Knowledge Revolution

It’s been a while since I started thinking and planning to build a desktop application that would sync to the ToodleDo online task management system.  The idea is to have a desktop application that allows you to enter and view tasks and generally manage your task list, but have all the data seamlessly sync to ToodleDo when network access is available.  In addition to being able to access and edit your information offline, a desktop application can integrate into the OS, providing features such as drag-and-drop, calendar syncing (to iCal or Outlook), and desktop alerts, all of which are difficult or impossible to do with a web application.  It is also possible to access other online services, such as Evernote, to provide seamless access to other data sources.

There is definitely interest in such a system, as evidenced by the 400+ survey submissions I have received since I posted my first entry on the ToodleDo forums.  Many folks have left excellent suggestions and comments.  Since I started thinking about the application, I’ve been tracking progress on a number of other related projects, discussed more below.  But I regret to say that I have not been able to make much progress on coding such an application myself, beyond a basic protoype to convince myself it could be done.

The reason is simply due to lack of time.  First off, we are trying to sell our house in preparation for an upcoming move to Palo Alto, California.  Second, I’m a 50% stay at home Dad right now, and that makes life quite busy.  The other 50% of the time, I’m continuing my outreach work with the NASA Astrobiology Institute on the Advent of Complex Life team at the MBL in Woods Hole.  Between my NASA outreach work, getting ready for the move, and having fun with an 11-month old, I just don’t have the time or energy to code as well.  I’ve made some attempts to work with other developers but these have not panned out yet.

So where does that leave all of us that are interested in offline ToodleDo access (myself included)?  I started this project as a way of solving the problem for myself, and I presumed others out there would have the same problem (and I’ve discovered there are many that do!).  However, if another good solution was or becomes available before I get around to building the application myself, I’d probably just buy it like everyone else.  So with this in mind and with own lack of progress, I’ve been following the projects below to see how they stack up (DISCLAIMER 10/13/10 4:26pm: I do not own either of these products, and you should not take my statements as a comprehensive review — I have only spent an evening with each.  I appreciate any feedback you might have pointing out things that I have missed.)

1. TaskSurfer – this is a Mac only desktop to-do application that syncs to ToodleDo.  I tested the beta version out and it did work, but I am not terribly impressed by the user interface or the speed of synchronization.  The interface is very tabular and spreadsheet-like, similar to the website, which is generally not well liked.  It may be an efficient way to display data, but some things which should be easy take way too many clicks.  It is also did not seem very “Mac like” in it’s use of UI elements, nor does it seem to have many OS specific integrations.  For example, I’ve used OmniFocus as well and one of the features I like the best is the ability to press a key combination from anywhere and have a mini window come up to enter a new task.  If you are going to build a desktop application for to-dos, features like this are important. (UPDATE: sorry, I guess this feature came out after I tried the last beta-version and is in fact included in TaskSurfer, which is great.) TaskSurfer is now available and costs $39 – this seems a bit on the high side to me given how there are much more polished Mac to-do applications for not much more (e.g. Things).  Of course, Things doesn’t sync to ToodleDo, which is the whole point, but still…
2. TaskAngel – this is a Windows only desktop to-do application that syncs to ToodleDo and has been around for longer than TaskSurfer.  The user interface is remarkably similar  to TaskSurfer: another spreadsheet-like implementation.  It is coded in .Net, so it looks very Windows like and synchronization to ToodleDo seems pretty solid.  There doesn’t seem to be very much OS specific integration yet, which is a shame. There is a global hotkey to add new tasks as well as pop-up alerts.  It is available for $20, which seems reasonable.
3. UPDATE March 7, 2011: Task Unifier – this is a Java application that will work on any OS that can run Java (basically anything these days).  It is GPL (open source) and free, which makes it very attractive.  It is also under active development and seems to sync flawlessly with ToodleDo.  The UI is still rough, even accounting for the non-native widget experience provided by Java, but it worth a test drive, and it won’t cost you anything.

There are a number of other projects that are in various states of discussion (such as a Silverlight based system that could store data offline), but nothing else to my knowledge that can be run and played with is available right now.

The results are encouraging, but I’m not satisfied with either offering yet and can’t really recommend either at the moment unless offline access to your data is critical and the main feature you are looking for.  For me, the actual day to day experience of using the desktop application is important – if the user experience is not good, offline access to data won’t trump the UI.

For myself, I’m continuing to use the web interface (through the use of an application specific browser, built using Fluid) and the excellent ToodleDo iPhone app.  I’m also using an iPhone app called ListMaker, which also syncs to ToodleDo, as a grocery list manager, since it allows for list hierarchies.

I’ll continue to monitor updates in this space and post my thoughts.  I hope to continue work on my own application if circumstances allow, since I think there is room for more than just a simple ‘sync to ToodleDo’ application.  What is really missing is a desktop application that bridges various online services (think Evernote, ToodleDo, DropBox) and allows for seamlessly accessing all of them without having to move from website to site specific application.  The technology will allow for it, what we need is an investment of time and resources to make it happen.

If you are interested in following developments in this space, feel free to check out my blog occasionally or sign up for the email list dedicated to the offline ToodleDo desktop app discussions.