Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, First Look
First Look: CheckOff 4.0 for Mac OS X
I'm one of those people who "Gets Things Done" the old-fashioned way. I've tried just about every To-Do list manager for the Mac and iPhone, and I still end up resorting to writing lists in my Moleskine notebook and then crossing off the completed items. Still, when I saw that an upgrade to CheckOff had been shipped by Second Gear Software, I decided to give it a try. CheckOff 4.0 is not the latest navigator and weapons officer for the USS Enterprise. It is a compact and easily accessible to-do list for Mac OS X, and it runs both on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and 10.6 Snow Leopard. CheckOff 4.0 is shareware, and requires that you purchase a US$12.95 license to use it for more than ten to-do items.
After installing and launching the 4.4 MB application on your Mac, a check mark icon appears in the menu bar. To add or delete items from your to-do list, you click on the check mark to make the CheckOff menu appear (below):
What you see is the complete user interface for CheckOff 4.0. Those five icons are used to add a new item, add a new folder, delete an item, change the color or category for an item or folder, and to delete checked (completed) items. There's a place for notes down at the bottom of the the window.
There's a lot to like about CheckOff 4.0. It's unobtrusive, it's a great little list manager, and you can set it to start up when you power up or restart your Mac. However, it's missing one key feature -- an iPhone counterpart. SecondGear is a Mac and iPhone development house, so perhaps they have an iPhone app in the works so that your to-do list can travel wherever you go. At this point your portability choices are either printing the to-do list or exporting it to a text file and moving the file to your iPhone.
I also found the app to be somewhat buggy. After launching the app for the first time on my iMac, I found that I was unable to get into the Preferences to change the name of a category. I quit CheckOff, then tried to start it again. No such luck. Activity Monitor showed that it was beginning to launch, and the application would then quit.This happened not only on my iMac, but also on my MacBook Air. An email to Second Gear Software remained unanswered after two days, so I'm running this First Look with the caveat that you may run into issues with CheckOff 4.0.
Author's Note: The newly-released CheckOff 4.0.1 appears to fix the issue.
What's your favorite Mac application or iPhone app for list management? Leave a comment below.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
intima said 11:01AM on 8-26-2009
I've also tried a few and Things on both OS X and iPhone has stuck with me.
Reply
Tariq said 11:40AM on 8-26-2009
Same here. I've tried them all (Bento, iStudiez, Todo, etc.) and I always find myself coming back to Things. I just wish it weren't so expensive.
Justin Williams said 11:10AM on 8-26-2009
Hi Steven. I'm the developer of Check Off. I have not record of an email from you. Perhaps it got lost in the Internet tubes. Can you try contacting me personally at Justin @ secondgearsoftware dot com.
Thanks!
Reply
carrespondent said 11:13AM on 8-26-2009
These task-manager programs are nifty, but I've found that the separateness of independent software for tasks usually translates to the software simply not being used on a hourly/daily/weekly effective basis. My preference is for something basic, but integrated (in Gmail, Outlook, whatever); that I'll actually manage well and keep up to date. I used Remember the Milk for a while, but its lagging syncing (Mac/iPhone/Gmail widget) was maddening.
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Ryan Trevisol said 11:35AM on 8-26-2009
ReQall is awesome for that. With the proper setup you can really get stuff done. Here's my setup:
iPhone integrated to my CalDAV Google Calendar
ReQall to puts my To-Dos in as events on my GCal.
ReQall also IM's me with reminders.
Adium on my work computer forwards these IM's to Prowl on my iPhone.
It's been working terrifically
Brian Burns said 11:22AM on 8-26-2009
Must we review every task managing app that comes out?
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huth.sebastian said 4:19PM on 8-26-2009
Yes, we do. At least this one, due to the highly unfortunate name…
Josh said 11:27AM on 8-26-2009
If it ever gets released, SimpleTask 1.1 will be the must have GTD app on OS X. It's free too and has an iPhone counterpart.
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Josh said 11:28AM on 8-26-2009
I should mention that 1.0 is available but doesn't have enough features at the moment to be all that usable but 1.1 definitely has the needed features.
Jash Sayani said 4:17AM on 8-27-2009
If it syncs with Remember The Milk, then i'm in!
rob said 11:43AM on 8-26-2009
I'm a huge fan of DoBeDo, a free dashboard task management app:
http://www.bluehenley.com/products/dobedo/
I really like having a task management app available via the dashboard as you can just hit a button to bring it up. You can also create multiple list, sync with iCal and Entourage, and most important to me, easily sort tasks according to any number of criteria (priority, due date, or alphabetically). And of course, it's free!
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Emmy said 11:35AM on 8-26-2009
noooklearrr wessles
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MikeWard1701 said 7:58PM on 8-27-2009
Beat me to it!
Patrick said 12:23PM on 8-26-2009
Pen and a piece of paper....works every time.....takes less than 4 megs.
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Jash Sayani said 12:24PM on 8-26-2009
I use Remember The Task (AIR app): http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/marketplace/index.cfm?event=marketplace.offering&offeringid=10052&marketplaceid=1
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Schell said 5:04PM on 8-26-2009
I wonder why...
Jash Sayani said 3:49PM on 8-26-2009
@Schell: Resons:
1. Sync across devices (iPhone/Blackberry)
2. CalDav Support for Subscriptions
3. Twitter Integration
4. Multiple lists/Repeat events, etc.
I guess they are enough.
Beric said 7:06PM on 8-26-2009
I think Schell is commenting that you published the app yourself.
Jash Sayani said 4:17AM on 8-27-2009
@Beric: Because I developed it. It's just a RTM client.
anthony said 12:43PM on 8-26-2009
My favorite task manager is Text Edit. I use it on a daily basis. I have one Text Edit document sitting in my doc for easy access and keep all my work notes in there.
I sometimes use Evernote and Entourage as well.
Ironically, it seems to me most GTD apps just get in the way of getting anything done.
Reply