Fri
Jul 18
10:11am
Quick review of the Things Touch GTD app
Six weeks ago I talked briefly about how I’d discovered Things for desktop - the gorgeous, intuitive Getting Things Done application from Cultured Code - and mentioned that they were planning an iPhone/iPod Touch version.
Well, as they promised, Things Touch was there the day the App Store opened its doors, and the first thing I did after upgrading my Touch software to 2.0 was to seek it out in the store.
There’s no trial versions of any of the App Store apps, so I was mildly hesitant about shelling out $$$$ for something sight unseen, but the screenshots and their landing page plus my experience of the desktop version was enough to convince me to go ahead.
I’ve lived with it for almost a week now and have found that it’s the perfect replacement for my old, hacky, Notes app GTD system. Here’s how I use it, so far.
- I have a thought. I bust out the iPod, open Things and save the thought to the inbox. 30 seconds.
- Sometime later, I work through the inbox content, moving it into a ‘time’ (Today, Next or Someday) and a Project (I use Home, Work, Freelancing and Random).
- Moving items around is easy. Simply select the item and move it. This is a big plus for me over my old Notes system, which forced me to retype each item whenever I wanted to move it (no cut and paste on the Touch).
- Completing items is just as easy. Just check the checkbox. This is also way better than my Notes system, as completing items required me to delete them letter by letter with the delete key. Checked items are moved to the Logbook later.
What’s missing, in my opinion, is sync with the desktop app and tags … and I’m not the lone ranger there. The developers’ blog is full of comments moaning about the lack of desktop syncing. But the devs are well aware of the omissions (which were deliberate) and are working to bring us those features asap. They make it clear on their blog that they wanted to get their app in the store on day 1, and offered it at a special introductory price - perhaps as a concession that those key features are missing?
For now, for me, the AUD$12.99 was money well spent. I don’t see myself being a big user of the desktop app (although I do prefer to keep my data on the MacBook instead of my devices, therefore I will use it), so the free updates for sync and tags (and whatever else they dream up) will simply be icing on the cake.
