I run a company called PXLFIX locally and we specialize in iOS device repair, web development, and consulting. I rely on my iPhone everyday to not only keep my appointments and consultations straight, but as a tool to manage all aspects of my work life. Every iOS upgrade has made it easier and easier to stay organized. And where iOS fails, many third party apps have stepped up to the challenge quite well.

Client management

This is one of the most important aspects of my business. I need a way to sort through contacts and organize them efficiently. Fortunately iOS makes this task easy. I’ve made groups within my Mac address book that will sync across all my computers, iPhones, and iPads.

The ability to be able to send contact cards to clients and business partners is also extremely important. With my iPhone I can simply send a contact card via text or e-mail. I use contact cards not only to store ways to contact a client but notes that I may want to remember later.

Task Management

I’ve always depended on apps like Things or ToDo by Appigo to handle projects and task lists. Since the introduction of Reminders in iOS 5 my habits have changed a bit since Apple has made it even easier to handle tasks without the use of third party apps.

I’m also a die hard iCal user. I frequently use shared calendars and sync all of them across all my devices so I can access any of my information from any computer, iPhone, or iPad. I always had issues doing this back in my BlackBerry days. Either calendars never stayed synced or there was no easy cloud syncing option for Mac users. That’s changed a bit since then but I still find that my iOS has offered better solutions than most other mobile platforms.

Working on the go

Besides using my iPhone for wireless hotspot tethering I have a tendency to need to work on the go or while traveling. Between my MacBook Pro, iPad, and iPhone this has never been easier. When it comes to web development I can use HTML and PHP editor apps on my iPad to make changes to client’s websites on the go. I can also develop websites on my iPad and easily pick up where I left off when I get back to my office on my iMac.

I also use apps such as LogMeIn Ignition from my iPad and iPhone while on the go. If I ever forget to save a file to my Dropbox or Box.net account I can easily access it from anywhere as my iMac is always connected to the internet. Long gone are the days of forgetting files and documents or transferring them via physical media devices.

I can even balance our books and do our accounting functions on the go with QuickBooks mobile. So whether I’m in the office or traveling I always know where we stand and what’s going on back at home.

Payment systems

As a small business we use Square in order to accept credit card payments from clients. The adapter will plug in to my iPhone or iPad and allow me to accept payments on location or from the office. As long as I have a wifi or cellular connection I’m good to go. This is extremely important considering the nature of our business and the need to sometimes take payments at a client’s location instead of our own. This has never been easier with systems like Square or Intuit GoPayments for iPhone and iPad.

Overall workflow

We are a company that has instituted an all Apple eco-system. While our solutions may not work for everyone my iPhone is not only a device I enjoy using but one I heavily depend on to conduct business on an everyday basis. Everything from my reminders to my appointments to my client management and file systems can all be accessed and updated from my iPhone. And where there isn’t a built-in iOS feature to meet my needs I’ve found third party apps that fill that gap.

My iPhone makes my life easier and more stress free on a regular basis when it comes to business. The best part is after the work day is over I can also use my iPhone for play. It really is an all around work and play device that I depend on in several ways each and every day.

As a side note, we will be offering mail-in repairs sooner rather than later. We also do Twitter and Facebook giveaways from time to time as well. You can check us out on our website or on Twitter and FaceBook in the mean time!

Installed iOS 5 and the brand new Reminders app that comes built-in, and wondering how to create one of those fancy new location-based Reminders. Luckily, once you’re inside the Reminders app it’s dead simple to add a task. From there it’s super simple to add a location based reminder.

Note: Location based Reminders only work with Lists in your iCloud Reminders account. Exchange Task List can’t use location based reminders. Make sure you’ve enabled iCloud and iCloud Reminders sync first.

1. First tap into the Reminders app and click the + sign in the upper right hand corner to add a new reminder (or you can simply use an existing reminder and add a location to it).
2. By default the Reminders app just functions as a checklist of sorts with no default reminder time. To change this, tap into the reminder you just created or an already existing reminder.

