GTD: Google Tasks for iPhone
Google Tasks for iGoogle and Gmail for the past 2 weeks has worked pretty well. It is easily accessible from both hospitals where I spend most of my time at work. The easy to use and quick list-maker has passed the usability test --so far.
The next step is to try it out on the iPhone . I found the following links helpful:
Gmail Blog explains that the most important competitor for Google Tasks is paper (I remember a similar statement regarding Google Calendar). "Among the world's leading productivity tools is an advanced technology known as paper. Many of the world's top corporations and most active internet users have adopted paper as a method of organizing their daily lives. (...) When we set out to build Tasks (now in Gmail Labs), one of our goals was to improve upon paper. With the version of Tasks in Gmail, we focused on making editing very fast and simple -- as close to paper as we could."
Google has just announced a new way to manage your Gmail Tasks from your mobile device or your iGoogle homepage.
First, you'll want to have enabled the new Tasks feature in Gmail Labs. Then, from your iPhone or other mobile device, just navigate to
http://gmail.com/tasksto view, add, edit, or complete your tasks.If you want to add the Tasks gadget to iGoogle, just point your browserhere. It's nice to see Gmail Labs' simple new Tasks tool ramping up functionality, but it'd be even more exciting to see Google turn this thing into a proper product.
After playing with the new web app for a little while, I can say that it’s an impressive offering from the folks at Google. The interface is visually appealing, and not too flashy. It works so well you almost forget you’re using a web app at all, with smooth transitions back and forth between screens, and easy to hit checkboxes for marking tasks complete or incomplete. You can create multiple lists to keep track of your tasks, and add Notes to any individual item on your lists. And it comes complete with a nice icon, should you decide to add a bookmark to your home screen.
Weaknesses:
- Web-based on the iPhone rather than an App
- I have "fat fingered" many of the buttons so far -- hitting the wrong button ie, "new task" when I mean "all lists"
- Having to log-in to google multiple times -- if it were an app the login should be saved
Strengths:
- Speed: it is light-weight
- Ease-of-use: overall intuitive user-interface
- Features: adding links to the tasks, as well as more detailed notes and due dates is very useful, something not easily done on paper lists.
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