The big interface helps productivity... except when it omits a feature.

Known as one of the premier organizational to-do apps on Mac and iPhone, Things sits in iPad limbo. Is it a stand-alone task-management tool with features that fully match the strong ? No. Is it just an extension of Things for Mac, designed to mostly sync data for mobile use? Not really. Things for iPad gives lip service to both audiences without fully serving either. It omits features--crucial to some--that you'd need in a stand-alone tool, and at $20, it's far too pricey to just be a way to bring the desktop data outside. At least the core to-do list functionality shines through; even in this waffling 1.0.1 version, Things for iPad can help boost your productivity.

Loosely related to the methodology, Things is flexible enough to fit most workflows. You'll create to-do entries, projects with multiple steps, and schedule items. Complete a step, and cross it off; it's good organization at its simplest. You can shuffle items between key areas, such as putting some in today's view to focus on just a few at a time. Scheduled items can even hide in an upcoming area and automatically appear on a specific date.

Different list views help corral to-do entries.

If you have the Mac version of the software, Things for iPad syncs the data over, keeping both editions current with your life. It worked well in our tests. With the desktop software open, every time we launched Things for iPad, the two found each other on the local network.

But you can only access several important features on Things for Mac and then sync them over. For example, recurring events--"take out the garbage each Wednesday"--require the Mac software. Ditto that for customized folder headings that essentially group aliases of to-dos.

Things for iPad misses other key interface features. You can't simply drag single (or multiple) items into new areas; you have to tap them and select a new destination. Worse, there's no search functionality, and bizarrely, you can't create lists that aren't Projects, a restriction that will seriously irk users of Things on other platforms. Cultured Code says it will address most (or all) of these in an update, but it's been almost two months since the app was released, and the company was unable to confirm a timeframe for an update that is absolutely essential for rounding out this half-baked, under-featured, and significantly overpriced app. We know this developer can do great things, and we're hoping the 1.1 update of this iPad app will realize its full potential.

Posted by: pybadyfyto at 01:12 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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