoa/Mac application. Using a full 1/3 column just for categories seems a bit too much when this space would’ve been better suited for the long list of goals a user would enter. Which is the next point, that the goals list was a bit unintuitive for assigning a category to a goal. There is no interface function for it, and just out of pure curiosity I right-clicked on the category column to set it.

Doing this however, exposed a bug that caused the interface to look like this:

This made me have to completely close the application in order to get it to look correct once again.

I gave the application a good solid two week run, and found it had a few issues. On occasion it would freeze when the Macbook Pro was waking up from sleep. I questioned that it might be a problem with Mac OS X, but this occurred on 10.4 and 10.5.

LifeShaker has some polish and work to do. Without integration into iCal or Mail, the idea of manually entering my tasks and goal information into yet another GTD application is no fun at all. It is another goal on top of a pile of many uncompleted goals. Coupled with the interface bugs and the departure from the Mac interface experience, I have to say it is easy to pass on this application for what is now included with 10.5′s Mail and iCal applications. LifeShaker is $29 and has a free 14 day trial.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks