Voodo 2 Provides Thorough Task Management With Minimal Effort

Voodo 2 — Easy Todo ($2.99) by Ling Wang is a completely reborn version of the original Voodo todo app, which has been around since 2010. With the release of iOS 7, Voodo has been completely redesigned and reworked, and this justifies the release of the entirely new Voodo 2.

Since Voodo 2 is (thankfully) universal, it supports Google Calendar integration to allow the synchronization of data across iDevices.

While Voodo 2 is not as advanced as other apps like Omnifocus and Things, the app does provide many levels of organization. Contrary to how this sounds, it is still very simple to use since all of the crazy hierarchy that is usually associated with true GTD tools is nowhere to be seen.

Tasks can be created by tapping the + button in the top right corner. After doing this, a large empty text box will appear. Here, you can type in the title of the task on the first line, followed by any notes you have underneath. While this may seem primitive, Voodo 2's support for natural language input will pull all of the appropriate data out of your text for you. This includes dates, tags, locations, contacts, and subtasks.

Absolute or relative dates are acceptable, as well as addresses for a task's location. Subtasks are simply created by typing a hyphen for those that are unchecked, or a plus sign for those that are. Once the keyboard is dismissed by swiping down, all of your subtasks will have circles beside them that can be checked or unchecked by simply tapping on them.

To mark an entire task as complete, just swipe on it from left to right in the main list. If you are not quite ready to complete a task at the moment, swiping right to left on it will allow you to reschedule for a later time.

I am fond of the way that tasks are added and managed in Voodo 2, since the app's proprietary markup language reminds me of markdown. For a short demo video to see how quickly one can enter tasks using this method, check out Voodo 2's landing page.

As I mentioned earlier, one or more tags can be appended to a task. This means that you can simulate a hierarchical file system, but without the clutter or confusion. Being able to assign multiple tags to a given task is convenient, along with archiving tags that will no longer be in use for the foreseeable future.

Although some properties of Voodo 2 are quite ubiquitous like the ability to use tags and sync tasks, there are also some unique features in the app. The fact that tasks are essentially notes written in a simple markup syntax is an appealing feature, proving that Voodo 2 is more than a productivity manager with a check mark on its icon.

For a limited time, Voodo 2 — Easy Todo is available in the App Store for $2.99 to celebrate its launch.