3. Under the reminder name tap into Remind Me.

4. From there you have two reminder options – On a Day or At a Location. In this instance, you’ll want to toggle At a Location to On.
5. You can choose to have that reminder set for your current location or you can tap in and use any address you’d like.
6. Once that’s done you can choose whether you want the reminder to notify you when you leave or when you arrive at the location you specified in the previous step.
7. Tap Done in the upper right hand corner and you’re good to go!

When you arrive or leave the location you specified, you should receive a push notification.

Now, in my experience location based reminders seem to cause a bit of battery drain considering location services has to check consistently for your position. Keep that in mind and use time based Reminders when you can instead.

Have any other Reminders tips to share? Smart ways you’ve figured out to use it? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

There are hundreds of thousands of iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps for just about everything — so how come the one you need, the one you know just has to be there, is so hard to find? Enter TiPb’s new weekly feature where staff and readers alike sort through the App Store and help you find just the right App for That. This week, Jeremy asks:

Is there an app that would allow me, an iPhone 4 user, and my wife, an Android user, to share a task list? Help!

To see our solution for Jeremy, follow along after the break!

Wunderlist [Free - iTunes link] is a task management app that syncs between iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, and Windows. Syncing is seamless and in the cloud. If you’re concerned about security, Wunderlist has got you covered with SSL 128 bit encryption over HTTPS.

Once you sign up with a free account and download the apps onto your desired devices, you’re ready to start sharing lists – and with push notifications, you’ll never forget what you need to do.

Not only does Wunderlist have great functionality, but it looks good at the same time. You can even choose between different backgrounds to customize the app to fit your personality. Perhaps shopping is a chore, but you’ll love crossing things off your Wunderlist!

Anyone else have any App for That suggestions for Jeremy? Let him — and all of us — know in the comments.

[wunderkinder]

Having trouble finding what you need in the app store? Send us an email to iosapps@tipb.com and let us know what you’re looking for, and we’ll do our best to find you just the right App for That!

Since Apple is going to introduce a built in Reminders app with iOS 5 it’s a good time to pause and take stock and ask you, the TiPb nation, how you’re handling tasks and todos on your iPhone today? Do you just dump everything into the built in Notes app? Do you use a simple list making and reminder app like Rene’s favorites, SimpleNote and Due? Are you an Evernote nerd like Seth and Chad? Or do you use a full on getting things done app like Appigo Todo or OmniFocus?

Do you sync your tasks between iPhone and desktop? iPhone and the cloud? iPhone and other iOS devices like iPad? If you have an iPad as well, do you use a different system or different apps on it than you do on iPhone?

Do you keep every little thing in your todo list, just the big things, or just things you’re particularly bad about remembers (i.e. don’t want to do?) Do you (or will you) use location-based reminders? Once you’ve set up your perfect task management system, do you find you actually use it?

And no matter what you do now, do you see yourself switching to Apple’s built-in Reminders when it comes out this fall?

Let me know — how do you keep track of tasks on your iPhone?

By now you probably know that I am big into productivity apps and I am always looking for the next big thing. I use a lot of task management apps on the iPad, and there are some great ones for sure. However, I have just come across the ultimate task management app for your iPad; OmniFocus. This is, without a doubt the best app for utilizing David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” (GTD) methodology. What makes this app stand out so much are three things: good design, Forecast and Review. But, I am probably getting ahead of myself. Let’s start at the beginning. Note, a lot of the features I am going to discuss are not unique to OmniFocus, but I think it is fair to describe them so you know what is contained in GTD and can get a better grasp for how it is used. For this review I literally rebuilt my tasks in the app form scratch except for the made-up Inbox screenshot below. I had to do that since I am already organized

Gather your stuff

Organize

On the OmiFocus sidebar located on the right of the screen in landscape or the overlap menu in portrait contains the link for creating projects. Once you tap it, you are presented with a screen that displays what projects you have. If you don’t have any, tap the plus sign in the top right. A project can have a few different types: Sequential, Parallel and Single. Sequential means that the project you are about to start follows the typical finish-start task relationship in project management. So, back to my previous painting the house example, you must finish buying the paint before you start to paint the house. Parallel means that the tasks do not have to have a specific order. For example, I have bills due this month, it doesn’t matter when I pay them as long as they are paid by the 30th. Last we have Single. Single is used if there really is a single task to your project, or, how  I use it, a general grouping of unrelated tasks that fall under a bigger more general umbrella like “Personal” or “Work”. Hmm, let’s talk about those bigger umbrellas now.

Once you have projects outlined you can group them together into logical areas of your life. Tap the plus button in the top left and choose folder. Some examples of my folders include: Personal, TiPb and a couple of work-related folders- that’s it. Every project, every task in my life can be put into projects within these folders.

Now, to maximize your time completing tasks within your projects, you can use what are called Contexts. Think of a context as a way to virtually group your tasks into a place or method of communicating. For example, I have an errands context I assign to tasks that I need to do while I am out shopping. I have an email context for when, if I am doing email, I can get those specific tasks completed and so on. But what is the best part about contexts in OmniFocus? You can create location- based contexts! For example, I create a location context for Starbucks (where I do most of my writing). I assign that context to tasks I need to get done when I am at Starbucks. When I arrive, I tap on that context and using the iPad’s location services, it finds my location and tell me relevant tasks that I have selected that need to be done in this location. Another example might be creating a context for different office locations at work. I need to speak to certain people at a location. I assign that location context to a task and OmniFocus only shows me contexts for that location.

At this point things might start to sound a little overwhelming. I mean, you have a billion tasks with a million projects, even with contexts and due dates, how do you keep it all in order? That is where OmniFocus really shines. Where other task management apps end, the power of OmniFocus really shows it’s stuff.

First, you can filter your projects and tasks by seeing only what is the very next action (task) in each project to be completed, see what tasks are available across projects (even items that are on Hold, more on that in a minute), what active tasks are remaining and all of your tasks. You can easily focus on specific projects by tapping and holding on the title. It magically makes the other projects go away so you can focus on the project or task at hand. Using the same method, you can quickly expand all or collapse all to make viewing even easier.

Forecast and Reviews

Review allows you to literally review your projects on a weekly basis. You can change this interval to another time, but I think one week works well. This is so incredibly useful. It acts like a reminder, but without nagging. You can review your project, add tasks, adjust due dates and more knowing that in a week, it will be time to review these projects again. Of course this is something you should be doing anyway, but building it into the app was pure genius.  You can do more than just marking  a project complete. You can change the status of the project to Active (which is the default), On Hold (if you don’t know when you will complete it or need more information), Completed (Yeah, it’s done. Think if it like you are archiving the completed project) and Dropped (Canceled).

Syncing and conclusion

I did not cover every aspect of OmniFocus here (yes, there is more…) but I think you have a good indication of what it does and how well it does it. Oh, and did I mention it’s pretty with a cool app icon? Those are great bonuses, but this is clearly leaps and bounds ahead of what else is out there and our patience for this app release has truly been rewarded; thanks OmniFocus. It would be nice if there was a lite version of this app as the $39.99 price might be too steep from some. However, if you use the GTD methodology, then you are probably already hooked.

[$39.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Beautiful, intuitive design
• Workflow to add tasks is painless
• Multiple organization options
• Different sync options

Cons

• Expensive
• No way to sync to the web via a website (like Toodledo)
• No lite version is available for users to try before buying

Appigo’s Todo for iPad complements their existing Todo for iPhone app very well and if you already use Todo for iPhone, you will be quite pleased with the iPad version. If not, you’ll certainly appreciate Todo for iPad on its own merits.

One of the first things you will notice is the aesthetic; Appigo went for a traditional three ring binder look and feel. You can change the color of the binder, paper and rings in the settings menu. Appigo promises more themes in a future update.

