Forum Posts Feed
Using text to manage tasks
< Next Topic | Back to topic list | Previous Topic >
Posted by MadaboutDana
Oct 15, 2012 at 02:22 PM
In response to a query by Dr. Andus:
Well, I did play with text-based methods of task management (including e.g. TaskPaper for iPad), but didn’t find anything that really pressed my buttons. But what most people don’t realise is that task management is built into Alfons Schmid’s Notebooks - it has a fairly sophisticated task management facility that is substantially duplicated (albeit with much less sophistication) by the desktop client. You can exchange info between the iOS device and your PC by the simple expedient of Dropbox (or any WebDAV server). Notebooks also supports (and allows you to view) all kinds of attachments, from MS Office files to images to videos. It also supports plain text, Markdown and HTML - making it very versatile if you’re in a hurry or only have access to your Dropbox account via e.g. a web browser.
I also use Awesome Note on my iPad, mainly as a journal and appointment (events) minder - that’s because it integrates with (a) Calendar (which I can sync to my Android mobile very easily using various Android utilities that interface with iCloud), (b) Evernote, which is convenient, although I rarely use Evernote, and (c) GoogleDocs. The latest version has some nice enhancements, including checkboxes (if you like that kind of thing), extensive support for attachments, and a much faster, smoother interface. Awesome Notes only supports plain text, but does clever things with interpreted text, too. I’ve not played with it in any detail, mind! Oh, and it supports tags, too, which Notebooks doesn’t (yet) do.
So having played with a vast number of task/project management tools on iOS, I’m back with two of the very first applications I ever purchased. Hm. I’m sure there’s some kind of moral to that tale… I do also think that a nice, simple, powerful cross-platform task/note/media management app would make an amazing killing. And no, I don’t mean one of the many web-based platforms. They’re okay, I suppose, but none of them (with the possible exception of Podio) has made me leap up and down with joy (no, not even RTM or its very close clone Doit.im). The only one that gives me a bit of a warm, fuzzy glow is Workflowy (especially now that the iPad version supports landscape) - but the warm fuzziness tends to vanish when I look at their pricing. The idea is fantastic, but if you want an almost equally effective outliner use something like Cotton Notes, JOutliner, Carbonfin Outliner or OmniOutliner.
Having wittered on about everything but text, I have been experimenting with CintaNotes as the equivalent of a tag-based text outliner. The thing is, it should - in principle - be reasonably straightforward to build suitable editors for the relatively simple XML files produced by CintaNotes. This would give you a very powerful cross-platform solution based on hierarchical tagging, a concept that has not yet, I feel, been explored in sufficient depth - although users of ConnectedText might disagree ;-)
But then there’s the whole issue of calendar integration…
Just a few rather hurried thoughts!
Cheers,
Bill
Posted by Franz Grieser
Oct 15, 2012 at 10:01 PM
Hi Bill.
Notebooks looks good. What I do not get: What’s the difference between the Notebooks for iPhone and the Notebooks for iPad editions (the iPhone edition also runs on the iPad but costs 2 Euro less). Alfred o his support staff has not yet responded.
Franz
Posted by MadaboutDana
Oct 16, 2012 at 04:03 PM
Sorry, Franz, only just seen this. Hm, I can’t really advise, unfortunately, because I haven’t used Notebooks for iPhone for a long time (I have a Galaxy Note!). It has to be said that Notebooks doesn’t yet have an Android client, but I can’t say I really miss it - I generally store events on all three devices, but keep track of my to-dos on the iPad and my PC only (I jot notes on the Samsung, which I then enter into Notebooks if required, but I don’t keep a complex to-do list on the mobile: wouldn’t want to, to be perfectly honest).
Actually, as an amusing aside, I feel quite liberated now I no longer feel an obsessive need to keep all my to-dos etc. synchronised across all platforms. The fact is, I like to add copious notes to to-dos (often because I’m tracking projects and stuff). Doing this on a mobile is not fun, whereas doing it on an iPad or a PC is fine (I use an external keyboard with my iPad as a matter of course - it has become my more-than-netbook, in fact). So I regard my mobile as a source of quick info - scraps and notes, if you like - that I can then write up elsewhere. If I really need to put something complex on the mobile, I can easily do so via Dropbox (in text, PDF or any number of other formats). Then it’s nice and easy to read!
Posted by Franz Grieser
Oct 17, 2012 at 08:11 AM
Hi Chris.
Alfons just replied to my question re the difference between the iPad and iPhone versions of Notebooks:
“Hello Franz, the iPad version is designed to use the iPad’s full screen space and resolution and supports the “column view” you probably know from Mail on the iPad. A document type available only on the iPad is “Sketch”, which allows you to draw sketches with your finger or a stylus. Best, Alfons”
Franz
Posted by Franz Grieser
Oct 17, 2012 at 08:13 AM
Hi Chris.
>Actually, as an amusing aside, I feel quite liberated now I no
>longer feel an obsessive need to keep all my to-dos etc. synchronised across all
>platforms. The fact is, I like to add copious notes to to-dos (often because I’m
>tracking projects and stuff). Doing this on a mobile is not fun, whereas doing it on an
>iPad or a PC is fine (I use an external keyboard with my iPad as a matter of course - it has
>become my more-than-netbook, in fact). So I regard my mobile as a source of quick info -
>scraps and notes, if you like - that I can then write up elsewhere. If I really need to put
>something complex on the mobile, I can easily do so via Dropbox (in text, PDF or any
>number of other formats). Then it’s nice and easy to read!
I also find myself writing less on the small iPhone screen and carrying my iPad keyboard more often with me than I thought. “Typing” on the iPad screen is nice but I miss a convenient way to copy and paste or delete - which my Logitech keyboard gives me.
Franz