ForumsQuestions[Reopened] Todo App vs. Toodledo App. (iPhone)

Author Message

Posted: Nov 23, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Hi all,

This is a reopening of the previous discussion archived here:

This is a list of what, in my opinion, is wrong with the Toodledo iPhone app. This is NOT simply a list of what Todo does better; there are plenty of things Toodledo does better than Todo.

Executive summary/feature request list:
Better location detection (by far the top for me). I know there's a thread on this (, but there's a HUGE boost in accuracy when using Todo's geofencing versus Toodledo's location change detection.
Color-coded folders, visual indication of which folder a task belongs to when looking at all tasks
Graphical priority indicator (in addition or instead of text)
Reduce the size of bottom bar (Tasks/Notebook/Settings). I know I didn't mention it in the above list but it's taking up lots of valuable real estate, and could be eliminated entirely, and replaced with entries in the main view (All tasks/Hotlist/Saved, etc.)
Please localize the calendar!! My week starts on Monday.

Some background: I have a paid Toodledo subscription. I LOVE Toodledo. I've been using Appigo's Todo with the API as an iPhone client. I also bought the Toodledo iPhone app long ago but kept using Todo because I found it to be better. Recently Appigo made a number of disastrous "improvements" and I decided to revisit the Toodledo app to see if I can work with it more effectively -- I thought perhaps I had simply grown accustomed to Todo's workflow and can eventually get used to the way the Toodledo app does things. No. Sadly, more than a week later, I'm back to Todo. In the list below, everything referring to "Toodledo" refers to the iPhone app only, and not the service (which I love!!).

I'm sure some people will disagree with the way I judge winners and losers in the examples below. This is just how I work and what is better for me. Given that, I tried to be as objective as possible.

OK. Let's add a task.
The entire screen is used to enter a topic rather than one line. Add the task.
Use the quick-add feature -- 1 input line. Add the task. No difference in functionality other than the ability to multi-add.
Todo, just barely -- multi-add and one-line input are handy.

Let's view all tasks:
Easy search at the top (scroll to see). Large checkbox, large prominent star. Priority in text. No indication which folder a task belongs to. Overdue/due/future headings.
No search at the top (scroll to sync). Large checkbox, small star. Color-coded tasks to denote folders. Priority as a graphical symbol. Due/future headings (no past -- all overdue tasks are "today").
Tie. I like Todo's color-coding and graphical priority (makes it easy to glance at your list for a quick idea of category and priority), but search is more difficult and lack of overdue heading is a drawback. Neither app lets the heading "stick" when scrolling, so looking at a part of the list you don't necessarily know whether it's past, present, or future.

Let's add a task with non-default values:
Add task, then edit details. Everything has the same font. Due date and priority have the same size as due time and length and repeat. Some things are just not as important as others.
Select priority, due date, alarm time, folder, etc. Add the task.
Add task then choose type of task. Half-screen for title input is still too much -- it's not the whole screen like Toodledo, but it's more than two lines.
Next, details are sorted by logical categories. Due date, due time, repeat and priority are at the top, then a section for list/folder, context, and tags, then a toggle for location, then alert time, then random stuff.
Select (date context) due date, due date, repeat, then priority, then folder, etc. Add the task.
Todo (barely) simply due to visually pleasing nature of the layout.

Let's view a task.
Identical to add non-default task process; notes at the bottom.
Identical to add non-default task process; notes at the TOP, where you can immediately see them.
Todo -- notes are important.

Let's reschedule some of today's tasks. Todo's multi-edit wins hands down -- select ALL tasks you want to reschedule, select new date, done. Same with moving tasks to folders or assigning tasks as subtasks of other tasks.
Todo by a landslide.

Let's view all our categories/folders:
Number of tasks. That's it.
Number of tasks, due and overdue in red, total in grey. No location view. No due-date view. No recent view. No priorities view. Color-coded folder list. Editable order, not just alphabetical sorting. Editable folder color.
Toodledo, just barely. Todo is much "prettier" and due+overdue/all count is useful. Color-coded sortable folders help a lot.

Location-based tasks:
A "nearby" list and a sorting by location. Excellent!
No way to have finer resolution than 1km. Too many false positives and false negatives, even when you adjust sensitivity in preferences.
No nearby, no sorting by location. Bummer.
Makes explicit use of iOS geofencing to deliver alerts with excellent accuracy. I can't see too much of a battery life hit.
Tie, depending on features you use most. I never sort by location but ALWAYS want accurate location-based alerts, Todo wins for me.

Toodledo Admin
Posted: Nov 24, 2012
Score: 0 Reference
Thanks for the feedback. We will keep this in mind as we continue to improve our iOS app.
You cannot reply yet

U Back to topic home

R Post a reply

To participate in these forums, you must be signed in.