Outside of looking pretty, Todo gets the job done just like its iPhone cousin. You can create a your standard task, project, checklist, contact or website. If you are a Getting Things Done (GTD) user, you will be happy to know that @contexts as well as tags are supported. Holding the iPad in landscape gives you full view of all your task information. On the left side you have your lists, Inbox, Starred and Focus list. Let’s discuss this in a little more detail.

Inbox is where tasks go that you have not assigned to a list yet. They just kind of hang out there till you move them, they can stay there, it is all up to your own workflow. Starred tasks are a way to flag a task. I use this functionality to star any items I want to do today, regardless of due date. Focus list allows you to create a dynamic list based on filters. Maybe you want to only see tasks with a due date of one week from now. You can do this with the Focus list.

If you are like me, you have a bunch of tasks you have given an arbitrary due date to, and inevitably that date slips. You can very quickly and easily move these items to another list, simply reschedule or reassign to a context in bulk with Todo.

For me the biggest benefit with Todo is online synchronization. Sure you can sync via Wi-Fi from your desktop with iCal, but for me it has to be the ability to sync with the excellent free service Toodledo [link]. I have used all of the other major task apps that sync and currently they all sync via the desktop through Wi-Fi. This can be very frustrating for me. During the day I may add a task only on the iPhone, complete a task on the iPad, but there is no way to merge them together till I get home. By Appigo partnering with Toodledo, I get free over-the-air (OTA) syncing and web-based management of my tasks from any web browser when I am not near my iPhone or iPad.

I find few faults with this application and I am so glad it is finally available. The functionality and price cannot be beaten. Checkout the video and pictures below!

[$4.99- iTunes link].

Pros

• Beautiful
• Themes
• OTA syncing
• Bulk editing for time and lists
• Different types of tasks (project, contact, etc.)
• GTD contacts and tags
• Search tasks

Cons

• Slow startup time
• List colors don’t sync from device to device

Once upon a time, all of the basic features that we use a smartphone for were previously handled by the standard PDA, and before that, pen and paper. I used to carry the FranklinCovey planner system with me, where I faithfully checked off my task list as I completed them. FranklinCovey has done well to embrace the digital age, and now they have a Task app in Apple’s App Store – FCmobilelife can be found here for $5.99.

Given there seems to be as many task and to-do apps as there are fart apps, how well does FranklinCovey’s FCmobilelife Tasks hold up? Will it help you prioritize and get things done? Read on for a quick review!

Under The Hood

FCmobilelife uses the proven FranklinCovey methodology for creating tasks and prioritizing them in a way that will increase efficiency in getting things done. It takes advantage of the easy-to-use iPhone interface by delivering an attractive interface for managing your personal and business tasks.

Like the FranklinCovey paper version before it, FCmobilelife allows you to input a task and rank it using the ABC-123 system of prioritization, but this is just scratching the surface of it’s capability. You can also add notes to your tasks to really flesh them out and give them more detail, if needed. The app provides a means of tracking due dates of tasks, assigning categories, and create recurring tasks using the Complete-and-Forward feature.

The use of spoken tasks and managing attachments really beef up this app, and to make things easier, you can simply drag and drop a task to instantly reposition it for a higher or lower priority based on your changing priorities. The beauty of this app is that it’s as powerful or simple as you want it to be. If you want to simply create a to-do list each day and check them off as you go, then it’s easy as pie to set up your tasks. If, on the other hand, you want to add attachments (photos), voice record your task, add due dates and categorize your tasks, you have everything you need in this app to be a power user.

FCmobilelife is quite polished and easy to use, but there are a couple minor problems I have with this app. First, it can be a bit sluggish when changing to different views and, most notably, when scrolling through a list. The animated transitions are nice from screen to screen, but I’d like to see it happen with a bit more speed. Also, if you want a simple to-do app without the prioritization, this app is not the best for that kind of simplicity. It would be nice if there were either a 4th view for a bare-bones to-do list, or an option to disable the minimum two-step process of entering tasks when using the Master list view.

A Quick Run-Through

Before dropping down your $5.99 for this app, take a look at the demo video that FranklinCovey has put together on YouTube. It gives you a nice walk-through of this app so you can get a good sense of it’s capabilities.

