Category: iOS (page 26 of 35)

May 13, 2011

GTD With 2Do and Toodledo [Reader Workflow]

GTD With 2Do and Toodledo [Reader Workflow] | 40Tech

Continuing with our Reader Workflow showcase, we’re proud to present Nina Kefer’s second post in her GTD experiments series, Beauty and Brains: Getting Things Done™ In Style. In her last article, she showed us a particularly awesome GTD setup with Awesome Note and Evernote; focused on the iPhone, overall. This time around, she delves into a mobile frontend for Toodledo. Read on for Nina’s GTD workflow with the iPhone app, 2Do.

For an additional take on Toodledo and GTD, also check out our post on Getting Things Done with Toodledo using pseudo-GTD methodologies.

Beauty & Brains: Getting Things Done™ In Style, Part 2 – 2Do

In my last article I described my GTD system for Awesome Note synced with Evernote. If you prefer a tighter sync between front and back end, however, you’ll want to give 2Do a try. 2Do is an award winning productivity app that syncs with the task management website Toodledo as well as iCal and Outlook (via a sync helper). I use a PC, so iCal is not an option and I don’t use Outlook because it doesn’t doesn’t play well with Gmail, so unfortunately I had to make do without a desktop client.

The sync with Toodledo is pretty tight, albeit with some peculiarities. 2Do’s interface is designed to look like a colourful Filofax and comes with several pre-installed “calendars” or tabs, which are basically to-dos, projects and check lists that are pulled together in the “Today” and “All” tabs. 2Do’s tabs appear in Toodledo as folders and, as with Awesome Note, they can be easily renamed or replaced to suit GTD. They can also be moved up or down and assigned custom colours – I basically think of them as dividers in a lever arch file or personal organiser.

While Toodledo supports contexts, 2Do doesn’t out of the box, but this can easily be set up by creating tags for each context and then searching for each tag using the excellent built-in search function. These searches can be saved as tabs which will then sync to Toodledo as folders. Just like “normal” tabs, they can be moved up or down to whichever position fits best with your GTD setup. Note that tags cannot be created from scratch; you first need to create a task, then you can create the tags to tag it with.

The Setup

For my to-do system I use a similar setup as in Awesome Note. Since 2Do doesn’t have a dedicated inbox, I first created a new tab called Inbox. I then created a Next Action tab as well as saved searches for all my context tags. That way I can collect all next actions in one tab, but filter them by context using the saved searches. Since these are the folders I check most often I moved them to the top of the list, so they are immediately visible on my screen when I open the app. Alternatively, you can create a dedicated “normal” tab for each context. Finally, I created Project, Someday and Reference tabs and moved all tabs in an order that suited me best. I then manually arranged the corresponding folders in Toodledo in the same order:

Inbox
@PC
@Contact
@Errands
@Home
@Waiting (these appear as tags in Toodledo)
Next Action
Projects
Someday
Reference

Setup GTD in 2Do for iPhone | 40Tech

Using 2Do

2Do offers an almost bewildering array of features, but they are elegantly tucked away in hidden menus, so the interface never looks cluttered. When creating your tasks you have the choice between three different types – to-do, checklist and project – that can be assigned six different actions: call, SMS, email, browse, visit and Google. Call, SMS, email and visit actions can be linked to the contacts in the iPhone’s address book and a tap on a task containing such an action will bring up the contact’s phone number or email address or show the postal address in Google maps. You can then call, text or email them directly from within the app.

A long tap on a task brings up a menu that shows what you can do with that particular task: mark as done, defer to another day, copy, share (via email, SMS or Twitter), delete, add note, take or attach a photo, record and attach an audio file or assign a due date and alarm. There is a choice between email alerts and local alerts, i.e. a notification on the phone lock screen that works even if data roaming is disabled or the phone is in airplane mode. For local alerts, you can choose between receiving a push message only or a message plus sound, with a choice of different alarm sounds. A red badge on the app icon shows how many to-dos are due or overdue and within the app overdue tasks appear in red font instead of black.

