ForumsQuestionsAny plans to add a basic view of calendar events to iOS app ?
Any plans to add a basic view of calendar events to iOS app ?
| Author | Message |
|---|---|
|
Ummagumma |
Adding a basic day view of calendar events & hotlist tasks to the mobile app would immediately make Toodledo a significantly more important / useful app.
All I need is a quick overview of what is due on what day, and it means all timed items - whether calendar events or tasks. Having to deal with 3rd party tools is very frustrating - they are either very expensive, buggy, don't support Toodledo's features, or a combination of that. |
|
Jake Toodledo Founder |
You can sync Toodledo with iCal and then view everything on iCal. Will this work for you?
https://www.toodledo.com/tools/sync_ical.php |
|
Ummagumma |
Well, it's a very clunky and inflexible way to combine tasks and meetings.
The calendar views are static - there's little that one will do with them outside of making changes. The tasks are dynamic - they get re-arranged by date, priority, category etc for better planning. Using iCal to show tasks in calendar doesn't allow for any of this. Besides, if many tasks have overlapping active period (start/due) they really clutter up the day view. Most iOS calendars that work with Toodledo have major limitations in handling Toodledo's specific data. The only one I know of that supports nearly all of it is Informant, but they just made it a $25/year subscription and goofed up the interface in process. Action Agenda supports many of the options but it has an atrocious interface. PlanBe doesn't support tags or star, only Start Date, and it hadn't been updated with any new features in years. Lastly, there's 2do. I personally find its interface extremely cluttered and confusing with too many steps to do simple things. Really, the best app to handle Toodledo tasks is Toodledo's own. I would think that adding basic calendar functionality to Toodledo app should be easier than adding Toodledo task functionality to a calendar app. |
|
Jake Toodledo Founder |
Thanks for the suggestion. We do not comment on timeframes for implementation, but this is on our to-do list.
Thanks |
|
Ummagumma |
Posted by Jake:
Thanks for the suggestion. We do not comment on timeframes for implementation, but this is on our to-do list. Thanks In other words, a polite "get lost" ;) You see, I am trying really, really hard to keep using Toodledo, but you guys make it very difficult by pidgeonholing your system into only being suitable for specific use scenarios (web access, no calendar / outlook access, or pay through your nose for finicky, expensive, and not very reliable 3rd party tools). Anyone who wants to use their tasks in their calendar are basically screwed unless they are willing to pay $25 per year for Informant on top of whatever they pay for Toodledo. There's simply no other workable option. Anyone who wants to use their tasks in Outlook / Exchange (still the majority of desktop email users) are basically screwed, unless they either purchase gSyncit (it's $9 one time so no big deal, but it is very unreliable and I couldn't even make it properly install on my work laptop no matter what I tried) or other much more expensive and equally unreliable 3rd party Outlook add-ons. I can convert an Outlook email into a tasks with a single click and have it synced to my device. Just not with Toodledo. So, while you have the best task management tools in the market, it's a lot of hoop jumping to be able to use them effectively. I don't easily give up subscriptions that I paid for in advance, but I haven't been using Toodledo since January, and I purchased a 2 year Silver subscription in October of last year. It's just too many hoop jumping on the desktop, and I am not paying Informant's $25 /year subscription price for a buggier version of the same app I've already purchased before, so I no longer have a working mobile calendar to use it with either. I am back to Outlook.com tasks, that sync with Outlook (no 3rd party tools), sync with iOS Reminders (no 3rd party tools) and there's a couple decent iOS calendars that maintain Outlook Start date in Reminders and don't cost an arm and a leg. I really, really wish I could continue using Toodledo, but you're making it just too hard. Even the best system is not very useful if it can't be incorporated into user's workflow without too much extra work. I think you're losing too many potential paying customers by not providing a complete solution. With all the effort put into Outline module (Workflowy does it better), Notes module (Simplenotes does it better), Lists (Google Sheets does it better), you could have long had an Outlook sync add-in and a simple calendar in your mobile app.These modules would make sense if they were connected and I could create a project outline, export nodes as tasks, attach a list to it, and have it all liked together - but that's not the case. Sorry for venting my frustration... This message was edited Jun 17, 2017. |
|
coolexplorer |
This is the biggest bugbear I have with the otherwise excellent TD service.
I use TD's ICal link in Google Calendar but it takes forever to sync changes and I cant alter the tasks (shift or edit TD tasks) via Google Calendar. Its not technically impossible to do so cos the Android app 'Ultimate To Do App' does all this very well. I would rather use TDs Android app, but it doesn't have this capability, and is not likely to in any near timeframe. |
|
Ummagumma |
Well, here's where I think they are shooting themselves in the foot. Toodledo is providing professional grade task management, but amateur-level accessibility, still largely ignoring the importance of mobile / desktop synergy.
