Cultured Code
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Things 2 for Mac now on sale for 50% off
Cultured Code has a treat for Mac owners looking for a new task manager. Starting today, Things 2 for Mac is on sale for US$24.99, a 50 percent discount off the app's normal $49 price tag. Things is a fantastic to-do manager that appeals to a wide range of users. With tags, projects and areas of responsibility, it's robust enough for power users looking for a nimble task manager. At the same time, it's not loaded down with lots of extra options, so even beginning users can jump right in and start managing their tasks with minimal effort. This limited-time sale applies only to the Mac version and ends January 31. This is only the second time Cultured Code has discounted Things for the Mac, so grab it while you can.
Things 2 now out, adds long-awaited cloud sync
Cultured Code has released Things 2, an update to its Things task manager, including the very, very long-awaited cloud sync capability. Did we mention that we've been waiting for it for awhile? The best news is that unlike rival The Hit List, cloud support is free on Things 2. Things 2 is a multiplatform release across the Mac, iPad and iPhone; updates to all editions are free from 1.x. In addition to the cloud sync tool, called Things Cloud, other new features include: Things for Mac Daily Review list that pulls up a list of tasks and let you decide if you want to work on them today. Mountain Lion capability, including streamlining with Reminders so Siri can easily be used to enter tasks Retina display updates Things for iOS Daily Review added Design UI tweaked Scrolling date picker Other iOS improvements such as tapping and holding a checkbox to cancel a task, log completed tasks automatically and VoiceOver accessibility Things 2 is a welcome release, and we're looking forward to putting it through its paces. Unfortunately, the delay in adding cloud sync (other productivity systems -- such as OmniFocus -- have had the feature for years) has lost Cultured Code a lot of its goodwill, as apparent by reading the comments on the linked posts above. We're glad to see Things Cloud is finally clear of its beta evolution and ready for prime time. When you sign up for the Things Cloud service on either your Mac or your iOS device, you'll get a confirmation PIN via email. Entering the PIN in your client will confirm your account, and from that point you can log in on all your devices using your email/password combo. (Don't reuse passwords, please.) The first Things instance you connect to the cloud will populate it with data, and subsequent devices (if they have to-dos on them already) will give you the option of merging, replacing local, or replacing the cloud list of tasks. Things' previous Bonjour/WiFi sync scheme has been removed in the 2.0 release, so if you update your Mac copy of Things you'll need to update everywhere in order to sync with the new cloud service. If you need to retain local network syncing for some reason, there is now a "Legacy Sync" version of Things 1.5 for Mac (and a corresponding "Things 1 Mode" toggle in the iOS apps) that maintains Bonjour sync. Things 2 for Mac is $49.95 through the Mac App Store, and a free trial is available from Cultured Code's website. Things 2 for iPad is $19.99 and Things 2 for iPhone is $9.99. Both iOS versions require iOS 5 or later, and the Mac version requires OS X 10.6.6. Thanks, Eric!
Things Cloud public beta goes live
Last year, Things developer Cultured Code announced a cloud syncing service for the Mac (US$49.99), iPad ($19.99), and iPhone/iPod touch ($9.99) versions of their to-do app. Now the company has finally announced the availability of the public beta of Things Cloud. Prior to today, Cultured Code was adding beta testers through an invitation-only beta test. According to the developer's blog, more than 35,000 testers have been putting the sync service through its paces. At the present time, the service creates an extra database so that existing user data is untouched. Their next step will be to turn on the ability to import existing databases into the beta. Cultured Code says that they've received "incredible feedback" from their users about the beta, saying that Things Cloud is fast and stable. Some users have apparently created large databases to test the capabilities of Things Cloud, although the company notes that they need to "work out some kinds and performance bottlenecks related to such large databases." Things has been a popular to-do app and project manager, winning an Apple Design Award in 2009. Cultured Code has been slow to create a cloud syncing solution, earning the criticism of Things users who pointed out that other to-do apps like OmniFocus and Firetask were able to move to the cloud quickly. The availability of the public beta is a sign that the long wait may finally be near an end.
