Daily iPad App: 2Do
I'm not exactly the paradigm of organization -- it took me years to get a regular calendar set up and working, my email inbox is usually a mess of various reminders and things that need replying to, and my present to-do system is usually just whatever piece of paper I can grab in real life and scribble some tasks on.
But I do want to be more organized, and so when I finally bought my iPad last week, I poked around the App Store for solutions and tried to find one that 1) was easy to use and pleasing to the eye and that 2) I would actually stick with. Things is generally recognized as the champion of the bunch, and it's very nice, but at $19.99, it's an investment as iPad apps go, especially if you're not sure how long you'll stick with it. At $6.99, 2Do is a more reasonable place to start, and after playing around with it and a few other to-do apps, it's currently my system of choice.
Before I get into specific features, I will say that the most exciting thing about 2Do is that it does what all great iPad apps should: really use the immersiveness of the device to model real-world objects and situations. As you can see above, the app is color-coded by project, and uses a nice "legal pad in a leather binder" theme to keep everything laid out. One of the biggest benefits of 2Do is that rather than just an arbitrary list of tasks, everything can be assigned a start date and a due date, so you're not just laying out things you need to do -- you're actually organizing them into a calendar that you can then filter views from, looking at only the tasks for today, tasks in the next week, and so on.
Creating a task is as easy or as hard as you want to make it -- you can either just press the + button and type a name in, or you can go through and add the aforementioned dates, notes, alarms, or even voice notes, map locations, and pictures or URL to the specific task. You can also create checklists or full projects to work on, which are lists of subtasks to work through that have their own date and data associated with them. Checking a task off is satisfying, as it should be -- a little pencil pops up to cross it off your list, and all of the tasks you've finished can be seen in the "Done" tab (unlike other apps, which will just remove them off the list completely).
The app is very easy and quick to use -- the only hitch I ever came across was when the keyboard sometimes popped up in portrait mode, and would cover up the "Close" button on the bottom of the task editing screen. Putting it at the top of the task seems like it would be a better option, and a little easier to find, in my opinion. But other than that little issue, everything runs smoothly, and there are some really cool implementations (like selecting multiple days on the calendar to see all tasks associated with those days, or an actual clock-faced time selector) to play with.
2Do will sync up with MobileMe (and presumably iCloud with iOS 5), the Toodledo service, or with your PC or Mac via a sync application, and all of the extras that you'd expect in a full-featured to-do app (like email alarms and repeated reminders) are all there as well. There's an update coming soon, too, with even more features and tweaks to the layout. It's definitely a quality app with a solid interface, and an excellent choice for anyone looking to get organized.
As for me, let's hope I stick with it -- I'm not sure I've quite mapped my mind to 2Do's system quite yet, but I'm working on it. The app itself is a great tool, but it's up to me to make good use of it.
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I'm not exactly the paradigm of organization -- it took me years to get a regular calendar set up and working, my email inbox is...
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Dave
On my side I have an Ipad since day 1, have been using a lot Evernote for its syncing capabilities but it lacks meetings oriented feature such as actions, to-do and follow-up.
I'm always looking for a replacement App as I think we could gain a lot of time if it was done correctly.
I've tested nearly every notes / todo app on the Appstore in 2 years, I have to admit I'm still amazed how difficult they are to use in a work environment.
I just discovered http://www.beesapps.com/beesy-ipad-to-do, an iPad To-Do app , that seems to have understand note taking from a business perspective. I tried it for a few days and for the moment I'm quite thrilled, even a bit too powerful at the beginning.
I particularly love the fast and nice Icons to add different kind of notes / actions and the instant meeting minutes you can send.
Another great thing I've been appreciating: it reuses my notes / tasks from the meeting in the To-Do manager, yes you read correctly ! Huge time saver.
Only drawback so far: a few glitches here and there, but nothing compromising the use of the App and the lack of iPhone sync at the moment but the devs at http://www.beesapps.com said they're on it for a future release.
Yes, quite right, 2Do will also sync with iCloud.
And the next update, which has been sitting with Apple since mid-September, includes a major streamlining of the sync process - it runs unobtrusively with just a little progress area at the top of the screen; users can continue to work in the app even when the sync takes place, but of course any changes made after the sync starts will have to wait for the next sync. I speak firsthand about this, as I helped beta this latest version. Users are definitely going to love it!
Just a note about Kelmon's comment: 2Do offers a universal app for the price of $6.99; Mike highlighted the iPad app in this article, and did a great job of showing his readers how the app is optimized for the iPad. The iPhone version looks different on-screen because of the smaller size of the screen, but features are pretty much identical. I don't know many people who are disappointed in this app after their purchase.
I love this app. It's the best To-do app I've tried, and I've tried a lot of them. If I want a free one then Wunderlist is my follow-up.
October 12 2011 at 10:05 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI went with Todo instead (http://www.appigo.com/) because they offered both iPhone and iPad versions of the software plus a web application ($20 per year) that syncs with each of the clients. There is a Mac version of the application but given the web application I don't think this is necessary and they want $30.00 for it, which is a bit steep considering the mobile versions are arguable more featured and they only cost $5.00. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. I do own 2Do but switched to Todo for the web application in order to access the service at work on my Windows PC.
October 12 2011 at 6:59 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI went through the same process as the writer about six weeks ago: I recognised I needed to be more organised, looked at a few apps, but in the end took a leap of faith and bought 2Do. I'm very glad I did. I use it on iPad and iPhone and sync using Toodledo on my desktop. (I tried the sync application but found it tricky.)
2Do does everything I want it to and has changed my working (and domestic) life significantly for the better. Very highly recommended.
AhmedI
Would be better if it had a desktop based application, too.
October 12 2011 at 1:39 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replybeen using this app on my iphone and my ipad for some time now. love it. have never been so organized!
October 11 2011 at 9:35 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI think you meant "paragon of organization."
October 11 2011 at 6:13 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI used to use Things, then switched to 2do about 1 1/2 years ago. 2do absolutely kills Things, which gets by more because its marketing and looks than its functionality. I can't recommend this one enough.
October 11 2011 at 5:27 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI think you mean "paragon" instead of "paradigm."
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