They don't even have to do that much. I went through more than a handful Calendar apps, and most all of them are using iOS Reminders to carry "extra" data (like Start date, or separate Due date and alarm) over to desktop Outlook. That data doesn't show up in Reminders, but it does sync to Outlook tasks. PlanBe, Calengoo, Informant all do it. So it's definitely possible to piggyback on Apple's own sync conduit, instead of developing their own. And on the mobile, they already have 80% of solution. Anyone seems to be able to write a good calendar app, very few have a good task system in it. Toodledo already has a working task app. All they have to do is to add a single extra view showing day calendar and tasks in the same window. They don't even need to write any calendar dialogs (e.g. adding or editing a meeting), just relegate this to Apple Calendar. That's how I'd have it: add a Calendar window with today's calendar events at the top, and a saved search or Hotlist at the bottom. User can then set up their saved search to only show the tasks they want on that date. For all other days, show calendar events for that day, and tasks that are due or in progress / overdue on that date. For any calendar specific action (adding or editing a calendar event, or just viewing it's details) invoke Apple's own native Calendar app. It's already there. So no need to write any calendar handling dialogs. Control the display of calendar events in Apple calendar. Basically, just use Apple Calendar for everything and only present events in Toodledo app. This would be a whole lot more useful to a whole lot more people than Outline / Habit / List / Notes modules. And it would justify at $20 /year subscription for a whole lot more users. |
|
Peter S... |
The Calengoo dev has said he is looking at TD integration. But still "if and when."
|
|
Ummagumma |
Calengoo has been my calendar of choice for long time, but I tend to have sudden startup slowdown issues with it on older devices. (My iPad Mini 2 which I refuse to retire just yet). I would not hold my breath waiting for Dominique to add Toodledo support, he seems pretty busy at the moment developing desktop versions. And the task module of Calengoo, while pretty robust, only has very basic filters. OTOH, Dominique is one of the best developers I've ever had pleasure of communicating with, and I really like Calengoo's design.
PlanBe is extremely fast and with a very well thought through, simple interface, and excellent natural language import. It has however not been updated in years (other than making it work with new iOS), and the only Toodledo special function it supports is Start date and a separate Alarm date. No star, no tags, no context, no location based reminders, no subtasks. Also, their calendar seems to be designed for someone who doesn't work in a corporate environment - there's no way to see meeting status, no way to see the meeting organizer, no way to accept or deny the meeting invitation. Informant used to be the king, but I refuse to pay $25 a year for what is essentially a poorer designed version of the same program I've already purchased (it's my subjective opinion, but v5 is worse than v4). Also, it's interface tends to get way too busy. Action Agenda... well I never got past it's interface, I just can't stand it. For a whole number of reasons. Now, I just realized, while browsing through my (rather large) list of "not on this device" apps that I also own 2Do - I think I actually got it for free when they had a giveaway. I remember it being rather confusing but very promising, and apparently the developer had just added a very basic calendar view. So, this may be the app to investigate - it seems to provide all features of Toodledo + the (tiny and hard to read but better than nothing) calendar. Still, I think the best Toodledo experience needs to come from Toodledo's own app. 2Do is not cheap and so far it seems rather labor intensive on adding dates. It could **really** benefit from natural language entry support. Also, I can't decide whether to migrate my tasks back to Toodledo (and miss the ability to work with them from Outlook) or just use 2Do with Reminders. Sorry for the rant, again.. This message was edited Jun 18, 2017. |
|
frogboy |
For what it's worth I have also looked at "remember the milk" and things 3
I am thinking of using things 3 for my "overview" general day to day working and TD for planning of discrete advanced projects. The iCal feed for TD can be seen in iCal from Things 3; plus I can use Siri very easily. A free remember the milk does a native sync with Evernote, which is very useful and has iCal feeds and RSS for every group, saved search etc In my my mind TD is clumsy but excellent it can contain most of my important structured data - unrivalled for what it is. Nothing's perfect you just have to work around stuff. let's just hope the iOS tasks page for TD gets its update soon; old one is looking decidedly 2009 - that's my main beef ATM. |
|
Ummagumma |
I've been working with 2Do the entire day and I think their calendar view, while hugely primitive, may be just what I need to get back with Toodledo. I do lose the ability to create tasks from emails with a single click, but I am no longer dependent on Informant while getting the whole power of Toodledo. So possibly a win-win.
|
You cannot reply yet
U Back to topic home
R Post a reply
To participate in these forums, you must be signed in.