Task Management And Collaboration Make The Perfect Duet In Orchestra To-Do
Orchestra To-do (Free) by Orchestra, Inc. is a task manager app with a beautiful interface and many useful functions, including the sharing and assigning of different tasks.
Upon opening the app, you are asked to log in or sign up for an account. It's completely painless and takes only a few seconds. Small pop-ups, as a kind of tutorial, will show you around the app initially so you can get the hang of it. It's very straight forward; anyone can use this app easily.
Tap the task button on the bottom, in the middle, to add tasks. You can set up due dates and assign the task to an individual or group. Unfortunately, it does need to implement a reoccurring task feature. This is one thing I found that it lacks.
To record tasks with your voice, just press and hold the task key. Use it like a walkie-talkie to effortlessly add tasks using only your voice.
One of the great things about Orchestra is the easy and fast way in which you can collaborate with others. Although you can share task lists from the Reminders app in iOS 5, it's a bit more involved. Orchestra lets you share specific tasks with others who don't have the app and you can even chat with them.
As you can see in the screenshots below, for people without the app, they receive an SMS asking them to accept the task (once you assign it to them and add their phone number). They can click the link and a mobile version of the app will pop up in their web browser. Viewing the live updates as they happened, both on the Web and in the app, was amazing.
Special thanks to Karen for being my guinea pig and sending me the screenshots.
The Orchestra app syncs flawlessly with their Web interface, not to mention it's just as gorgeous as the app itself. It could definitely compete with the amazing Wunderlist — if only it had a Mac and an iPad app, as well.
It's still in beta, but it's a superb start. I was thoroughly impressed with the design, ease of use, and functionality.
Although it seems that using Siri and Reminders together, you can do most everything that this app does, those of you still running your iDevice on iOS 4 will really want to check this one out.
Orchestra To-Do is available in the App Store for free. I honestly can't believe that this gorgeous to-do app doesn't cost a cent. Check it out today!