Cultured Code releases Things Cloud Sync beta
Of the many to-do apps available in the App Stores, one of the perennial favorites is Things from Cultured Code (US$9.99 for iPhone/iPod touch, $19.99 for iPad, $49.99 for Mac). While the cross-platform app has been lauded for its beautiful user interface and ease of use, there have been continuing complaints from users who want to be able to sync their to-do tasks between devices. Other apps, like Wunderlist (free) and OmniFocus, have had cloud syncing for a while, and today Cultured Code has finally taken the wraps off of an implementation of cloud sync. The beta is open only to registered beta users, so most Things users won't be able to get their hands on the service yet. The beta is meant to test the ability of the service to handle automatic cloud syncing. Rather than requiring the user to manually initiate a sync by tapping a button, Things will sync whenever you launch the app, switch from another app, or wake a device from a sleep state. Cultured Code notes that its sync solution features encrypted transmission of data, so your top secret to-do items can't be intercepted in the clear. We don't know for sure when the Cloud Sync service will actually become available to all users, and given the slow rate of development from Cultured Code in the past, it's almost a certainty that user complaints will continue for some time.
iPad launch first look: Things for iPad
Cultured Code has released the iPad version of their classic iPhone task list app, Things. The new Things for iPad (US$19.99), as you can see in the video above, is absolutely gorgeous on the new Apple platform, and benefits greatly from the larger layout. I've personally downloaded the iPad version, synced my tasks, and the app seems like it's a natural part of the iPad. We'll be publishing a full review of Things for iPad soon. In the meanwhile, feast your eyes on this 34 second video showing everything you'll be doing to keep yourself up to date on your work and personal tasks.
Things coming to iPad, updates to 1.3
At the end of his latest blog post, Cultured Code's Jürgen Schweizer revealed that the company is working on a version of Things for the iPad. The announcement isn't that surprising, especially given that The Omni Group announced at the beginning of February that its software suite, including Things' GTD rival OmniFocus, is also heading to the iPad. Things has also updated to version 1.3, which adds support for "mixed" projects (meaning that you're no longer limited to having action steps in your projects). Things Touch [iTunes link] for the iPhone/iPod Touch also updated to 1.3.14 in order to be compatible with the desktop release. We have some big fans of Things among TUAW staffers, and I actually tweeted yesterday -- prior to reading the Cultured Code blog -- that I plan to give up on the seemingly-abandoned The Hit List and pick up Things for myself. The iPad is well-suited for these productivity suites, and I'm eager to see how both Things and OmniFocus turn out on the iPad. Edit: The Hit List creator Andy Kim contacted me on Wednesday night, reassuring me that The Hit List has not been abandoned and that he is working on the iPhone version of the software. Thanks for checking in, Andy! [via Cult of Mac]
Tips and tricks: Putting Things in your Dropbox makes syncing simple
After several years of trying to figure out what task manager for Mac and iPhone worked best with my peculiar style of organization, I finally settled on Things from Cultured Code. The Mac application is easy to use, uncluttered, and can take advantage of many keyboard shortcuts, while the iPhone app [iTunes Link] gives me a portable version of the Things database to take on the road. While the iPhone app can do a local sync to a Mac, it still doesn't do over-the-air syncing, which I hope Cultured Code will add in a future release. When I made Things my task manager, I needed to make sure that I could use the same database on both my desktop Mac and my MacBook Air, since the Mac version doesn't do syncing either. It turns out that one of the easiest ways to do this is to use the wonderful cloud storage application Dropbox to hold my Things database, and then point Things on both Macs to use the shared database. Fortunately, a Brit by the name of Bradley Wright had already done all of the hard work and had written up some command-line instructions on how to do this. Brad does all the work in the Terminal; here, I'll describe how to do most of the work in the Finder with the exception of creating a symbolic link at one point.
iGTD's Bartek Bargiel joins Cultured Code, Things 1.2 hits the streets
I have very fond memories of iGTD, and of its sole developer, Bartek Bargiel. The much-anticipated iGTD2 never really reached fruition, much to our dismay. There are a good number of people still using iGTD and iGTD2 today, even after development ceased quite some time ago, and I'd wager that anyone who used it probably has pretty nice things to say. I'd heard from Bartek a couple of times over the years, but I got caught by surprise when I heard the news today: he's joined up with Cultured Code, and worked some of my favorite features of good ol' iGTD into the latest release of Things for Mac (1.2). See what's new and brush up on your keyboard shortcuts at the Cultured Code blog. iGTD users and former users will probably recall the F-key trick; the one that grabbed whatever you had highlighted in most apps and popped it into the quick-entry window. While the OmniFocus clipper is quite capable, if this is as good as iGTD's was, it's going to be a killer feature. Bartek has also contributed Quicksilver, Launchbar and Google Quick Search Box plugins to the party. It's great to see Cultured Code catering to us keyboard geeks, and I personally just got way more into Things. If you did some donating to the development of iGTD back in the day, there's an additional surprise headed for your inbox. Cultured Code and Bartek have promised free licenses to everyone who donated to iGTD, and multiple licenses if the amount of your donations exceeds the value of a Things license. Things retails for $49.95US, so that's a pretty good return. Plus, they've set up data migration for current iGTD users to make the switch to Things. I'm checking out the latest version right now, so until I have a full review out, I'd just like to say congratulations to Bartek, and to Cultured Code!
