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

[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:

Jott (recently out of beta) is a way to take audio notes, then have them transcribed into SMS, email, or just a web note. This truly takes my Tungsten Audio recording days to the next level.

There are a couple ways to use Jott; either the iPhone application or via an 800 number. This review will focus on the use of the iPhone app., but will touch on different ways to you can access your Jott.

Starting out

Jott is a free service with optional paid plans that allow you to take verbal notes spoken into your iPhone and have them transcribed and placed in an online todo list.

After installing Jott, you will have to create an account. Jott gives you 3 levels of service; a free level which should cover most people’s needs, and two paid levels. The main differences between levels include the length of a recorded note and the ability to have these transcribed notes sent to you via email.

After you have logged in you can begin using Jott right away. The applications’ home screen has a visual recorder. Simply tap it to begin recording. The screen turns red on the top and bottom telling you that you have begun recording. You have 15 seconds to record your note. If you end earlier, simply tap the screen to stop. Afterwards you MUST stay in the application for your note to be uploaded to Jotts servers for transcription.

I’ve recorded a note, what next?

It takes a little time to transcribe your note; somewhere between 3 and 15 minutes. Afterwards, you note will appear in the “Notes” tab on the bottom of the application. From here, you can see the transcribed notes from today, yesterday, etc. If a note is not done transcribing, the software tells you to check back in a few minutes. You can tap any Jott to read it. Once you have read the Jott you can move it to a folder (your defaults are Home and Work), delete it, or mark it as “done”. You can also make a new list at any time by tapping Edit in the top left corner of the application. You can then move and organize your Jotts as needed.

If you prefer to type out a Jott, you can do that too by simply tapping the ABC icon located in the top right of the screen. Your typed note gets uploaded to Jotts servers along with your transcribed Jotts.

Conclusion

I like Jott a lot. It really comes in handy when you can’t type out a todo or reminder; Jott is there to save the day. The ability to use Jott as an actual todo list is quite helpful as well since Apple does not have any built-in software to accomplish this task. It is important to note, that once you have an account created, you can Jott by calling their 800 number and via the web and their Adobe Air application. Using these tools, you can access your Jotts just about anywhere. I have also been very pleased with the quality of the transcription. I speak relatively fast and Jott picks up most everything very well. Kudos to Jott!

If I had to find an Achilles heel with Jott it would have to be that in order to use the service, you really have to be online. So, for example, you are using this app with an iPod Touch and have no Wi-Fi, it is essentially useless to you. Once you record your Jott, Jott wants to begin the upload immediately for transcription. If you are using it with your iPhone, the fact that the Jott cannot be sent in the background can be quite frustrating as using an EDGE connection can take upwards of 2-4 minutes to upload. If you exit the app and come back, it starts all over again.

All in all though, this is a great app, especially since it is free. There are other todo applications out there, but they are just that, todo tools and they don’t really offer much in terms of voice note. If you are looking for a melding of traditional todos with voice notes, this is a great option. The todo functionality is not as strong as it could be, but it is enough for basic needs.

Ratings (out of 5)

• Look and Feel: 4
• Navigation: 5
• Features: 4
• Reliability: 4
• Overall: 4.25

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Take a note anywhere
• Touch or talk- two ways to enter data
• Many ways to access your Jotts

Cons:

• Uploading over EDGE is painful
• You have to stay “in the app” to upload
• 15 seconds on the free service might be too short for some

BONUS: Here is a video discussing how Jott works!

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!