For the past year I’ve been using services like Remember the Milk (RTM) and Toodledo to manage all of my tasks, but, well, cloudy is the best word to describe those relationships. I loved the fact that I was always synced from any machine (because my data was kept on web servers), but the slow as molasses syncing on my iPhone really bogged me down. Once I started looking around for some alternatives, the name Things kept popping up. Things is an award-winning task manager with native clients for the Mac and iPhone, but one that’s not really in the land of impulse buys for those on a student budget (i.e., me). The iPhone client is a premium at $10, but the Mac client is even more at $50. The thing is that $50 for a task manager — no matter how good it is — seemed like a large pill to swallow. So I contacted developer Cultured Code about a review on JAMM, and they kindly sent over review codes for both clients. It’s because of that gesture that I can talk about a whole bunch of Things with you today.

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It took forever and a day for the cloud servers to sync with iPhone apps like ToDo and RTM — upwards of ten seconds every single time I wanted to sync, and it’s not as though I’m one of those users with a ton of tasks to complete. I probably have under 50 at any one time, but the ten second wait really stacked up over the course of the day.

As I mentioned before, Things consists of two native clients that can work independently of one another (you don’t need the Mac client as an iPhone user, but you’re much better off for it), and it syncs at lightning speed (usually under a second, but sometimes up to three or four) when you need it to. The downside is that syncing currently requires both devices to be on the same network, but a recent blog post from Cultured Code states that over-the-air (OTA) syncing is on the way. I actually thought that the current wi-fi syncing was OTA, but I’m not going to argue with the devs if they want to bring me more sync options.

So let’s get down to the juicy bits: despite its generic name, Things features a really novel approach to getting things done. I’m not a big expert on the subject, but having used Outlook, Pocket Informant, Toodledo, and Remember the Milk, I’m a much bigger fan of the Cultured Code way of thinking. Due dates and categories are still very important, but Things has a much cleaner approach to getting things done that keeps them from getting overwhelming. I really have gotten a lot better at managing my lists now that I’ve moved to Things, and it’s no one major change ore revolutionary feature in the program. It’s all about the little things.

Probably the best way to talk about why Things works so well is to show how other task managers just didn’t cut it for me. Some, like Pocket Informant, feature far too many priorities and switches for me to really use. I don’t feel like I’m wasting money on the app, but the extra features that I never used just got in the way. Aside from the ‘tags’, Things doesn’t feature any extra features that regularly get in my way. When I want to create a new task or review my lists, there is always just enough information on-screen.

One of the ways that really helps is the way that completed tasks are depressed. Incomplete tasks are brighter and appear to be higher, and all the completed tasks for the day look like they have sunk half an inch into the screen. Another great feature is that all the editing is done in-line — you’ll rarely see any pop-up dialogues within Things, and that makes the whole experience feel a lot more streamlined.

If you aren’t sure of how to organize a task, just throw it in the Inbox. It will stay there in an unsorted pile until you decide to categorize it. If you’d like to just get it done at some point in time, throw it into “Someday” and it’ll stay in there with all the other things you’d like to do before you die.

You’ll find all of your other tasks in the Today, Next, and Scheduled sections. Today isn’t just for items that are due today, but also for tasks that you think are a priority. You can have an item show up in Today even if it’s due three months from now, if you’re that worried about it. If not, you’ll find it in the Next section, even if it’s undated. Next is a lot like the “all items” view in other task managers, and it even shows undated tasks. For everything else that’s due in about a month’s time, there’s Scheduled. Another useful thing about this section is that it’s an easy way to move tasks to a different date, since you can drag and drop a task (or tasks) into Scheduled and a pop-up will appear to change the date.

What all of this means is that Thing has a management structure that revolves around two different ways of thinking: thinking around due dates and thinking around the basic chronological sections I just covered. Dragging a task from the Scheduled section into Today won’t actually change the due date of the task, but rather show it in Today. The various sections in Things are really more about when you’d like to start thinking about a task, rather than when the task is due. The tasks should naturally flow from the Scheduled section up to Next, then on to Today, and finally just get done. Once a day is done all of the completed tasks are automatically added to a Logbook so as not to clutter up the interface.

Aside from the sections I just mentioned, there are also the Areas of Responsibility, which would be categories in most any other program. I keep the areas restricted to the sites I write for, so there’s one for JAMM, one for Just Another iPhone Blog, and one for Just iPhone Art.

One thing to note is that a task can only be in one area, although it can have numerous tags. Tags are interesting because they’re shared by other Mac applications, such as iPhoto. Unfortunately, unlike iPhoto, Things can’t make a “Smart Area of Responsibility” that automatically assembled all tasks with a certain set of tags. Manually filtering tasks is easy, though, thanks to the task bar at the top of the Things window.

Now there are two features of Things that I really haven’t had the need to delve into at all, but I should mention them if I’m to try and write a credible review. They’re both similar features that belong on the upper echelon (*huff*, that’s a heavy word) of task management: that winding, windy peak where when tasks get a bit more complicated than “buy milk”. The first feature, Projects, is for tasks that should be divided into smaller tasks. My beef with Projects is that it seems a lot like Area, and even Cultured Code’s own Projects FAQ didn’t really convince me of its usefulness. Part of the reason is that the UI doesn’t strike off or indent a project, even when you complete all the items within and tick the giant checkmark beside the project name — as far as the left bar in Things is concerned, Projects will always look the same whether or not you’re done with them. This really blurs the line between Areas and Projects for me, so I stick to Areas. [Edit: Oops. It wasn't clear, but the whole Project will actually go to the logbook once the day is done. So Projects DO change -- just not until the next day.]