To summarize the video, FCmobilelife has several views to choose from: Today, Plan, and Master views. The Today view gives you a look at current due tasks in order of priority – A (vital), B (important), and C (optional) tasks. Under each priority, the tasks are further prioritized by numbering 1, 2, 3 and so on. The Plan view presents a list of tasks also sorted by priority, but condenses your task list into an easier view for all your items. The Master list view are tasks that have not been designated a due date or priority. This view is great for entering tasks on the fly that you want to return to and prioritize later.

All past due items can be moved forward to the next day with the press of a button. If you wish to sort your tasks differently, then just press the “Sort” button at the top left and then drag items to a higher or lower priority, or even delete them. When creating a task, you can name it and assign a priority and due date. Spoken tasks are also great when you don’t have the means or time for entering text. Completed tasks are automatically archived for you by date, so you can always go back and view your accomplishments.

Conclusion

FCmobilelife is a great app for those looking for a fairly simple way of managing tasks or the power user who is steeped in FranklinCovey’s culture and methodology for prioritization. The interface is polished and the features are powerful. The need for a little more snappiness and the lack of a bare-bones task creation option is just enough to prevent me from awarding a 5-star rating, but I can definitely recommend 4 stars. Give the demo video a look – if you want a solid task manager, then $5.99 isn’t much to pay for a winner like FCmobilelife.

Pros

• Packed with features
• Simple, polished user interface
• Voice tasks
• Filtering mechanism and recurring tasks
• Photo attachments

Cons

• Sluggish list scrolling and transitions
• No “bare-bones” way to create simple to-do’s

[Video note: Interesting to see the Google iPhone in the video above is missing the iTunes and App Store icons... and the YouTube App (YouTube being, you know, owned by Google). Google Mobile App got a prime spot though!]

Still catching up on the Google news, and this one is more confusing to us then most. A while back we mentioned — regretfully — that Google had stopped offering their iPhone optimized version of iGoogle because, to be blunt, they wanted to offer every handset a similar experience and few other handsets could match the quality of the iPhone version.

Now, however, Google has announced that while they aren’t bringing the iGoogle page back, they are adding an iPhone optimized version of their bare-bones Gmail Tasks WebApp:

starting today, you can manage your task list from your iPhone or Android device, and access it from any xhtml enabled phone. (Mine’s always with me, in whichever jeans I’m wearing.) Just go to gmail.com/tasks from your phone’s browser and log in. If you already use the version of Tasks in Gmail Labs, you’ll see the same task list that’s always in sync. We focused on making it super easy and fast to update your Gmail task list — you can add new tasks and check off completed ones, no matter where you are (like in a meeting or at the grocery store) even when you’re in the bathroom.

Inconsistent but potentially appreciated. But will Tasks on the iPhone be the glory of Gmail email, or the fail of Gmail contacts? Anyone tried this out yet? Let us know how it works for you!

[This is a TiPb AT WORK App vs. App Review! Last week, it was the Instant Messenger Showdown, with BeeJiveIM squeaking out the victory. But which blog commenter won a copy of the winning IM App? mr. Hi-Definition Congratulations!

This week, the TiPb iPhone Forums voted on their favorite Task/To Do Apps, we took the top two, and now they're going head-to-head. But wait -- there's more! One of the forum voters has already won a copy of the winning App... Congrats coreymol! Want another chance to win? COMMENT BELOW! and make sure you leave a valid email address in the comment form -- it won't be made public, but it will be used to contact you if you win! Check out the full contest details, then grab your iPhone and get ready to get things done -- the TiPb AT WORK Task/Do To Showdown is on!]

I use my iPhone all the time. At work or play, it completes me. I have a few gripes (no sense beating the cut/copy/paste dead horse) – there are some glaring omissions that make it difficult for people to take the iPhone seriously for business or just everyday productivity.

