Just like its Mac sibling, TaskPaper for the iPhone is simple: it spares the bells and whistles — like start dates, due dates, groups, and priorities — prevalent in many of today’s leading task management apps. However, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as many of us are not aspiring to be GTD ninjas. Its task lists are also stored in simple text (*.txt) files, so you don’t have to worry about your lists and notes residing in some proprietary format you can’t access and reuse later if you decide to ditch TaskPaper on your road to iPhone productivity nirvana.

If you fall into the camp where application simplicity is key and list management trumps the higher-end features you’ll be happy to learn that you can create, manage, tag, and delete projects, tasks, and notes in TaskPaper — everything you might need for project tracking –  through taps and swipes on your iPhone’s screen. These basics are documented in a “Getting Started” task list that comes with the application (I recommend that you don’t delete that list). The screenshot below shows the setup of a typical TaskPaper document.

The only disappointment in my TaskPaper for the iPhone experience was the SimpleText.ws syncing between my desktop and iPhone apps. I saw frequent errors and the syncing function was not as crisp as other iPhone task apps like OmniFocus.

Even despite the syncing issues during my testing, I recommend checking out TaskPaper for the iPhone if you are looking for a simple, easy-to-use to-do list/task management app that focuses on your business at hand and not the latest productivity or organizational craze.

Have you tried TaskPaper for the iPhone?

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Sadly, Gmail’s recently introduced Tasks feature doesn’t offer offline or mobile sync, my iPhone’s default Notes app has no desktop or web equivalent and Apple Mail‘s To Do capability send my Gmail account’s IMAP sync into a tailspin.

I’ve experimented with OmniFocus (a little complex for my taste) and  Things – supremely elegant, but quite expensive with iPhone and desktop editions priced separately. Now, my business partner swears by Hog Bay Software’s TaskPaper – a product we covered earlier this year, and has just rolled out a 2.0 update of its software.

As Mike alluded to in his May review of TaskPaper – ‘sometimes simple is best’. TaskPaper makes no allusions to competing with its GTD-infused brethren, such as OmniFocus or Things, but reinforces the notion that a plain text document, marked up coherently can be very powerful indeed.

TaskPaper 2.0 adds a search engine, quick entry window, keyboard shortcuts, themes, a projects sidebar, AppleScript support and some UI tweaks. Despite all these additions, the product still feels elegantly simple, powerful and lightweight, retaining its orientation around a text document. Indeed, despite the lack of web or phone editions, the plain text core is actually the foundation for a powerful ecosystem of third-party solutions, one of which – Taskphone – is looking to bring Taskpaper support to the iPhone.

Personally, I’m not fully won over by any solution yet – holding out for a good Google+Apple linkup – like the interoperability of Gmail+Apple Mail or Google Calendar + iCal. However, right now its a toss up between the versatile, but plain girlfriend (TaskPaper) or the glamourous and expensive mistress (Things).

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