Things 1.1/Things Touch 1.3.5: Area Sync
Things Touch 1.3.5 has been released along with Things 1.1 and, among a heap of bug fixes and UI improvements, you'll find a new feature for syncing Areas of Responsibility from your Mac to your iPhone (it's not yet possible to create Areas in Things Touch). The feature requires Things 1.1 on the Mac side, which was officially released today, but has actually been available (sans release notes) for about a week (assumedly waiting for Things Touch to make it through App Store approval). Another new addition (which is more exciting, to me) is full AppleScript support in Things on the Mac. I haven't had a chance to dive into it yet, but it's a topic I discussed with Cultured Code at the last Macworld Expo and I'm excited to see it come to fruition. People using Things in any kind of group setting will appreciate the reconsidered approach to task delegation, as well. For those who aren't familiar with Things in general, I'll take a quick step back. Things for the Mac has been a staunch competitor in the Mac task-management colosseum. Battling it out with OmniFocus and newer gladiators like The Hit List, it's been recognized by many for its simplicity and elegance. Things is powerful and flexible, while remaining reliable and simple. Things Touch is its iPhone companion, usable on its own or synced with Things Mac. You may be asking, what's an "Area of Responsibility?" This is one of the features of Things which was hardest for me to grasp. It's not quite a GTD context, and it's not a folder for projects. Basically, Areas provide a flexible means of handling tasks which aren't part of a "project" and aren't necessarily sequential in nature. In the words of Cultured Code: With an Area of Responsibility (or simply "Area"), you don't ask yourself about the desired outcome, but what standards you would like to maintain. An Area corresponds to an ongoing activity. These could be, for example, job responsibilities, roles you have taken on in your family, or personal responsibilities like health. Things is available for download as a free trial, and can be purchased for $49.95US. Things Touch, the iPhone version, is available in the App Store for $9.99US.
Things 1.0rc now available
Cultured Code has issued the 1.0 release candidate for Things, its popular GTD application, a little more than a week ahead of its official launch on January 6.Things 1.0rc has a huge list of changes including new icons, the ability to reorder to-dos in the Today list across project and area boundaries, the ability to edit titles and reorder projects in the sidebar (my biggest pet peeve prior to this), fixes to syncing and compatibility issues with the iPhone version of Things, and numerous big fixes. A complete list can be found here via MacUpdate due to site difficulties with Cultured Code. An official mirror detailing the release notes can also be found here.Things 1.0rc is available at the mirror of the Cultured Code website, since the main site is either being sluggish or not responding at all due to demand. An alternate download location can be found through MacUpdate, along with the complete list of changes. Full price for a Things license is $49USD, but a coupon for 20% off can be used until January 15 - even if you missed out signing up for the newsletter. That code is THINGSPRESALE20.Things requires OS X 10.4 or later. It is also recommended for those who own the iPhone version to update to version 1.3 once it becomes available through the App Store.
Things (finally) adds global search
Things, one of the top contenders in the Mac GTD application lineup, has updated to 0.9.6 on their way to a planned 1.0 release at the Macworld Expo. The update includes some interface polish, but the biggest news is the addition of global search.It's been one of the most requested features, and I've seen plenty of comments here at TUAW bemoaning the absence of this capability. The newly added feature allows searching through all projects while still being able to confine the query to various scopes, including Title, Notes or Tags. This, of course, makes the tagging system in Things even more useful, allowing all tasks with a given tag or tag combination to be listed. Personally, I'd say this is the most important new feature added to (the desktop version of) Things since iCal sync. I'm betting we'll see more of these highly-requested features implemented as the development pace amps up to meet the Macworld deadline.A blog post at Cultured Code details all of the new features. You can download a free trial at the Cultured Code website, and a license can be had for $39USD ... if you sign up for the newsletter before the January 6th launch (after which the price will be $49USD).
GTD: Real-life experience with Things
I'll admit it -- I'm a notorious procrastinator.Give me something to do and no deadline, and I'll put it off until everyone forgets about it. Give me a deadline and I'll wait until the deadline is looming before I'll get things going. This not only happens in my professional life, but my personal life as well. For example, my wife is still patiently waiting for me to complete some painting in our newly renovated laundry room. Hey, it's only been a month since I started the work!If there's anyone who needs to follow the Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology, it's me. In the past, my To-Do list consisted of Post-It Notes scattered on my desk with lists of things to complete. A couple of months ago I thought it would work better if I organized my notes into one place, so I bought a hard-cover Moleskine and started writing listing things to do in that book. Nice, but I was out of luck when I didn't have the Moleskine with me. I always have my iPhone with me, so it made sense for me to start using it to help add some semblance of order to my life. That's where Things, the task manager from Cultured Code, helped me out.