2Do uses two types of tags – word tags and people tags, the latter linked to contacts in the iPhone’s phone book – which make tasks easily traceable via the search function. You can also search by key word and date range, and searches you do frequently can again be saved as new calendar tabs, so in the future you only have to tap on the tab to bring up a search result.

Tasks can be sorted by status, priority (none, low, medium, high, star), due date, note, URL, alphabetical or manually. As in Awesome Note, you can sort each folder in a different way. The Today tab shows all tasks due today and additionally there is a focus button that can filter out to-dos that don’t fulfil certain requirements, e.g. due date or level of priority. Individual tasks can be moved from one tab to another with a few quick taps. Switching to landscape view in any tab brings up a calendar showing all tasks that are due in the current month. Finally, there is a nearby tab that alerts you when you approach a location connected with your task, but I don’t use it since it uses GPS and therefore guzzles battery.

Tasks, Subtasks, and Sync with Toodledo

I Get Things Done in 2Do in pretty much the same way as in Awesome Note: my Inbox and Next Action (and context) tabs are reviewed daily and Project tab weekly. As with Evernote, you send emails to Toodledo to create a task; you can specify folder, priority, due date and time, tag, repeat, and attach the body of the email as a note.

2Do supports subtasks, so there is no need for workaround like there is in Awesome Note. Each subtask can be given its own tag, due date, alarm, action and attachment and can be moved out of the project and into the appropriate Next Action folder, right from within the main task menu (parent and subtask can’t be in different folders). Alternatively, if you have created contexts tabs from saved searches, adding the appropriate context tag (@PC, @Contact, @Errands and so on) will make the subtask appear in that tab, with the project and folder name still visible. Finally, if you assign a due date, the task will eventually pop up in the Today tab. However, be aware that subtasks are a premium feature in Toodledo and in order for them to sync between 2Do and Toodledo together with their parent task you need a (paid) Pro account. In free accounts, subtasks sync separately from the parent task.

Tags, due dates and notes sync to Toodledo, but photos, location maps and audio files remain locally in 2Do as Toodledo only supports notes. However, this has the advantage that these files are available for offline use on the iPhone.

There is a reason why 2Do was voted Best iPhone Productivity app: in combination with Toodledo it offers pretty much everything one could wish for, except the option to sync your tasks with the iPhone calendar. It is quick and easy enough that you barely have to use the web, yet the sync with Toodledo is tight enough to be able to use both apps more or less interchangeably. Don’t be put off by Toodledo’s less than slick appearance either. It is a powerful and highly customisable task manager and there are a number of Stylish and Greasemonkey themes to pretty it up.

What are your thoughts on GTD in 2Do and Toodledo?

Nina lives in the UK and works in Financial Services. A frequent international traveller, she has extensive experience of managing life on the go. A trip to Japan opened her eyes to the possibilities of mobile phone technology and she has been attempting to achieve a similar level of connectivity ever since. This is her first technology article.

Up Next: Part 3 – Springpad

May 5, 2011

App of the Week: Feedly [iOS, Android, Web]

We’ve covered Feedly before (and we thought it was great!) but the RSS feed reader to smack all others is now much-improved. The web app has seen several updates in functionality and sharing features, and the recently released and updated mobile apps have been generating a lot of positive attention. And why not? The experience is nearly identical on both iOS and Android phones and tablets, and Feedly Mobile 2.0 easily competes with the likes of Pulse, Flipboard, and Zite. With an update or two, it might even blow those apps away completely.

Feedly’s minimalist magazine design focuses on the content, presenting it in an easy to read format that is complemented by the app’s simplistic navigation. The mobile apps are especially barebones, keeping the effects to a minimum, and the overall presentation is extremely appealing. The toolbar on the bottom of the screen allows you to like (on Google Reader), bookmark, email, and share articles on Twitter. You can also enable saving to Instapaper and Read It Later. The web app has several more options for sharing content, but the basics are available in Feedly Mobile 2.0, with the exception of one service: Facebook. That seemed like a bit of an oversight to me (and that’s me understating the obvious), but the developers assure us that Facebook functionality will be available in version 3.

