Anyone designing a GTD app for the iPhone? [Archive]

stargazer_rick

06-23-2007, 06:05 PM

There are currently probably hundreds of web-based applications that can be used for your GTD system. The Safari browser that is in the iPhone is supposed to be essentially the same as the one that is available for the desktop. Theoretically, any web application that will run in Safari on the desktop should run in the iPhone as well. If you're a Windows user, you can download Safari for Windows at http://www.apple.com/safari/.

With this approach, you will want to keep in mind that you will only have acces to your data when you have Internet access.

Having said all that, all you really need for a GTD system in a handheld is a place for tasks (next actions), contacts, calendar, and notes or other lists. The iPhone should have apps for all these built in.

Todd V

06-24-2007, 05:44 PM

DEVELOPMENT OF IPHONE APPS - THINK "WIDGETS"
The best way to think about development on the iPhone is to think of "widgets" -- like the kind you find using Dashboard in OS X on the mac. Widgets are not full-blown applications but they have some "elbow room" for developing a little extra functionality. Apple is still trying to strike the right balance between allowing third-party influence without that influence undermining the kind of user-experience Apple prides itself on maintaining. My bet is that Apple will streamline third-party influence through widget-like programs on the iPhone. This will be the way Apple still maintains control over the "look and feel of the iPhone" while at the same time allowing third-party development.

HOW WILL GTD BE DONE ON AN IPHONE?
Web-based GTD programs will not be the way to go on portable devices like the iPhone. The one time an internet connection gets dropped, the "trusted and reliable system" is no longer trusted and reliable. Currently there are a lot of programs that provide syncing todos and calendar events via iCal. Since the iPhone already works with iCal, I suspect that will be the way many GTDers on the mac platform decide to go. Another way would be to sync one's lists via email.

mmurray

06-27-2007, 01:43 AM

I guess one of you guys in the US will be first in the line to get an iPhone and tell us all about it soon :-)

But while we wait there are some reports by Mossberg, Pogue and Levy linked from www.macnn.com which have a few crumbs of info. They used the calendar app, it works ok and it doesn't have a week view. No mention of `tasks'.

Michael

emptyinbox

06-27-2007, 10:20 PM

mmurray

06-29-2007, 05:51 AM

According to David Pogue

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/28/technology/circuits/28pogue.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

To-do's from the mac don't show up on the iPhone

"Do To Do items show up on the iPhone? Do memos in the iPhone’s Notes program show up on the computer? No."

:-(

Michael

TesTeq

06-29-2007, 07:10 AM

I'm afraid that the GTDers are not the target market for the iPhone. So trying to implement GTD using the iPhone may be the fashion-driven decision - not the rational one. One can try implement GTD using the iPod Shuffle (@context playlists of Next Action podcasts) but I think we should rather choose the right tool for the job - not the right job for the tool.

mmurray

06-29-2007, 02:52 PM

Hi TesTeq

You are right but it does suprise me that it doesn't support even the basic ToDo part of iCal. It also implements the minimal sync approach of iSync where events on the iPhone don't have calendars and all get synced into some fixed calendar you choose on the mac. Little things like that would seem fixable without too much trouble.

I guess I'll stick to my shuffle :-)

Michael

TesTeq

06-30-2007, 02:33 AM

Apple is always ready to disappoint the user and tell him that the lack of the feature is the advantage (for example no FM radio in iPods).

jschwimmer

06-30-2007, 06:51 AM

I posted an article here evaluating the usability of the iPhone for GTD. (http://efficientmd.blogspot.com/2007/06/switching-from-treo-to-iphone-usability.html) I'd be curious if anyone gets the third party GTD apps to work on the iPhone or comes up with a workable To Do list solution. (I suppose you could just create notes...)

Nozbe

07-02-2007, 08:50 AM

We are working on an iPhone version of Nozbe (http://www.nozbe.com).

It will be a slimmed-down version of our GTD web application.

We are hoping to release it next week.

- Michael

darlakbrown

07-03-2007, 08:03 AM

tadalist was just released in an iPhone format. Visit them from safari on your web browser. Login ( or create an account) and easily create and edit lists. Works well but I still want my iCal tasks to sync. Hopefully that fix will come in the next os release (or sooner).

skatemore

07-04-2007, 08:32 AM

i too am crazy about my new iphone, but the fatal flaw (i hope not for long) is to find the best way to get my GTD onto the system. would love to hear best practices. thanks, all...

