I’ve got a tasks / ToDo list app that works exceptionally well for me on the desktop and the iPhone – Things. So I normally have no interest in todo apps for the iPhone – but this new one called 2Do caught my eye this weekend, as it has a striking UI and a big set of features, including even push notifications.
As you may notice in the image above, some of its key features include: tabbed calendars, sync with iCal, push alarms, drag and drop between calendars, and sharing todos by email.
I decided to take a quick look at this one over the weekend, and ended up finding it pretty impressive.
The app’s UI is shiny and slick throughout – even some of its settings pages are just plain pretty …
The main view shows you tasks from each of your calendars, and can be sorted and customized quite a bit …
When working with individual tasks, you have a good range of fields to use, including notes, URLs, priority, which calendar to assign to, due date, and alarms. Again the interface is quite nice to work with and nice to look at.
It has a number of alarm choices, including email and even popup alerts on your home screen …
And syncs neatly with iCal over WiFi, using a free to download helper app (for Mac) …
There are meant to be more sync options coming soon (Windows presumably).
All in all, this is a very good-looking app, with a good number of strong features. It’s not for me, as I am not a fan of managing my tasks using a calendar app. I just have too many for that to be workable for me. I also prefer the more minimalist and elegant UI of Things.
But … 2Do looks like another strong option for anyone looking for a new iPhone todo app – especially if you like using iCal for this purpose and syncing with iCal.
You can find 2Do in the App Store now, for $3.99.
*** This app was independently purchased by the post author in the iPhone App Store. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the "About" page.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
how do you get your icons to appear on the lockscreen?
With a jailbreak app called mQuickDo – use our search bar and you'll find several posts about it.
I like the UI and it looks like they've put a lot of thought into it. Like any other good to-do app, they cater toward a certain use-case. And that is why I would not be able to use it.
I subscribe to the GTD idea that calendar entries should be for mandatory events – NOT todo lists. Completion of todos is variable by nature. They are the list of things we would LIKE to get done but realize that interruptions, where we happen to be, what tools we have available, etc. are going to cause us to shuffle our daily goals in order to get as many important tasks done in each day. Whereas, calendar entries should be for meetings, reminders of due dates, etc. – things that are unwavering and must have our undivided attention.
When we put todos on calendars, when the inevitable interruption or emergency happens, we are forced to constantly reschedule our goals which leads to frustration and the feeling that we will never complete our goals rather than using that time to be productive and have the satisfaction of completing them.
I didn't realize that I cared so deeply about this (sorry for the length), but I do like to see people being able to accomplish what they set out to do and have time to enjoy life.
I can never get myself to follow GTD principles well enough, but like the concept. I enjoy how Things lets me adopt some of GTD methodology, without using all. I can't get with the tasks in calendar either.
I agree. Time Management shouldn't be so rigid. I love Things also for its open-endedness but it needs online sync and a way to add tasks via email.
I went to a Time Management seminar today at school. The prevailing issue people have with Time Management seems to be that they end up planning their day down to the hour then are upset because they end up not sticking to it. If you plan to that level of detail you are pretty much guaranteeing that you will not accomplish it and end up re-scheduling (and wind up using more time planning than doing). And that is what I have against using a calendar for non-rigid tasks.
Thanks Patrick…I have been recently looking for a new To Do app & this fits what I need perfectly. I really like the sync feature with iCal & the Push Notification is a great plus as well. I look forward to trying this out. Thanks for the review.
Cool – very glad to hear this one may serve you well. Let us know what you think of it if you do give it a go.
I downloaded the app and it's really great to use. The UI is nice & simple to use. I like the tabs for organization and I really like having the ability to sync to iCal. It works great over WiFi!!! So like you I highly recommend this app which is a pleasure to use & worth the $3.99.
Very cool. Glad to hear it's working well for you, and thanks for the update Frank.
It really does have a lovely UI and some great features (tabs!). But I, too, don't like using my calendar for tracking tasks. I also like having an online task list so I can print it out at work as need be. So I'm sticking with RTM. But the way the UI deals with those tabs in 2Do is awfully nice…
can you post the ipa the ones on appulus dont work well
No.
I purchased both Things and 2Do and found that I use 2Do more. I like the GTD methodology and the use of a calendar doesn't bother me. When a task is overdue, it just shows up on the next day. I'm not stressed by the words "over due" and continue with my list as needed. I love the tabs and the ability to organize tasks. On the other hand, it's too much for my husband and he prefers the simple Things. It is a matter of preference, but I can give both applications possitive feedback.
ditto – I love the tabs on this app. Syncing is still a bit wonky, though. Hoping that gets touched up later on.
It's $6.99 actually as of Feb 2, 2010.
Hi. I bought the application but I have a serious problem. The alarms (ring, message) don't work.
Any idea why? When i set an alarm the icon appears with a red line on it and it doesn't work…
Thank you!
those are based on push notifications. do you have them set to work with 2Do? There's also a FAQ on the 2Do website – and you can even ask the developers on Twitter (@guidedways).
Yup, hopefully they're working on a Windows sync partner.
This was my reaction as well. By the way, does anyone know of a good task management-app for windows?
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