In an earlier post we suggested that you take some time to think through how you will be using your iPhone or Touch day to day. How will it fit into your life and make a positive impact.
Everyone keeps some sort of check list so they can see how they are progressing towards the finish line of things to get done.
For the iPhone, there are ToDo apps that keep your ToDo items on your iPhone as a silo, there are ToDo apps for the iPhone that sync to a desktop application over a WiFi network, and there are ToDo apps that sync to a ToDo list Web site (some of these site options will sync to a desktop app as well).
Here we will run through that last one… where you have a Web site (accessible for Macs and PCs) that will sync to a iPhone app. In this case, you can still view, edit, add and delete ToDo items without having your iPhone connected online (handy for bad cell reception areas and plane trips), then sync up the next time you can. I have added links to the application mentions below so you can see the developer’s longer description. Clicking on a link will launch iTunes and connect to Apple.
The Web side is rememberthemilk.com – catchy name, no question what is it for. The technology this site provides is extensive ToDo list management and a full selection of conduits so many different devices can view and edit the lists. The service has a free version of the site that you can view with the browser in the iPhone / Touch, but that option does not all for offline adds/edits. To use rememberthemilk with either of the iPhone app options, you will need the $25 per year ‘Pro’ version.
On the iPhone side, you have two options. A free application released by rememberthemilk themselves is RTM. Or, you can pay a couple dollars for a much more feature rich application from Appigo. Both are very usable and both use the features built into the rememberthemilk site. RTM may increase their iPhone app features over time but for now the Appigo option lets you more finely tune the particular items in your list.
Both provide you a overview of your ToDo lists that can be scrolled up/down as the lists grow. (left is RTM, right is Appigo). Each have their own view on what is important to the users. RTM has multiple time view options along the bottom – Appigo’s bottom line options are more around managing the particulars of lists.
Selecting a list will result in a new screen showing the items ToDo. RTM (again, left) is very light on the information so it allows for a quick review of your lists. Appigo adds many more information bits to each ToDo item line so you do not need to open the ToDo but this feature means less ToDos showing on the screen at one time.
Both offer a ‘+’ to add a new item to your list – allowing for fine tuning at that time or later. Appigo does off a fast add (the + with little lightning bolt) – tap to enter just the ToDo item name using the default settings.
Finally getting to the actual ToDo particulars. RTM makes maximum use of screen by fitting as much info into each item settings button as possible. Appigo has a less of a utility look, choosing to take up more room spanning across two screens.
Both sync to the Web site either automatically or manually. In fact, you could have both installed on the same iPhone / Touch since only would be open at a time. Not sure why you would want to… different views are better for your different lists?
For Mac users, you can download a Widget from the Apple site called “Remember the Moof”. This widget requires a Internet connection to work, it does not keep your ToDo lists local to your desktop. It is much faster than launching the site on your desktop browser when you need to add/edit/remove ToDo items.