Todd V

07-04-2007, 09:04 AM

The Ready-Set-Do! GTD program (http://www.readysetdo.com) for the mac allows for integration with the iPhone through email.

Use the "Email My Action Lists" script to send your four main action lists to your iPhone email: Projects, Actionables, Waiting Fors, and Reading. Each comes as a separate email with a subject line that is time-stamped so you always know which of your lists is the most up-to-date.

To send and collect things from your iPhone to your GTD system on your mac, just setup the RSD Mail Rule that comes with Ready-Set-Do!. The RSD Mail Rule automatically sends attachments and new ideas you have into your RSD desktop folders.

Email is the best and most reliable method for keeping things current on your iPhone. And it will probably be the best and most reliable method well into the future.

Todd V
Ready-Set-Do! Creator

mmurray

07-05-2007, 03:03 AM

Omnifocus will have the ability to look at the data on your machine via a web interface optimized for iPhone.

http://blog.omnigroup.com/2007/07/03/omnifocus-and-iphone/#comments

Michael

webby2001

07-15-2007, 03:46 AM

Vitalist has a great iPhone interface--have been using it for a week now, and it really looks and feels sharp.

http://www.vitalist.com

mmurray

07-15-2007, 04:20 AM

Vitalist has a great iPhone interface--have been using it for a week now, and it really looks and feels sharp.

http://www.vitalist.com

Looks nice. Is anything retained on the iPhone when you disconnect from the internet ?

Thanks - Michael

Nozbe

07-16-2007, 04:54 AM

We've finally announced iNozbe (http://www.inozbe.com) which is a Nozbe (http://www.nozbe.com) interface, but for the iPhone.

iNozbe feels like a native iPhone application - it's fast and works the same way the iPhone apps do - you can see it on the video we've posted on our Blog (http://blogs.hitrss.com/nozbe).

Let me know what you think.

darlakbrown

07-18-2007, 09:36 PM

Iphoneigtd.com is good. Integrates with igtd. And syncs with via .mac to keep your lists updated online. But no checking off of items via the web interface as far ax I can tell. The lists are nice and the UI is very iPhone-esque.

JRBCS

07-19-2007, 05:37 PM

JRB Computer Services (my company) is currently beta testing a release candidate internally. If you are interested in being part of the test, please send me a PM.

Jason (http://www.jasonberlinsky.com)
JRB Computer Services (http://www.jrbcomputerservices.com)

JRBCS

08-25-2007, 07:13 PM

bob_hughes

09-01-2007, 05:01 AM

dlpasco

09-27-2007, 12:30 PM

The Leopard notes are marginally useful. I'm an iPhone user and a GTD junkie AND a project manager, so I developed Mentat to handle our task management. The iPhone interface was the first major feature we rolled out.

-Daniel
http://mentat.brainmurmurs.com

darlakbrown

09-27-2007, 12:49 PM

The new Leopard OS has some new note and to-do-list features that might help apply GTD to the iPhone. Does anyone have any information about this?
Here's the link on the Apple website:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/features/mail.html

I've been running the new OS all this week. The new note features and to do list features aren't great.

Also, in my opinion, they've devolved some of iCal's quick entry features. The side info panel is missing and instead a popup comes up when you want to edit an item. I find this annoying and hard to read, esp. on a laptop. There was something elegant about it before that is missing.

However, I noticed a speed difference immediately. Wow!

And, they have a new desktop feature called Spaces that could be very useful to help you stay focused in one application.

Overall, worth the upgrade when it comes out in a couple weeks. But be sure to do a full backup. It duped some of my address book data.

mmurray

09-27-2007, 02:26 PM

But be sure to do a full backup. It duped some of my address book data.

Speaking of backups have they automated the backup in iCal and AB in Leopard ? That would be handy and would seem trivial to do (speaking as a non programmer !)

Michael

darlakbrown

09-27-2007, 03:38 PM

Speaking of backups have they automated the backup in iCal and AB in Leopard ? That would be handy and would seem trivial to do (speaking as a non programmer !)

