Review: Todo for iPad
May 24, 2010
Overview
For most of us it seems like life is more hectic today than it has ever been and there doesn't seem to be any relief in sight. Coping with the many day-to-day chores, responsibilities, and follow-ups can be challenging. Add in the tasks and projects of work and it's enough to drive anyone crazy. When you've got this much going on, keeping it all straight and remembering it all can be a great source of stress. There is relief, there is help, there's Todo for iPad. Unfortunately, Todo can't take out the trash or mow the lawn but it can remind you to do those and any other tasks you may have in your busy personal and professional life.
Features
Todo for iPad, as the name implies, is a to-do or task manager. It's based on the popular and successful Todo application for the iPhone. Todo for iPod (I'll refer to it as just Todo for the remainder of this review) is a sophisticated program that can be utilized to suit the user. It can be used quite simply or in a more sophisticated manner by digging deeper into its functionality. The choice is yours; it can be a simple task list manager or it can manage more complex projects. Todo also allows you to synchronize your tasks to other devices as well as the very popular Toodledo online to-do list manager. Todo uses a "day-planner" graphical metaphor. In other words it looks like a familiar paper day-planner or diary and it does look great. This makes it very easy to use and not intimidating at all to approach, even for a first time user. Delving further into the application reveals greater depth and a lot more functionality.
Todo allows a user to focus on what is important in their tasks. It also allows you to integrate GTD (Getting Things Done) methodology, if you desire, into your task management. The GTD methodology was invented in 1996 by David Allen and is a very popular and well known way to approach task management. This is certainly a very attractive feature for the more experienced or business user.
Todo lets you "slice and dice" your tasks many different ways allowing for easy prioritization; seeing whats important at any given time is simple. Grouping your tasks in a meaningful way is very easy and allows for more efficient use of your time. There are three major todo types in Todo: Normal, Project and Checklist. There are also five different "sub-task" types: Call a Contact, Email a Contact, SMS a Contact, Visit a Location and Visit a Website. These all integrate beautifully with the iPad. For example, Email a Contact allows the user to select a contact from the iPad contact list. When selecting that task from a to-do list the contact's email addresses are right there for easy use. Selecting the appropriate email address opens a pre-addressed blank email for composing and sending the email, you never have to leave the Todo app. This type of integration is available throughout the program and makes it easy to work efficiently.
Speaking of integration, Todo also seamlessly integrates with Notebook from Appigo and TextExpander Touch from Smile on my Mac if they are installed on the iPad.
The Breakdown
The Good Todo has a lot going for it. An easy to use, good looking and fun interface make it a program you'll utilize and refer to throughout your busy day. Great integration with other programs as well as online synching with Toodledo are available. Synching with iCal and Outlook is also easy with the free to download Appigo Synch program. Task reminders and notifications are also easy to set-up. What good is a todo list manager if you don't use it? Todo makes it easy to use it and will remind you in a variety of ways if you forget to. The Bad There really isn't much bad to say here. There is no integrated help system, you need to visit the Appigo site for online help. Fortunately the Appigo site help is well organized and it's easy to get the information you need quickly using the iPad's Safari browser. If I wanted to really nitpick I could say that the paper day-planner metaphor doesn't use screen real estate super efficiently but it is so engaging and easy to use that it really isn't a negative at all.
