OpenGenius has merged its two main products, iMindMap and DropTask, into a single subscription product, "Ayoa".

https://www.ayoa.com

Figuring out the pricing is a bit of a challenge. I had a DropTask subscription so I could add mind mapping to it and get the full feature set of Ayoa for $12 (first 10 months) which then grows to $78 / year -- supposedly on top of the existing DropTask annual fee. I guess. Haven't found a clear explanation. Since I also had an annual subscription to iMindMap 11 it looks like that value just went poof, but at least (for now) the iMindMap product seems to work. I suspect it will suddenly die.

From a feature set perspective, I think it's a good suite. It never made sense that these were two separate but loosely integrated products. Though I think OpenGenius just tried to rip a new hole at the bottom of my pocket.

Attempting to use DropTask automatically led to an update that turned out to be a conversion to AYOA. I got the message "Could not get plan change information. Please contact contact@ayoa.com." My original app (DropTask) is now gone from my apps folder. I thought they should have left the original app in place in case I didn't want to use AYOA.

I already have imindmap 11, will continue to use it, don't like subscription software.

If this is supposed to replace iMindMap 11, it appears to have about 1/10 of the features. I'm afraid to even run iMindMap 11; when I ran DropTask, it automatically updated itself to AYOA and deleted the DropTask app. Still no word from the developer as to why I cannot use the remainder of my DropTask subscription, nor can I get a new subscription. What I *can* use in AYOA is excruciatingly slow.

Yes, deleted without warning. So far, for me, iMindMap 11 is still running -- and I will never choose the command in options to check for updates. The whole process stinks. The irony is that the company over the years has made iMindMap more and more expensive while touting new features, then suddenly seems to have abandoned the whole strategy and left users in the lurch.

Jeffery Smith wrote:

I'm afraid to even run iMindMap 11; when I ran
DropTask, it automatically updated itself to AYOA and deleted the
DropTask app.

My feeling as well. This new app is painfully slow. A bullet journal is quicker.

Paul Korm wrote:

Yes, deleted without warning. So far, for me, iMindMap 11 is still
running -- and I will never choose the command in options to check for
updates. The whole process stinks. The irony is that the company
over the years has made iMindMap more and more expensive while touting
new features, then suddenly seems to have abandoned the whole strategy
and left users in the lurch.

Jeffery Smith wrote:
I'm afraid to even run iMindMap 11; when I ran
>DropTask, it automatically updated itself to AYOA and deleted the
>DropTask app.

Well, I'm about at the end of my trial version of Ayoa, and the company hasn't returned any of my inquiries about (1) why I cannot use my DropTask subscription for Ayoa, and (2) why I cannot upgrade to Ayoa. My trial of Ayoa ends Monday, and I won't have time then to move everything to another task manager *Things, ToDoist, and OmniFocus are overkill for my daily routine mixed with unexpected tasks (fires to put out). My small projects work better on SheetPlanner. For all the rest, I'm afraid that it is going to be Apple's Reminders.

Good choice – the next version of Reminders promises to be pretty dang powerful.

But I can also recommend NotePlan!

I finally got a reply from Ayoa. The fellow showed me a string of emails that were sent to me but never reached my inbox for reasons unknown. The good news is that they do seem to have a support staff in place. The bad news is that I cannot seem to upgrade, and they don't seem to know why. I can use my existing DropTask subscription until it runs out in September. Thereafter, I will have the option to upgrade to the version with MindMaps and chat capabilities in it. Until then, I have a crippled version. I don't know what the upgrade pricing will be (I cannot get to that part of their website as I still cannot access upgrade information...that link on the website is still blocked for me). I've consumed nearly a work week trying to get Ayoa up and running, and hoped to use it with my department chairs. By the time they try the 7-day trial version, mine will have run out.
One of the best reasons for using a bullet journal is that it never blocks you or gives you error messages, and it cannot be deleted and replaced by a system you cannot utilize fully. Ayoa needs to be donation-ware until they resolve the issues blocking existing users of the now defunct DropTask.
One other bit of good news. Existing users of iMindMap 11 can still use it without it being erased and replaced by Ayoa. I have hundreds and hundreds of iMindmap files that I can still use, but with the replacement of iMindMap with Ayoa, I don't know if I will be able to access them in future years.

