The Jolly Gamesman and His Many Toys
Things by Cultured Code for the iPhone, iPod Touch & OSX
The iPhone Operating System is a wonderful friend to us all. It allows us to make phone calls, surf the internet, send emails, get orientated on a map, and bring our digital media library wherever we go, without the addition of any 3rd party application. However, If I could rub a magic lamp and add any extra feature, it would be a to-do list.
Enter Things by Cultured Code.
Things doesn’t offer a wide variety of bells and whistles. It does one thing, and one thing well: it helps you get things done. While some people will use the Notes application prebuilt into the OS, the lack of management and satisfaction of checking a task off a list and prioritizing errands, is lost in Apple’s default offering.
Creating a task or errand in Things couldn’t be easier. On the bottom left of the applications UI is the all-powerful + button. Tapping this will open up a new “To Do.” Here you can adjust the title, add tags for easier organization and prioritization, and set a due date. (By default, all “To Do’s” are scheduled for today, unless you press the + button when you are in the Project section of Things.)
Projects are used to keep a group of co-related “To Do’s” together. This is a great feature if you have many tasks on the go and want to concentrate on getting related ones done in a specific order.
As far as limitations that I wish would be addressed, I do hope that soon they add an option to keep Things in sync with the desktop client over 3G. Another request I would have is for an alert or alarm when a task has become overdue.
As stated in earlier reviews, the front page of my iPhone is coveted real estate. It’s easy to ignore a “To Do” list if there isn’t a constant reminder that you have stuff waiting for you. The application icon on the iPhone has a constant badge showing you just how much you have to do. It’s like a nagging girlfriend, but much appreciated.
~The Fine Print~
Price: $9.99 / Cultured Code offers a desktop client that can sync over WiFi as long as you are on your home network
