Filed under: iPod Family, Internet, Internet Tools, iPhone, iPod touch
Google's Tasks list on the iPhone
When Google Labs introduced "Tasks" to Gmail in December, we were eager for a mobile version; yesterday, the Gmail team announced an optimized Tasks web UI for mobile devices including the iPhone. Setup is simple. First, log into your Gmail account and click "Settings." From there, click "Labs" and then the "Enable" button next to "Tasks." As Jeff Goldblum said, "There's no step three." You'll see a link to Tasks in the left sidebar of your Gmail account.
Now grab your iPhone and point Mobile Safari to http://gmail.com/tasks. Once you've logged in, you'll see the tasks you created on your Mac. Of course, you can create a task on either device, as well as multiple lists, mark items as complete and clear completed tasks. It's nice and snappy over EDGE and Wi-Fi.
Here's a great example of something that works perfectly well as a web-based app. In the rush to create iPhone/iPod touch apps that do everything under the sun, we've seen a crop of replacements for web apps that weren't 100% necessary (I still use Hahlo on occasion, if only for its speed over EDGE). If you want a free, no-frills task manager, and you already use Google for email or other services, this could be it.
[Via Phandroid]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
chris said 2:55PM on 2-03-2009
You cannot click "Labs" in the settings if gmail-language is set to German. I had to switch to English in order to see this.
(Same happend when they first started IMAP features a while ago)
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carrespondent said 3:03PM on 2-03-2009
This is a nifty feature, but its inherent weakness is its complete inaccessibility when an internet connection is not present. If it had an offline/airplane mode, I'd love it. Without that component, I'll stick with Remember the Milk (which has its own Gmail gadget).
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Aelver said 3:30PM on 2-03-2009
Ditto that. Was on the plane last night and thought ... useless.
aj_robins said 3:03PM on 2-03-2009
It's very nice, and certainly as good as some to-do apps in the app store.
However, these days, any serious to-do iPhone application needs to work in the absence of an internet connection. Sometimes, while shopping, you just don't have a signal, or you may be on an airplane, adjusting your tasks.
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russ said 3:30PM on 2-03-2009
perfectly well?
except when you need off-line support.
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alnyden said 3:37PM on 2-03-2009
I recommend toodledo. It's an online application (free) with an iphone application ($1.99 I think) that stay in perfect sync. Very advanced feature set or simple to use, your choice.
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C.Mac said 4:02PM on 2-03-2009
Does anyone know a to do app that shows the number of incomplete tasks on the icon, the way Mail shows the number of unread emails? That is probably the most important function for me, and I'm going to assume Google Tasks can't do that.
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Aelver said 4:06PM on 2-03-2009
RTM ($25/yr Pro)
Todo ($10 Appstore)
chris said 5:17PM on 2-03-2009
just wanted to recommend zenbe but it's not free anymore ...
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/08/29/my-favorite-iphone-apps-mats-picks/
chris said 5:21PM on 2-03-2009
zenbe is $ 2,99 (Feb 3rd 2009)
Ebel3003 said 4:06PM on 2-03-2009
Can't seem to get the iPhone site to work with my Google Apps domain. Anyone else have any luck? Assuming it's not out yet...
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jay said 4:27PM on 2-03-2009
Yeah, doesn't appear to be out yet. As far as I have seen there isn't even a mention of it.
@C.MAC
SmartTime is feature rich and has notification badges. You can try their lite version. Also it syncs with Google cal and I think the tasks (unsure if it has it or will have it). Nice, but I am looking for something that just works within my set up as is—Mail and iCal. The rest are extras that I have to remember to use.
Ofih said 5:03PM on 2-03-2009
So can I finally sync my iCal todos with google now?
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Dan said 6:06PM on 2-03-2009
I'm glad Google is working so hard on this semi-useful feature, while at the same time killing the customized iPhone/iGoogle home page for a useless piece of generic junk - and also directing all iPhone searches through Google to so-called "mobile optimized" pages instead of the real web pages that mobile Safari renders so well.
Oh, wait - these three things all have something in common: they capture iPhone users into the main Google ecosystem.
I have (little) problem with donating my blood to Google when the product suits me. To To-Do list is a wash; I prefer the alternatives. The disembowelment of the iGoogle for iPhone - well, that's Google's choice; it doesn't have to offer a product it doesn't want (I switched to a Netvibes tab that I customized for my phone.) But the hijacking (and that's what I consider it) of search to these "optimized" pages just rots, and forgive me, but I can't figure out how to permanently squelch it, other than switching over to the equally miserable Yahoo as a default search engine.)
Ugh.
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Dan said 7:43PM on 2-03-2009
Oh, and I know you can change the mobile-optimized search to the old-fashioned kind in the iGoogle preferences in mobile safari. But the change isn't persistent.
Cowfodder said 8:40PM on 2-03-2009
Jailbrake, then download UA Faker. It changes the user agent identifier and fools sites into thinking you're using a full version browser.
jay said 10:59PM on 2-03-2009
Also, the user interface in the browser interface isn't correct.
From the desktop when I view my Google Apps it displays the Labs, but when I view it from the iPhone it doesn't display this even when I set it to View Gmail in: Desktop.
stefan.oneil said 7:40PM on 2-03-2009
Give me google documents and I'll be happy.
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Jon H. said 10:57PM on 2-03-2009
I just wish there was a Dashboard widget for this so I wouldn't have to log into GMail every time I wanted to check them...
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umijin said 9:06PM on 2-03-2009
Pointless unless you are online or always connected.
I'll stick with Things, despite its limitations.
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