Some kind of sync-able task or to-do list is such a basic feature, and fortunately, the advent of 3rd party apps have made it possible for developers to provide a plethora of apps to remedy this deficiency. The two apps that you folks in the forum picked for this TiPb AT WORK smackdown is Things and Appigo’s Todo. Users have given them both a 4-star rating in the App Store and, quite honestly, it’s a VERY close call to me.

Which of these two get-er-done apps are the best? How do they stack up? Read on!

First Impressions

Things, available in the App Store for $9.99, is a task app that promotes it’s simplicity to use and offers a time-based and priority-based approach. The interface is clean and easy to use, with customization for creating specific task lists. A desktop sync app is also available as a separate download from the main site. The simplicity of the interface and layout of tasks by order of priority and project is very appealing at first glance.

Appigo’s Todo is also sold for $9.99 in the App Store and has a simple interface that allows for the creation of task lists and setting priority of importance and due dates for tasks. Rather than provide a desktop syncing app separately, Todo will sync online with either ToodleDo or Remember The Milk, both of which are popular web apps for the iPhone.

The Same, But Different

Both Things and Todo offer similar functionality in giving you the ability to manage tasks/to-do’s on your iPhone. They both have ways to sync your tasks in a location other than your iPhone. They both allow creation of multiple task lists. Both have an “In-Box” to hold hastily created tasks that you can add detail in the future, like categorization, priority, scheduling, and notes. Both have a nice, easy, and clean interface. There are differences though, and the differences just might give one an edge over the other, but this “edge” may also just boil down to personal taste.

Things

Things is the task app that gives you a timeline/priority approach to managing your tasks. First, you have your Today items – obviously, the items that need to be done today and not tomorrow! These are tasks that you have entered to be completed for the day or are scheduled tasks that have become due. The Next list contains single to-do items and also action steps from active projects. These are the tasks you will do as soon as you can get to them. If the Today items give you a up-close look at your tasks, the Next list is taking a step back and seeing things from the 100 foot view.

Scheduled items are things you will do in the future. These are tasks you will begin at a later date, and as the date arrives, they will show up in your Today view. This may be like looking at your tasks from the 1,000 foot level.

The Someday box is where you place the things you want to do someday, no specific date required. Store your dreams here, if you want. It is like the 10,000 foot view of your tasks – no pressure, just a place to capture your ideas for more shaping and molding.

Things makes it easy to move tasks from one box to another. Then, as you complete tasks, they will appear in your Logbook so you can review the completed items later.

A nice touch is the “+” icon located at the bottom left of each screen. This app wants to make sure that adding tasks at any time is easy and straight-forward. Just hit that “+” icon no matter what you are doing and you can enter a quick task that will sit in your Inbox until you can give it more specificity later. Cool!

Right now, you can download a functioning desktop app that allows you to wirelessly sync your tasks between your iPhone and Things. In the future, this desktop app will be on the pricey side: $39.99 for those that register before the official release, and $49.99 for the johnny-come-latelys. However, if you are a big-time to-do/task person, this is a good investment. You will have a stand-alone app on your desktop that is married to the app on your iPhone so you can both backup your tasks as well as enter them easily from your desktop.

Appigo’s Todo

Todo takes a different approach to syncing. Rather than a desktop app and the additional expense that goes with it, their app syncs online with both Toodledo and Remember The Milk, two popular web apps. The upside to this is that these apps are free and are available to you anywhere you have an internet connection. The bad news is you need an internet connection or you aren’t syncing, period.

Multiple task lists and projects are also available on Todo. You can create repeating tasks, prioritize tasks, and also create tasks quickly that are placed in your Inbox for adding detail later. You can view all important tasks by setting the filter to “All Lists” so you can knock out those urgent tasks no matter what category they are in or project the are a part of.

Another very useful feature offered in Todo is the linking of tasks to contacts and websites. If you need to call someone or send them an email, you can do some right from a task. You can also share tasks by sending them via email. This adds a very useful dimension to your task list when you can link straight to a contact for a call, email, or visiting a related web site.

And The Winner Is….

