When I first saw the screenshots of Today Todo, I wasn’t the least bit interested. I thought it was another wannabe app, trying to cash in by offering changeable backgrounds and colour labels. But I should thank Stephan for insisting I try it out.
Today doesn’t have the most intuitive of user interfaces. But it comes preloaded with a tutorial in the form of a task list, so getting to know the app is just a matter of minutes. Once you do know how things work though, there’s absolutely confusion about how to navigate. Today works on the basis of your tasks for Today, what you have done or were supposed to do, and what you want to do in future. It bases all of this on a cheesy workflow involving a floating sun. Move it to the left, and the screen (along with background) switches to yesterday. Move it to the right, and it switches to tomorrow. Another little UI treat is its pull down sheet to switch between task lists. Yes, it all sounds extraneous and frivolous, but it’s not. You don’t have to locate a button, nor do you have to think about which mode you are in. Even creating new tasks involves flipping your phone into landscape.
Today 1.5.3 brings in web server access, which allows you to access your tasks from the web browser. But that’s only for quickly editing and managing tasks, and you need to have the app open and on the same network for it to work. You can backup your data, but that too is in its own cryptic format. I’ve expressed my concern for these non-syncing todo-list managers, and this web server mode isn’t helping much in that regard. Also, its workflow wouldn’t work very well for extensive task lists, project management, or planned events. It’s more of a ‘get milk’ kind of task manager, but I’m sure many will be content with its feature set and user interface. $2.99 at the App Store, and there’s a functional Basic version so you can get a feel for the app.
3 Comments
I found this article a bit unclear–did the author like the app or not?
I had my doubts about Today when I first saw it (I was looking for a replacement for the initially promising but now utterly bloated 2Do), but am delighted I gave it a shot anyway. I actually do have a pile of projects to manage, and I never thought I could use something this simple, but it’s actually cleared the crap out of my todo lists. This is not a place for notes or plans, this is a task list for concrete actions you’re going to take. This helps you focus on the stuff that really matters instead of micromanaging your todo list software. Even if you think it’s too lightweight for your needs, give it a shot for a week and you might be surprised by how clear-headed you suddenly feel.
I personally find the interface intuitive and quick. Every morning the Today list is empty (you can turn this off if you want, but I love this feature), and I check through Yesterday to see what are ACTUALLY the most important things to do next. If something is due by a specific date, I schedule it for Tomorrow so it’ll appear in Today automatically. And I LOVE the landscape view task entering system. It’s superfast.
I like the app, its user interface, its features. I don’t however like that I can’t take my data anywhere I want to. My list of complaints against task managers is outlined in this article.
There are so many awesome Todo apps out there, but I’m not using a single one of them: Calendar is sufficient enough for me.