One of the best things about Feedly is its learning algorithm. While you read, the app learns about the topics that interest you most, and does a great job configuring your personal magazine around those interests, bringing your favourite types of content to the forefront. You can always go through your sources one at a time, if you like, but taking advantage of Feedly’s different sections — each one tailored just for you — really helps to keep your reading moving and you engaged. Feedly also offers suggestions, periodically, of other sites that may suit your interests, which is helpful.

If you don’t feel like connecting with Google Reader, Feedly does have a host of content already available for you to sort through, but it works best when you are logged in.

Feedly Mobile 2.0 is every bit as fantastic as the web app. It’s incredibly responsive, and is beautiful to look at on all platforms, including iPhones and Android phones, the iPad, and Android tablets of different sizes (both 7″ and 10″). There are a few niceties packed into the HTML5 goodness, as well, such as an instant search bar, a black or white theme (which helps with night reading and can be changed with a shake), a history section, and the ability to start on the magazine layout or category of your choice. There are still a few kinks that need to be ironed out of the mobile apps, however, such as the lack of Facebook sharing, and that the app only works in portrait mode. Hopefully these issues will be resolved in an update or two. I’d also like to see some of the additional sharing options in the web app find their way to mobile as well, especially sharing on LinkedIn and Evernote.

Feedly is free, and it kicks butt. Get it.

Now you know I love it — what about you?

April 27, 2011

GTD On the Go With Awesome Note and Evernote [Reader Workflow]

Mobile GTD With Awesome Note and Evernote | 40Tech

40Tech has a serious interest in productivity technology, especially as related to GTD (Getting Things Done). We love talking about workflows with our readers, sharing our own techniques as well as learning how you use technology to keep your life on track. As we’ve come to expect, grown-up geeks are fonts of information, and you’ve inspired us to invite you to post your genius here on 40Tech. The first to step up was Chase Mann with his combination of OneNote, Evernote, and Outlook for GTD, and now we are pleased to bring you the first of three posts by Nina Kefer. Nina is often mobile, and has put together three systems that she has tested extensively, using some of the prettier iPhone and web apps out there as her GTD hub.

First up: GTD in Awesome Note with a side of Evernote!

Beauty and Brains: Getting Things Done™ In Style

I have always been a firm believer in the principle of “Form Follows Function”. However, I do not believe that “Ornament is Crime”, as is often extrapolated by proponents of FFF. As long as eye candy isn’t at the expense of functionality I can’t see anything wrong with it. On the contrary, it actually helps me to Get Things Done because a pretty user interface makes me want to look at my to-dos and makes taking care of them fun. If my to-dos look bland or, God forbid, ugly, I avoid looking at them until I forget that they even exist. Thus began my quest to find a to-do system that is as beautiful as it is powerful. As a frequent international traveller, I often rely on my smartphone to keep my life organised, so I needed a system that was built around an iPhone app that stays in sync with the web and/or desktop of my netbook.

Part 1: Awesome Note

The first app I explored was Awesome Note, a note-taking-cum-to-do app that syncs with Evernote and Google docs. Notes created with Awesome Note are designed to look like real life paper notes that are kept in colourful manila folders. By default, the app randomly assigns one of fifteen available background patterns and a default font to each new note, but backgrounds and fonts are customisable, as are the colour, icon and default theme of each folder. You are limited to five folders per screen, but you can create as many folders as you like, arrange them in whatever order suits you best and then simply swipe through them from screen to screen. It’s a pity that GTD doesn’t offer more opportunities to sample the neat animation, like “turning pages” while browsing from note to note within a folder.