Michael

It doesn't look like they have.

mmurray

09-27-2007, 03:52 PM

It doesn't look like they have.

OK thanks. I'll just have to keep it on my Weekly Review!

Michael

dbrotzen

10-30-2007, 01:39 AM

pTasks has been released. pTasks is a GTD system for the iPhone. You can read more about it and experience it for yourself here: http://www.ptasks.com/

Jason
JRB Computer Services (http://www.jrbcomputerservices.com)

Jason/JRB requires you to register on their site to get access. Once inside you get an on-line window where you can enter tasks, appointments etc. I thought this was a GTD system for the iphone, could Jason please specify what makes this tailored to the iphone, and what his system's advantages are. It seemed rather pointless.

mmurray

10-30-2007, 01:44 AM

Jason/JRB requires you to register on their site to get access. Once inside you get an on-line window where you can enter tasks, appointments etc. I thought this was a GTD system for the iphone, could Jason please specify what makes this tailored to the iphone, and what his system's advantages are. It seemed rather pointless.

At present all the 3rd party applications on the iPhone work via Safari and you have to be online. I assume you connect to this site via Safari on the iPhone.

`Real' 3rd party applications are coming according to a recent announcement from Steve Jobs.

Michael

dlpasco

11-15-2007, 10:50 AM

Hi, we're currently working on a native GTD client for the BlackBerry based on our free Mentat service. Once that has been released we will start working on a native client for the iPhone a well.

Since the iPhone SDK isn't expected until February, you will not be able to use our client until then unless you are willing to hack your phone, but it should be available to more daring users before the actual SDK release date.

ccalder

02-14-2008, 04:07 AM

IGTD2 looks promising but still in alpha

http://bargiel.home.pl/iGTD/iGTD2/index.html

mmurray

03-14-2008, 12:52 AM

See

http://blog.omnigroup.com/2008/03/06/omnifocus-coming-for-the-iphone/#comments

As the SDK for the iPhone/iTouch has only just been released they are making no comment on what features the iPhone version of OmniFocus will have although they do talk about syncing via a WebDav server such as .Mac.

Michael

HowardGTD

03-18-2008, 11:27 PM

I use OmniFocus on my MacBook and iMac for GTD - great program. They are working on an app for the iPhone. The OF app will also work on the iTouch.

I can't wait. Great excuse to finally ditch my Palm and go with one of the above two devices.

thr61

03-25-2008, 09:04 AM

There is a somewhat buggy hack to synch Omnifocus with Toodledo. Toodledo has a pretty decent iPhone interface and so this works for me until the OF native app is released.

See:

http://groups.google.com/group/oftd

chinarut

05-31-2008, 05:31 PM

This is a bit of a catch 22 - offline use isn't nearly as critical as it used to be for me but it definitely has come into the forefront again now that I'm in Japan, don't have GPRS at my disposal like in Thailand. Offline use just becomes a stopgap solution until a new iPhone comes out. Once this happens, I imagine my experience with Internet over cellular networks will be as functional as it was in Thailand which was amazing! killed any desire to want to work over WiFi for me IMHO!

That said, I'm still on the lookout for offline capability and been using Tada as a stopgap solution for the most critical of my contexts. For the record, my contexts are starting to lose context of the "big picture" so this experiment may very well be over.

I thought I'd comment on Tada Lists while I can...people have been knocking the app and understandably - you can't change contexts is my particular annoyance. however, what I think really works is the fact that it loads very fast for an iPhone app, has a full interface on the desktop and presents a clean uncluttered interface encouraging collaboration just by sharing your lists - it doesn't try to be too much.

just thought I'd give Tada some kudos as it allowed me to iPhone apps from a different angle!