I updated to latest imindmap version 11.0.5, and the program still working.

@Jeffrey Smith -- just a thought, but if clearing caches and cookies doesn't resolve the problems you're having with settings for the subscription, you could do all of that on their iPad version, if that's available.

When they were unable to figure out why I couldn't upgrade my account (same persistent error message that it could not retrieve my information), I tried a Hail Mary. I went to my account and canceled my subscription. I then logged on to their site and bought a new subscription. And when it took my information (I used my existing email and PW), it credited me with my subscription already paid up through September.

I'm finding the interface of the program to be vexing. The calendar part doesn't seem to work with existing Mac calendars. And when I use the Planner module, I expect to see the Droptask view, but that is apparently called the Canvas.

Guess I'll try some of their videos.


Paul Korm wrote:

@Jeffrey Smith -- just a thought, but if clearing caches and cookies
doesn't resolve the problems you're having with settings for the
subscription, you could do all of that on their iPad version, if that's
available.

I'm pretty sure the only integration DropTask/Ayoa has had with calendars is with Google Calendar. That's what I use, which is fine -- I just display that integrated calendar with my calendar app. This is the only two-way integration I know of with a calendar app: change the due date and time with Fantastical, for example, and the change it is rapidly synced back thru to Google calendar and then back to DropTask/Ayoa. Or vice versa.

I'll try the Google Calendar strategy. Thanks Paul.

Jeffery Smith wrote:

I'll try the Google Calendar strategy. Thanks Paul.

Most apps that sync to Google Calendar won't sync back (so you can't move it in GC and have the change reflected in the original app's tasks), so it's a pleasant surprise to see that Ayoa does do 2-way sync

https://www.ayoa.com/integrations/google-calendar/

satis wrote:

Most apps that sync to Google Calendar won't sync back (so you can't move it in GC and have the change reflected in the original app's

Humm, I'd say it is more the opposite. The apps I know of, all sync both ways (Android, Windows)

Pierre

Pierre Paul Landry wrote:

satis wrote:

Humm, I'd say it is more the opposite. The apps I know of, all sync both
ways (Android, Windows)

Pierre I'm talking about task managers that sync to calendar - which has nothing to do with the OS involved. There's no native 2-way sync in Trello, or OmniFocus, or 2Do, or Things, or Wunderlist etc. (There are some intermediary services you can use [freemium or pay] that will implement that in some cases, though.) They work by creating a calendar that Google Calendar subscribes to, but changes made in GC do not reflect back to the task manager itself.

By contrast Todoist calendar events synced to Google Calendar can be moved in google Calendar and the changes are immediately synced back to Todoist itself. Ayoa says it has 2-way sync built-in as well, which is relatively unusual.

Thank you, and confirmed, this seems so very useful!
https://doist.com/blog/google-calendar-todoist-integration/

Is anyone aware of other software services offering this?

I like Todoist itself, but I am looking for a more collaboration oriented-solution, going beyond task management.


satis wrote:

By contrast Todoist calendar events synced to Google Calendar can be
moved in google Calendar and the changes are immediately synced back to
Todoist itself. Ayoa says it has 2-way sync built-in as well, which is
relatively unusual.

P.S. I initiated a separate thread to avoid hijacking Ayoa's.


Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

Is anyone aware of other software services offering this?

Solina, a perpetual software that can make organic mind maps as Ayoa
http://80.75.98.82/index.html

Sorry, I don't trust non-SSL, bare IP links like this. This once bounces around inside Telia for several hops and comes out at solutionlanguage.com, a page that has interesting screenshots of so-called "Solina" (seems to be an iMindMap lookalike) but not much else.

Ahmed fawzy wrote:

Solina, a perpetual software that can make organic mind maps as Ayoa
http://80.75.98.82/index.html

I really don't like the interface of AYOA. I would prefer DropTask and iMindMap. With both of those phased out and Tony Buzan no longer living, it's time to migrate to other apps.