Being an Evernote front-end, Awesome Note’s functions, are very flexible. Every note can be transformed into a to-do, a check list, a calendar item, a page in a diary or photo album, or a birthday or anniversary reminder, simply by changing the view or type of note or by assigning a due date. You can also tag your notes and to-dos and use the built-in search function to look up tags or keywords. To help you keep on top of all the notes inside your folders, there’s a little notebook at the top of each screen that shows how many notes there are in total, how many to-dos are due today and if there are any unassigned notes waiting to be processed. Next to it, there’s a quick memo pad where you can jot down ideas, via keyboard or handwriting input, or draw a sketch. Lastly, you can share your notes and to-dos via SMS or email, send them to a compatible printer or lock your folders with a passcode. This may sound a bit overwhelming, but everything can be done with just a few quick taps.

Awesome Note by Bridworks - Brilliant Idea

GTD Setup in Awesome Note

Awesome Note comes with pre-installed folders, but they can easily be renamed or replaced and new ones can be created as necessary. For my GTD setup I created ten folders, five for each screen. Since the sync of tags between Awesome Note and Evernote is limited (more on that in a moment), I combined Next Action and Context to create five Action folders that I review daily. I placed those on the first screen, so I can see them as soon as I open the app:

1.1 @Computer
1.2 @Contact
1.3 @Errands
1.4 @Home
1.5 @Waiting

On the second screen I placed the folders I review weekly or less often:

2.1 Projects
2.2 Someday
2.3 Goals
2.4 Reference
2.5 Wishlist

GTD in Awesome Note with Evernote | 40Tech

Working With Evernote

As my back-end I chose Evernote because it has both web and desktop versions and is generally more versatile than Google docs. Sync between the apps is speedy, but due to their different functionalities not really tight enough to use phone, web and desktop interchangeably. For example, Awesome Note’s folders appear in Evernote as notebooks that are easily identifiable by the prefix [aNote], but while Awesome Note allows you to arrange the folders in whatever order you want, Evernote automatically puts the notebooks in alphabetical order.

You can attach up to nine pictures to a note, but they will only sync from Awesome Note to Evernote, not vice versa, and due dates, status, font and background formatting don’t sync at all.

Finally, although both apps use tags, tags added in Evernote don’t sync to Awesome Note and tags added in Awesome Note are merely included as a footnote in Evernote. Fortunately, the powerful Evernote search finds them there, so there’s no need to double-tag. Since I do most of my GTD in Awesome Note and use Evernote web and desktop only for convenient text entry and backup, none of the above was a deal breaker for me. I just numbered my folders so they would appear in the same order on all three platforms and didn’t worry too much about the order of the notes inside.

The “No Category” Inbox

The “No Category” folder at the top of the screen is my inbox where I collect emails, tasks and ideas that come to me during the day, things that I need to buy or adverts I see on my way to work and want to follow up later. This is easy since notes that aren’t assigned to a specific folder automatically get dumped in there, no matter what screen you are in when the note is created.

Emails and URLs can be copied/pasted into the body of a note, photos can be attached from the camera roll or taken from within the app, and Google maps can be added. Alternatively, you can forward emails to Evernote and then sync with Awesome Note. Making a note read-only makes URLs, email addresses and phone numbers clickable, but unfortunately there is no option to link notes to contacts in the iPhone’s address book, so they have to be copied over manually. Quick memos that are saved as notes also end up in “No Category” (whatever you scribble down on the memo pad stays there until you either save or clear it). These are great for basic drawing. For example, you can ask someone how to get from A to B and then take the sketch with you or email it to a friend.

I review my inbox daily and process its contents according to David Allen’s GTD methodology:

If a task takes less than 2 minutes, I do it right away
If it takes longer or I can’t do it where I am I move it to the appropriate Next Action folder
If it takes more than two steps to complete I move it to Projects and create a to-do for the Next Action in the appropriate folder

Time sensitive to-dos can be assigned alarms. Awesome Notes uses local alarms, so you will be reminded even if data roaming is disabled or the phone is in airplane mode. If a task should be delegated to someone else it goes into @Waiting with a review date to remind me to check up on and, if necessary, chase the person I have delegated the task to. Lastly, things I may want to do at some point in the future are parked in Someday and anything that doesn’t require action is either archived in Reference or deleted. If a note is moved into one of the Next Action folders it is converted to a to-do and, if possible, assigned a due date. Additionally, while Awesome Note doesn’t sync with any third party calendar, every folder, including “All”, has a calendar view that displays the to-dos within that folder, marked with the folder’s colour.