That said, you mileage will differ - I'm sure!

apastuszak

06-05-2008, 08:27 PM

Has anyone looked at Remember The Milk, at http://www.rememberthemilk.com. It's web based, has an iPhone interface, and works with Google Gears on your desktop, so you can take the site offline and into meetings.

chinarut

06-06-2008, 07:36 PM

yes, I looked at RTM briefly before I posted - excuse me not mentioning it!

i found it to be a bit cluttered and anti-intuitive. didn't like the fact that I could only try the iPhone app for 15 days - i didn't bother and save it for a rainy day due to my experience with the desktop - with Tada - i found that experience equally as important and most importantly, having a sense of what use cases belong on the desktop and which ones belong on the iPhone - there is some elegance gained here too.

these are only my initial opinions so apologies in advance to any happy, die-hard users of RTM - do educate us!

negrienko

08-02-2008, 02:36 AM

Some info about Things Toutch — best GTD app for iphone (http://http://the-getting-things-done.blogspot.com/2008/08/gtd-for-iphone-and-ipod-touch-things.html), but don't synhronization with Things (desktop) it's trouble

moosie

08-02-2008, 08:18 AM

I use a combination of OmniFocus on my MacBook Pro, a webDAV server I set up on the MBP and OF for the iPhone to run my life. The OF duo syncs automatically and I never have to think about it when I'm at home. (It syncs through my WiFi network.). Throw in a little bit of iCal and Apple Mail and I hardly ever need to use my desktop to know what my next move is.

I honestly think OF is the perfect GTD app (for me. Ymmv.)

negrienko

08-18-2008, 12:39 PM

Things have synchronization with iPhone (http://the-getting-things-done.blogspot.com/2008/08/sync-gtd-on-mac-with-gtd-on-iphone-with.html) in new version

loumf

11-23-2008, 12:08 PM

Before the iPhone, I developed a web based GTD system for myself -- it had most of the normal stuff you see out there (e.g. context based to-do's, basic projects, a "someday" file). I had one thing that I found rather useful though, and I haven't seen it an any of the other systems I tried out.

Often, you have things that are like recurring events, but not really. They don't have to be done on a set schedule, and it's ok to skip them once in a while. I call these things Habits, and I developed a simple iPhone app that you can use in addition to your to-do app (I use Things, by the way).

You can learn more about my GTD companion iPhone App (http://loufranco.com/habits) on my site.

Basically, you enter in the habit you want to form and an idea of how often you want to do them (every weekend, every 2 to 3 days, every other day, etc). When you start up Habits, you get a sorted list of the habits you are supposed to do (overdue at top, time to do next, and then the upcoming ones -- which you can still do if you want).

Over time, you can see how good you've been. Right now, I show a simple breakdown of on-time vs. late, but I will be adding more on this in future updates.

RHDefense

05-21-2009, 12:59 PM

Kinkless - the people who developed kGTD software (excellent GTD software application) are developing (or maybe working with people who are developing) an improved version called omnifocus. They intend for this to be made available on iphone.

www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnifocus/

H

Wow! I just watched the basics video on this application. This is practically
perfect for what I want. It looks like it's only available for the Mac, though.

Is there anything like this application for Windows?

TkachukA

06-01-2009, 07:00 AM

Is there anything like this application for Windows?

Yes! MLO (http://www.davidco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3826&page=6)

Andrey.

DanW

06-20-2009, 06:52 PM

You may want to try Nubi Do. I love it and use it almost everyday to manage all of my tasks. Used to use Things which is a good tool but this one is far better. Doesn't have a desktop app though..

Plan4life

07-06-2009, 01:29 PM

Check out iGTD. You can download it for free at versiontracker.com. It syncs with iCal so your action items will be on your iPhone. Next best thing to an actual iPhone app.
-LW

phlange

09-06-2009, 03:14 AM

Contact Appigo regarding the new work
they're doing with the app called ToDo.

mcogilvie

09-06-2009, 06:25 AM

Check out iGTD. You can download it for free at versiontracker.com. It syncs with iCal so your action items will be on your iPhone. Next best thing to an actual iPhone app.
-LW

An update: the author of iGTD is now working for Cultured Code, the company that publishes Things, another popular gtd app for the mac and for the iphone. Users who contributed to the development of iGTD are getting vouchers for free copies of Things.

GTDGirlNewYork

11-02-2009, 07:29 AM

I am using MyProjects from Avellana Software, http://www.avellanasoftware.com, and I am pretty happy about it. There is a review of the App here: http://www.alliphoneappsreview.com/2009/10/30/myprojects-get-things-done-app-lets-you-do-so/