Things brings the sync
If you love Things, you just got a whole lot more to love. The folks at Cultured Code have finally added iCal sync, and they've done a spectacular job with it (outdoing, in my opinion, OmniFocus' sync). In the preferences, you can sync just your "Today" tasks, or just your "Next Actions," or you can get crazy with it and assign calendars to different tags, projects or areas of responsibility. This allows for utterly amazing flexibility and an array of possibilities. The major benefits of having Things synced with iCal all revolve around the tight integration that iCal and Leopard's To Dos have with the rest of OS X. Being able to refine what is actually synced means you have complete control over what you see on an iCal printout or even what you put on a public or shared calendar. To Dos can be delegated, emailed, linked, prioritized and more, and Things is picking up every external change I throw at it. You can have a calendar that functions as an inbox and use whatever input method you like to get tasks there. The "@" symbol can be used to add tags as well. Moving a task from the inbox calendar to another calendar synchronized with Things will do exactly what you think it will ... move the task to the project or area of responsibility assigned to that calendar. This also solves my other major problem with Things, no easy way to turn Mail.app messages into tasks. Now, with a right click to make a new To Do you can create a new task in Things that contains a link to the original message. Unfortunately, Mail.app's handling of To Dos is a little buggy in some cases, but that problem is easily taken care of by using MailTags to create the tasks. The final reason I'm so excited about this new release is that Leopard To Dos are part of an API that all kinds of third-party programs can access, and can therefore integrate with Things now. Anxiety, Out of Mind, Today, MailTags and other little applications we've mentioned can all work in two directions with your task manager. I'm a little obsessed with Charilaos Skiadas' GTDAlt bundle for TextMate right now (along with piles of Ruby code to extend it), but the new sync feature in Things made it extremely easy to pull my tasks in and take it for another spin. Having sworn off the "pretty" task managers and pledged my allegiance once again to all things plain text, I don't have the heart to change my system again quite yet ... but it's becoming obvious that when Things comes to fruition, it will be a force to be reckoned with. If this was holding you back (like it was me), it might be time to take a look. Things is going to be $49 after release, but you can still get in on it for $39 right now.
Things gets recurring tasks
The GTD app scene has been pretty quiet for a while now. Only OmniFocus seems to be regularly showing signs of development at a pace that offers some real hope for the new generation of task managers. But Things has updated to version 0.9, and offers a couple of new features that fill some major holes. Most notably, the addition of recurring tasks is an answer to a primary criticism of the software. A lot of people love the simplicity of the Things philosophy. I count myself among those people from a conceptual standpoint, but the "simplicity" approach only goes so far when I find myself in need of some heavy-duty organization. I still find the lack of integration with applications like Mail and the lack of scriptability to be major impediments to incorporating Things into my workflow. In my time testing Things, I was able to create some AppleScripts for adding Mail messages and importing from OmniFocus using some brute-force "System Events" tactics. It's certainly not ideal, though. I'm hoping the development pace of Things picks back up as it has the potential to be an ideal system, at least for users like myself. In the meantime, you can download the trial and/or get in on the pre-release discount of 20% off the $49 price. For more information on the 0.9 release, check out the release notes.
Things public preview released
Things, the up-and-coming darling of the über-productive, due-date-defying, thing-doing GTD crowd has released a public preview today. And I, as your hyphen-wielding blogger, am duly excited. A few of us here at TUAW have been playing with the private alpha of Things for a while. Things provides a unique and flexible way to handle tasks that can be refreshing for those who didn't quite get the whole GTD thing the first time around. Of course, you can adhere to strict GTD principles with it, but you can also forge a system that works for you using its tagging system and flexible project management tools. It even has some delegation capabilities that other GTD apps are lacking right now. Plus, it's downright pretty. What Things is noticeably lacking at this point is a really great means of integrating with Mail and AppleScript support. Of course, if there were AppleScript support, Mail support would be a cinch. You can pop up the quick entry window with a hotkey and drag a Mail 3.1 message onto the notes section to create a link to that email; I'd just like to be able to incorporate Mail-Act-On or any faster means of getting my email-based tasks into my task manager. Overall, this release from Cultured Code is very buzzworthy, both in the GTD community and for those on the periphery. If you're feeling like being productive, take it for a spin.
