Filed under: Software, Productivity
Things (finally) adds global search
Things, one of the top contenders in the Mac GTD application lineup, has updated to 0.9.6 on their way to a planned 1.0 release at the Macworld Expo. The update includes some interface polish, but the biggest news is the addition of global search.It's been one of the most requested features, and I've seen plenty of comments here at TUAW bemoaning the absence of this capability. The newly added feature allows searching through all projects while still being able to confine the query to various scopes, including Title, Notes or Tags. This, of course, makes the tagging system in Things even more useful, allowing all tasks with a given tag or tag combination to be listed. Personally, I'd say this is the most important new feature added to (the desktop version of) Things since iCal sync. I'm betting we'll see more of these highly-requested features implemented as the development pace amps up to meet the Macworld deadline.
A blog post at Cultured Code details all of the new features. You can download a free trial at the Cultured Code website, and a license can be had for $39USD ... if you sign up for the newsletter before the January 6th launch (after which the price will be $49USD).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dias said 7:40PM on 11-01-2008
Nice, I was thinking about buying a license. One question: will I get iPhone app for free if I buy desktop app?
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Sam said 8:17PM on 11-01-2008
Unfortunately not. There's no way they could do that anyway, as the App Store doesn't support gifted downloads, etc. You'd have to pay for the iPhone one too =(
Diaska said 8:58PM on 11-01-2008
Too bad. :S
But they can sell iPhone version with some kind of code generator inside, so that I can use that code for extra promotion on desktop version.
For me a productivity tool like Things (which I found is the best in therms of usability) doesn't make sense without a smartphone syncing (iPhone), so it's a little bit unfair to make you pay twice. :\
Quine said 8:10PM on 11-01-2008
I tried out things, but I wasn't a big fan of its interface. I'm very happy with omnifocus instead. I'll give this a look though.
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Justus said 8:25PM on 11-01-2008
I started using Things about two weeks ago, and I must say that I love it. The fact that it has the idea of a mailbox, makes it that you are really going to do the tasks, which is normally not the case.
Cheers
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ipodrulz said 11:52PM on 11-01-2008
Global search may be the most requested feature in Things. But here in TUAW I just want to view the full TUAW experience on my iPhone!
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Brady J. Frey said 2:45AM on 11-02-2008
I would have traded 'search' for a 'review' button, or a place that included every active entry regardless of location so I can review myself. Since I've been using the team attributes already (I drag my items to people on my bonjour group so I know who I've assigned it too), and I use quite a bit of projects, I can lose track of things easy, killing my reviewing... and that kills my GTD experience.
In regards to Quine's comment, I think Omnifocus has an ugly interface, Things is quite elegant and designer cool to the contrary!
...and I second ipodrulz:)
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Rob said 2:04PM on 11-02-2008
Things... how I love thee, let me count the ways.
Seriously though, a few of months I was looking for a good To Do List app, and I came across Things. Great app, it works exactly the way I need it to. The developer is doing a great job with it, and I will definitely be buying a licensing the day it officially launches.
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AlanYx said 5:20PM on 11-02-2008
The Things developers have got to get scheduled tasks working in projects. It makes no sense that they work in "areas of responsibility" but not projects. The lack of this one feature is making me lose interest in Things. Without some way of postponing future tasks, there's too much to juggle when you have a lot of tasks.
OmniFocus 1.0 was a usability disaster but I'm trying OF 1.5 and so far liking it.
Both of these programs would benefit from being able to add appointments to projects, rather than just todos. They'd have to be able to sync to iCal to be truly useful though.
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Dennis said 5:42PM on 11-02-2008
On the surface, Things looks nice. But after I dug a little deeper, I lost interest. Its interface just felt too clunky and limited once I tried working with a larger amount of data. Although, it's good to hear that global search was finally added. I'm sure that helps.
I also didn't care much for the organizational tools provided by Things. I know tagging is trendy these days, but relying on it entirely in Things just didn't work for me. Things just felt more and more opaque and bogged down as I added more stuff and increased the complexity of my projects.
I've since tried OmniFocus and have been astounded at its flexibility and power. Wow, it was like night and day compared to Things. OmniFocus is more expensive, but I guess you get what you pay for.
Oh, and OmniFocus looks better too; it's interface is cleaner and less cluttered. But clearly that's a matter of opinion. ;-)
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