Things 1.1/Things Touch 1.3.5: Area Sync

Things launched with a lot of bugs. I've bought the app when it left beta status and some things just didn't work. Syncing with To Do's in Mac OS X caused nothing but problems. Syncing with iPhone caused nothing but problems. I hear the new version solves some of the problems but I got tired of waiting. I have to say I feel that Things has been overrated. I don't use it anymore because my business has grown and I found I needed a solution that allows further collaboration. I use Basecamp but it's To Do functionality is limited.

I've been using OmniFocus' MobileMe syncing between multiple Macs/iPhones for quite some time now, and it's the best syncing implementation I've ever used, really rock-solid stuff. Being able to sync with the cloud and not have the other devices nearby (on the same LAN) is fantastic. I could never go back to the inconvenience of a Bonjour-only syncing solution now. :)

The key in keeping things speedy is to make sure you regularly sync all the devices. If you don't, OmniFocus has to hang onto all the un-synced transactions, which makes the database grow. As long as I sync regularly, my huge database typically only takes 10-30 seconds to sync on a 3G connection while I'm walking down the street. It's beautiful.

I have to agree with you Dave that the communication is weak. I think Cultured Code does a better job though, they at least have somewhat of a roadmap of what features are coming. The Hit List, while it has a good start, seems feature incomplete to me, and I have no idea whether more features will be added during the beta period, or whether it's just bug fixes at this point. The word on the iPhone app is basically "When it's good and ready." Sorry, that's just not good enough. It worries me that THL is basically just being worked on by a one man shop in his spare time. I'll wait for final judgement for the 1.0 release, but the lack of documentation, relying on the Google Groups for support, and no communication about roadmap or iPhone release is enough to make me want to steer clear even though I own the app from MacHeist. $70 for it is insane, if its current state is any indication of where it will end up. Basically, its claim to fame is Smart Folders, Tabs, and Easy Keywording/Contexts. Those are nice features, but don't justify that price tag.

I love OmniGroup's products, and I've tried really, really hard to get into OmniFocus, but I just trip over the UI every time. Dealing with the inspector is a hassle, and as with THL, it's easy to go out of control with folders. To Omni's credit, they constantly work very hard to update the app and add new features, and are very active in their communication and support.

Coming back to Things, I think the UI is the one out of the three that actually allows me to keep using the tool. It's a personal thing, and while I think have their merits, Things is the one that I will actually use. The iPhone app, while requiring WiFi syncing, is fast and responsive. To be honest, when using the OmniFocus iPhone app, the MobileMe syncing was so slow that it was a real hassle to use. Again, Things Touch is the app that I actually USE.

I like the Areas feature very much, and I disagree with the author's take on them. I look at Areas as kind of a cross between contexts and project folders. For one area of my business (for example, online marketing), I have various projects that relate to that, and I can nest those projects within that Area. It gives me a quick snapshot of various areas of my business, and a way to shortcut directly to those projects. Also in the Projects view on the iPhone app, it groups projects together by Area on the summary page, providing some nice order. My one quibble on the iPhone app, is I think there should be a shortcut to the home screen on every screen. OmniFocus has this and it's great. It's very easy to get buried many layers deep, and it takes too many taps to get out. This would be a great feature for the Mail app as well.

The absence on twitter is'nt the truth, at least not for Cultured Code. Just go to http://twitter.com/culturedcode and stay in touch. That's for me the way to stay in touch, since I dont follow their blog. With your statement that the forum's are hard to find, you're right. gGroups always sucks when it comes to support...

The new Applescript support is terrific, solves a number of issues.

I just added a script to the Things wiki (http://culturedcode.com/things/wiki/index.php/User_Contributed_Scripts) that makes it easy to turn a Mail message into a to-do in Things, complete with a link back to the original mail message. Very useful if a lot of your tasks come via email.

Uh, what's really needed is multiple computer sync. I like things, but I need my MBP, MP and iPhone to all sync. When are they releasing that?

Wow, that was a confusing post.

I'm going WAY out on a limb here but I prefer The Hit List - but only for a little while longer unless they release an iPhone version.

THL is thus far superior in interface, but I gotta agree the lack of an iPhone app is becoming a bigger and bigger issue. Too bad there isn't a common interchange between these so I could use the Things iPhone app with the THL.

Hmm, sounds interesting. But the whole "Area of Responsibility" concept in Things seems really convoluted and half-baked to me -- surprising for an app that hangs its hat on being simple and elegant.

It's good to hear Things finally has AppleScript support though. I'm reluctant to depend on any app that doesn't.

Personally, I still like OmniFocus the best.