Next Actions

Next Actions that have been assigned a due date pop up automatically as they become due. A red badge on the app icon shows how many to-dos are due or overdue; within the app this is shown next to the red tick box at the top of the screen. Additionally, I check the Next Action folders whenever I have a spare moment. For example, when I sit down at my PC I check if there’s anything else I could do while I’m at it.

In order to make my tags more prominent in Evernote, I start the title of a to-do that I want to be searchable with the appropriate place, person or project name. This has the added benefit of being able to search tasks alphabetically in Awesome Note. Usually I sort by due date, but if I’m going to contact person ABC I can alpha-sort the to-dos in my @Contact folder to make sure I cover everything “tagged” ABC. One tag per to-do is usually enough for me – a place tag for to-dos in @Errands, a person tag for @Contact, a project tag for @Computer and so on – and it only takes two taps to sort. Awesome Note does have a search function for both tags and keywords, but no saved searches, so this doubles as a quick-and-dirty search.

The project folder is reviewed weekly, or more often if I have extra time. Awesome Note doesn’t support sub-tasks or checklists, so I list the sub-tasks of each project in the body of the parent note, e.g. Project XYZ, and then cut/paste them into individual to-dos as I work through that project. I do the same for checklists or shopping lists. Alternatively, if you want to be able to check off each item individually, you can make a dedicated folder and create a to-do for each item.

Awesome Note may have been created primarily as a note taking app, but its to-do capabilities are powerful and lend themselves well to GTD. The limited sync with Evernote forces me to keep my setup simple and fuss-free and the cheerful design makes Getting Things Done fun. I just wish that tags would sync properly with Evernote, as they do with Egretlist, and that tasks would sync with the iPhone calendar.

Let me know what you think of Awesome Note’s GTD capabilities in the comments!

Nina’s next iPhone GTD setup: GTD with 2Do and Toodledo.

April 26, 2011

App of the Week: Photo Stack [iOS]

photo stack main

Our app of the week is Photo Stack, an app available for the iPhone and iPad that lets you make a collage of photo snapshots, right on your iOS device. I downloaded the app onto my iPad a few days ago, and within half an hour, I had a nice collage of family photos that elicited “oohs” and “ahhs” when I saw my family this weekend. Read more

April 21, 2011

App of the Week: Hitpad [iPad]

40Tech App of the Week | Hitpad for iPad

Our new App of the Week series covers apps that we find intriguing or exceptional, be they for iOS, Android, WM7, Blackberry, or the web. We’d also love some suggestions from you!

If you like at-a-glance trending topics and daily news info, and you like it from multiple sources and in myriad forms, you will really enjoy Hitpad. Hitpad for the iPad is a slick way to get all the latest from multiple search engines, Twitter, and more; and without feeling like you’ve been hit between the eyes with a mallet. A lot of thought went into the user interface, and the resulting app is definitely one of the more beautiful ways iPad users can consume information.

Hitpad also allows you to search for a single topic, delivering results from all across the web, which is handy if you are doing some quick research. For example, I did a search for Springpad vs Evernote, and as you can see in the images below, I received news, video, and image results from Google, and recent tweets from Twitter (yes, the most recent result happened to be me tweeting out a post by one of our readers, Daniel Gold, from his own blog). There is also a column for web page results, which comes from Bing. I found that odd, considering that most everything else was from Google — but it was nice to see that our own post on Springpad and Evernote was in the top spot with Microsoft, too.

Hitpad feels like it might need a bit more in the feature department, especially if you are used to getting your information from an RSS reader. It does do what it is supposed to do, though, and it does it with flair and style, even if the thumbnails it clips of web pages sometimes load a bit slowly. Still, Hitpad would benefit from the addition of things like saved searches, the ability to choose news or search engine sources, and being able to choose multiple topics to search on. If you have an iPad, try it out! It’s free, and you can get it here.

Let us know what you think of Hitpad in the comments!