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Post: To-Do or Not To-Do: The App Dilemma
ICYMI: Apple, Social Media, and Tesla
POTW: Formula 1 Explained
To-Do or Not To-Do: The App Dilemma
Do you have an ongoing text chain with yourself? You know, to remind you of things, save links, send pictures, and more? Oh, you don’t… it’s just me then? Are you sure? Do you instead send yourself emails? Or do you have one note with everything in it? Surely, you’re not one of those people who carry around a notebook and physically write everything down in 2024 are you? Sorry, that sounded judgmental, and that’s not how I meant that.
Let’s look at this another way. How many alarms are on your phone right now? And what are those alarms for? Do you often open your alarm app and delete random alarms you’ve had for weeks to “remind you to put something in your car.” Just me again? Hopefully you agree there’s some rationalization around trying to remember what you are supposed to do and when. Life has changed a lot in the last few decades, and trying to keep up is a challenge sometimes.
What I’d like to share is a bit about the app world of basic to-do lists. There are tons of apps available for something as simple as a list, and many ways to implement them into your workflow. What I’m referring to here as a To-Do list includes things that are quickly captured, quickly completed, and then removed. This isn’t meant to dive deep into one of my other favorite areas - project and/or knowledge management. Or, this isn’t meant to focus on note-taking, whether for personal use or educational. I do have something in the works for those areas, but still researching.
Instead, I’ve spent some time recently trying to find the perfect To-Do app. The problem here is these things can get fairly complicated pretty quickly. A To-Do list should be simple, quick, and ultimately effective. If you won’t use it, it’s useless. Another issue is what works for me may not work for you. However, another problem that eventually shows up around timely events as these include another app we’re too familiar with - the Calendar. And if you carry a physical calendar around, that’s okay, too! Again, not diving too deep into calendars here.
So where to start? Well, first off, it depends on what devices you want to use to create and complete your tasks. There are multiple apps that are ecosystem agnostic, and some that work best for the one they were created for. The big three - Apple, Google, and Microsoft - each have their own app that works best if you live in that world and don’t want to stray too far. However, each of them is very limited and generally only provides the basics. They don’t really handle multiple reminders, extra information (location, notes, file uploads), interactivity with other apps (or devices), or ease of access outside their ecosystem.
For Apple, they offer Reminders. This is a built-in app and works well on all Mac products with limited availability on the web. Google offers Tasks, which has apps across mobile devices, but must be accessed via the web on laptops and desktops. Microsoft offers To Do, which works well across all platforms - presumably because they built the app around an old favorite - Wunderlist.
Moving to third-party apps, some are only available within one of the ecosystems, some allow multiple lists and organizing better than others, some are free, some are paid, and some allow sharing with friends, family, and coworkers. The “thing” you like about one app may not be offered by another app, and vice versa. There are many other features I can’t cover solely because I haven’t used all of them due to my own limitations. Some also integrate with other apps that you may use that will raise your priority of which to choose.
Here’s a list of apps I’ve researched with a possible note of features that are unique or allow them to stand out.
TickTick allows for embedded calendars and timers (most devices and the web)
MinimaList is true to its name and keeps things simple (iOS only)
Trello has mastered Kanban boards (most devices and the web)
Superlist excels with simplifying multiple simple lists (mobile and web)
Todoist balances simplicity and complexity (most devices and the web)
Things appears to focus on design and usability (mostly Apple devices)
Any.do focuses on scheduling everything to help create productive days (most devices and the web)
Omnifocus provides powerfully productive task management for pros (mostly Apple devices)
TeuxDeux peacefully plans and organizes your week (mobile devices only)
Since some will ask, I will share. I tried to use Apple Reminders and Microsoft To Do until I became handcuffed by their limitations. You may not have this issue. I’ve tried Trello before, but the Card view just wasn’t for me. Superlist and MinimaList were also a bit limited in what I was looking for, and Things was a bit too much in depth. I haven’t tried the others with the exception of my current To-Do app of choice - Todoist.
I needed something that could work well across all devices, and had a stupid simple and quick way to add a task. Todoist allows me to use Siri on my phone, or by adding the “Add task” widget to jump into adding a task with one click - not opening the app first. On desktops, the Quick Add keyboard shortcut works amazing on Mac or PC. By simply pressing Option or Control and then the spacebar, I can type any task, using natural language input, and simply click enter. My task is added, and I’m back to doing whatever I was doing.
I also like how all added tasks first get put into the “Inbox” until filtered. You can then add notes, due dates, reminders, labels, priority, and more. Sharing works well, tasks can be sorted into lists, subsections, and also have sub-tasks. Even better, you can turn off features you don’t use so they don’t distract.
All that said, just because it works for me doesn’t mean it will work well for you. I suggest use what you have access to and will put into practice.
What To-Do app are you using?
ICYMI: Apple, Social Media, and Tesla
Apple
The Department of Justice sued Apple with a lawsuit stating, “Apple moved to block cross-platform messaging apps, limited third-party wallet and smartwatch compatibility, and disrupted non-App Store programs and cloud streaming services.” It appears there’s some truth to this, and the DOJ also has precedence in the same field having previously sued Microsoft and Google. Apple has already allowed app downloads directly from websites in the EU, and has also announced their support for the RCS text standard by the end of the year. I’m sure both were done to limit their stronghold, and who knows what they may do next to get the suit dismissed. Maybe the courts will think a cut in the Vision Pro’s cost is a big enough move?
Social Media
As social media sites user bases grow, money and policy appear to follow. For starters, Donald Trump’s app - Truth Social - went public. While he can’t sell any of his position anytime soon, it does appear this rises his net worth to the tune of $3 billion. Social media apps have been shown to be pretty volatile over the years, but what’s ironic is he started this after being banned from Twitter - something he would have probably never profited from. And what’s a bit more ironic, is since Elon Musk took over Twitter, it has become more conservative while losing value.
On the moderation side of things, the social media competitor to Truth Social and Twitter, Bluesky, launched “Ozone”, a tool to allow users of the site moderate their own services. This could also allow for a intermediary company (or even single user for example) create a moderation template for users to adopt. On the other end of things, some states are moderating traffic themselves by blocking adult sites until an age has been verified, and others are requiring parental permission to join social media sites if under the age of 13 or 16.
Tesla
In an email sent to everyone employed at Tesla, Elon Musk made it mandatory for all new deliveries of any Tesla vehicle to include a test ride with Full Self-Driving (FSD). In the Tesla community, it has almost become a joke on if, not when, FSD will ever be released as a final product of what was promised. Whether it will or not is still unseen - as there will be legalities in the way for a complete driverless vehicle any time soon. Until then, this does show Elon’s standing on how it functions now and does prove some hope for the future. Having driven multiple Tesla’s with this functionality - I can say, it’s as scary as it is awesome!
POTW: Formula 1 Explained
With Formula One (F1) racing being around in some way for around a century, there are tons of technologies and safety precautions that have made their way to the consumer market. Two popular YouTubers have done the sport a decent job explaining it for newcomers. First off, Cleo Abram did an explainer video over a year ago, and recently followed it up with a behind-the scenes tour of Redbull with the number one driver of the series, Max Verstappen. Next, Marques Brownlee followed that up with a video explaining the sport as a spectator during the Las Vegas race last year. Spoiler alert, there’s a lot of money in this sport. But how much do the cars cost? What about a private track?