Both Appigo’s Todo and Things are excellent choices to manage your tasks. They bear several similarities and are available for the same price. The winner is really …. you! In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with either app and so it’s really up to your personal tastes. The desktop syncing app for Things is a little pricey, but for some of you it may be worth it to have local syncing that isn’t dependent on having an internet connection. For others, spending another $39.99 or $49.99 is NOT a good deal when you can have online syncing for free with Appigo’s Todo.

If you need multiple task lists, projects, an Inbox for lighting-fast task entry, and task prioritization, then it’s hard to choose. The differences reside in the syncing methods and some personal touches in customization (using custom strike-throughs in Todo or the prioritizing method in Things, for instance).

Since I get to choose, my personal favorite is Things because it gives me the option of syncing with a desktop app, which I find more convenient than using a web app. Things also seems a little simpler and straight-forward to me, something I really value in a task manager. I like that I can be very specific with urgent items or just dump ideas for later thought in the “someday” bin. But like I said before, regardless of which app YOU choose, they are both winners.

Things Rating:

Appigo’s Todo Rating:

Although the current iPhone does many things, it does fall short in some glaring ways.  Managing tasks, for example, has been discussed both in forums and in TiPB podcasts.  Perhaps Apple refuses to provide a means of managing tasks because they believe an iPhone user will have little time left for anything else in life other than surfing the web on Safari, watching movies and listening to tunes in iPod, Google Mapping, etc.?  Speculation for this exclusion may abound, but fortunately, we’ve got you covered with this week’s Tip.

If you haven’t been checking out the new Web Apps lately, then you may have missed a little gem called Getting Tasks Done!, available here!  Read more about managing your tasks on the iPhone following the break!

Getting Tasks Done!, by Volodymyr Sergeyev, is one way that you can manage your tasks (‘to-do list’, if you will) on your iPhone.  With the ability to accept unlimited tasks and projects, you can probably list more things that you need to do than you can get done!  To get started, just go to the site and set up an account for free.  Once you have an account set up, you can login and start tasking!

Some great features are included in this web app:  sharing tasks with family, friends and co-workers; archiving of tasks and projects; accessible 24/7 via the internet; even a daily motivational quote or phrase to inspire you to get your tasks done!

One of the criticisms of web apps are the requirement of having an internet connection; no connection, no app.  This is one reason why resident apps are more appealing to many — if you have juice on your iPhone, you can use the app.  However, Getting Tasks Done! will also work offline.  If you don’t have an internet connection, you can still work on your tasks offline and they will sync with the server when you are online again.  Sweet!

As you can see on the left here, you can “Add task”, “Archive” your completed tasks, “Work offline”, “Hot tasks”, and even “Share tasks” with others.

Once you’ve completed a task, just check the box and move on to the next one.  I always find the checking-of-the-box part to be very rewarding because it gives me a sense of accomplishment.  There are few things better than completing a task, checking the box, and getting back to some Safari surfing, YouTube’ing and iPod’ing!

Check out Getting Tasks Done! and start getting things done!  

That’s it for this week’s Tip.  If you have a tip of your own that you would like to share with the rest of us, please leave a Comment or you can email me at: brian.hart@phonedifferent.com.

Disclaimer:  Tip o’ the Week makes no guarantee, express or implied, that any tip found herein will be new or particularly useful to the reader (and now that you have a Tip about a good task manager for your iPhone, we certainly can’t guarantee you’ll get things done.  Just remember this: Nothing makes you more productive than the last minute.  Try that out on your boss!).

iPhone hacker extraordinaire Erica Sadun was poking around the calendar database on her iPhone and found some encouraging tables:

CREATE TABLE Task (ROWID INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT, summary TEXT, priority INTEGER, duedate INTEGER, completiondate INTEGER, calendar_id INTEGER);. – - (TUAW)

Full support for Tasks/ToDos is a basic feature and one that may be holding back many business users from fully embracing the iPhone. Here’s to hoping that we’ll see a 1.2 update very soon with full support not only for native apps, but a brand new ToDo app as well. Viva la February!