The other ‘higher level’ feature I haven’t touched is People, which allows you to delegate tasks to other people (and Things conveniently ties into your address book to help you choose the lucky subordinate). Of course, the People feature doesn’t actually indicate who’s boss, but rather help you figure out who is doing what at any one time — it should be clear how well this feature should work with Areas, Projects, or tags. I say ’should’ because People isn’t ready quite yet — it feels like a work in progress. While you might have delegated tasks perfectly, the people you’re working with currently have no idea what you expect them to do unless you actually e-mail them the tasks. Cultured Code says better syncing is in the works, though, and I’m looking forward to the collaborative possibilities.

The rest of Things is pretty basic: you tick a checkbox to complete a task, you double click on an item to edit it, and you can add notes to any of your tasks. The Things dock icon shows a badge of the number of due and overdue items, and there’s also a fantastic universal shortcut for adding new tasks. It’s easy to tell that a lot of care went into the design of the desktop version of Things, and it’s an interface that should scale quite gracefully for users, whatever the task at hand.

Things for iPhone, in its current iteration, is best described as Things Junior. Things on the Mac has had years to develop and mature, but the iPhone version was only released earlier this year. It handles tasks in much the same way as the desktop, loads up and performs very quickly, and doesn’t try to smush my 13″ MacBook screen onto the iPhone’s tiny face.  Things Touch, as it’s officially called (if I read the blog right!), is a more compartmentalized approach to the Things philosophy.

Tapping on a task will bring up a small menu that lets you move it, edit it, “Today” it,  or e-mail it off. Ticking off the checkbox completes it and still applies that cool “depressed” effect. In terms of management, the approach has become a bit more iPhone-esque. Instead of the broad tags bar or the drag-and-drop support of the desktop client, there are buttons along the bottom of the screen that do the trick — it’s not as natural as it is on the Mac, but it works well.  The iPhone app is also much more selective about the information it shows on-screen: when a task is overdue, it’s only marked as such, and you don’t see by how many days you’ve missed the mark until you delve right into the task.

One thing that is still shown, however, is the Area of a task. All I can say to that is: Thank God! I can’t stand it when I can’t see the categories on my tasks on a mobile interface. One last thing I’ve also noticed (thanks, in part, to the Things Blog) is how the app will intelligently re-launch to the area you were working in, in case you were interrupted by a call or text. It doesn’t recall any of your unsaved changes, though.

Areas can be synced to the iPhone, but you can’t make them there (you can still make Projects, though, and the two features are similar). The iPhone App is also lacking landscape functionality (fine by me, but worth a mention) and the ability to select multiple tasks for manipulation. The latter could be a real deal breaker for users who have a lot to manage, and I hope that it’s a priority for Cultured Code’s future updates.

Having started off with both the Mac and iPhone clients, it has become really evident that, although Things Touch is on its way to becoming a truly independent client, it’s still leaning pretty heavily on the desktop version. Working with the drag and drop support, the multi-selection, and — now this isn’t a fair comparison — the universal ‘new task’ shortcut, most everything is easier to manage on the Mac version of Things. It’s also the only way for iPhone users to back their tasks up, which is a very big deal, since not everyone who owns an iPhone owns a Mac. This weakness is one of the reasons that cloud services are so popular. You could use Things on the iPhone as a standalone product, but you’d be a lot better off if you owned the Mac version as well.

I’m probably biased, though, since I know how great the Mac client is. Touch may be a little under-developed, but one of the underlying aspects of Things — the minimal interface and flexible, alternative task management — is already here, and that’s what gives it the potential to be a real killer app.

As far as the price goes, I still think it’s still a bit high on both ends. Despite the number of amazing little features, I would expect to pay around 25 USD for the desktop client instead of $50 (the student discount takes the price down a bit), but Things is my first desktop task manager outside of Outlook, and I received that client thrown in with my old machine. I’m admittedly no expert when it comes to desktop PIM prices.

My opinion is better founded when talking about the iPhone app, though. Things Touch costs $10 — the normal price for “premium” apps — and as of version 1.0.3, I still don’t think Things can stand toe to toe with the other major $10 task manager I know of: Appigo’s ToDo. Design differences aside, the major disadvantage in pricing Things at a premium is that it doesn’t sync with anything but the desktop software. Once iPhone users have a Mac-independent method of backing up their precious tasks, I think Things will really have reached the next level.

When I first signed up for a $25/year Remember the Milk subscription it was because I was really taken by the interface and the cloud syncing. That sheen faded away after about a month, and I found myself using and liking the web app less and less. The same thing happened with my free Toodledo account. I’m glad to report that Things isn’t like that. These two Cultured Code apps have become ingrained in my everyday life over the last two months (give or take) and they’ve made getting things done fun. It’s a pleasure to tick things off and look over how much I’ve accomplished in a day, and something about the presentation keeps me from feeling overwhelmed.

So if the price is no major obstacle and you own the requisite Mac and iPhone, I’d say it’s time for you to tick off the daunting task of finding your absolute must-have task manager, the completion of which has eluded you for all these years. Right below it you can write “Getting Things”, draw a checkbox, and then tick it off. Done.

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