It looks like we may see another good option for task management on the iPad in a couple months, as Franklin Covey, of the famed Franklin Covey planning system, may be releasing an iPad app in September.
Reader Chris was kind enough to leave us a comment on a post of ours on iPad use cases, and even provided the screenshot shown above. Here’s his comment:
I am a certified Franklin Covey facilitator in many of the great courses Covey offers and too love the paper planning system. One requirement of any certified facilitator to maintain certification is to attend a yearly Facilitator Enhancement Day (FED). I attended a FED in May 2011 and they introduced us to a new productivity solution that they plan on launching in September 2011. In the participant manual we received there is a screenshot of an iPad app showing a new productivity solution.
This is very good news for the many fans of the Franklin Covey system. I’ve recently switched to OmniFocus for task management on the iPad and I’m very happy with it, but I always like seeing more good choices for this type of productivity app.
Cloud sync is by far and away the biggest missing feature in the otherwise excellent Things task manager app for iPad, iOS and Mac. It has been for a long time now, while other rival apps have offered it well ahead of Things.
Last month there was some relatively good news for those of us long awaiting this feature; as Cultured Code (developers of Things) started a Things Cloud Sync Beta in early May. The not so great news at the time was that only Macs (no iOS devices) would be involved in the initial beta period, there was no timeframe at all for the beta period or ETA for when the feature would be released, and no indication as to whether the cloud sync feature would be free or paid for.
I’ve been curious about how the beta testing is going and hoping by now there might be some word on ETA for the new feature release – so today I had a quick check of the Things Blog and Cultured Code’s Twitter account. Their most recent tweet was a reply pointing a user at an FAQ page for the latest info on Cloud Sync.
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Cultured Code has kicked off their beta testing program for cloud sync for their Things task management app. They’ve started the beta testing on schedule with a small group of testers that will be expanded as the testing moves forward.
That’s the good news, that beta testing has begun. Here’s the not-so-good news:
– The current round of beta testing includes only Macs, no iOS devices at all.
– There’s no timeframe announced for how long testing will take.
– There’s no decision yet as to whether the cloud sync service may be charged for or not.
I love Things as a task management app, and it’s been one of my most used apps on the Mac and on iOS for ages – but its current WiFi sync is getting worse all the time, and Cultured Code have taken so long to address this cloud sync issue, and there’s still no end line in sight and no clear answer on whether it will be charged for. It’s becoming harder and harder to stay with Things. I now find myself looking closely at every tasks app that gets an update and adds features.
2Do:Tasks Done in Style – the popular and award-winning task management app for iPad and iOS – was updated yesterday, to Version 2.4.63.
The update includes a couple of iPad enhancements, a couple of new universal features, and a number of bug fixes. Here’s the details on what’s new:
★ On iPad tapping on a project/checklist in landscape now shows parent task details
★ On iPad side panel ‘stats HUD’ is now context sensitive. It will show stats for currently selected calendar only.
★ Changing priority of tasks from main list view now refreshes list immediately to reflect new placement
★ Optionally switch back to ‘classic toodledo priority mapping’ when syncing with Toodledo
And here’s an App Store link for 2Do; it’s priced at $6.99 and is a universal app designed to run on both iPad and iPhone.
Bitch and you shall receive, that’s how the saying goes right? Just yesterday I bitched again about the lack of OTA sync in the (otherwise excellent) Things task manager app, and last night the folks at Cultured Code (developers of Things) announced on their blog that OTA sync will begin testing in May.
Here are some of the major points outlined in their blog post:
– Things on iOS and Mac will need to be updated to enable communication with the cloud server.
This software upgrade will come at no charge, and will also sport a revamped database layer that is not only faster, but specifically optimized for cloud sync usage.
– Things sync will not be automatic it sounds like, but it will sync ‘frequently’ enough that ‘there should hardly be any reason’ for doing any manual syncs.
Whenever you open Things, switch applications, or wake your computer from sleep, Things will check back with the server to see if there are any updates to pull.
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