I never really liked iCal’s to do list! Mostly because there was no way to create scheduled or reoccurring tasks. But I still use iCal for my to do list. Instead of creating tasks, I simply schedule them as appointments, which means they are already on my iPhone.

I also use TaDa lists for tasks and steps that belong to specific projects.

Jay…i use Highrise and like it a lot. Needs some work, which hopefully it will get.

Generally speaking, I like 37s’ work and TaDa looks great on the iPhone (I signed up for a free account and played with it). But we run into problem #2 I reference above for me to use it.

Sebastian, yes, Bartek has said that forcing iPhone ‘apps’ into a web2.0 framework is not a problem and he’ll likely be doing something to allow iGTD to play on the iPhone. But I’m not expecting anything anytime soon. And while I love iGTD (and have donated to the developer), I’m not ruling out a switch to OmniFocus if I find it compelling enough.

In the meantime, I will probably fall back on option 2, which is to extract those tasks I want to see on my iPhone and put them in some web-based app to get that visibility. Will probably play with TaDa list for now and see how that goes.

Jay, do you see an advantage in this regard for Backpack over TaDa? One thing I like about TaDa is it’s simple, and the formatting works beautifully on the iPhone. Highrise works, but you have to zoom and then scroll to really read anything.

I use Tracks - the same as I always have. Works great on the iphone!

If I am not mistaken, the guy programming iGTD also announced he would work on something.

@Rick: You are exactly right about spreading your workflow too thin across multiple task-management applications. This is why I decided to go with an email approach to keeping my GTD system integrated. I designed the Ready-Set-Do! GTD program for the mac which has the ability to email one’s action lists to oneself so they are portable and accessible from anything — iPhone or someone else’s computer. With RSD you get four emails, each time-stamped with the date so you always know which copy of your lists is the freshest. Those four emails are Projects, Next Actions, Waiting Fors, and Reading. And users can “email” ideas, attachments, etc. from their iPhones or from another computer to their RSD setup on their main mac with the new RSD Mail Rule. It’s a pretty sweet setup — and the new version of RSD now even adds a little fun by helping users graduate through various “belt levels” of productivity.

I definitely second the vote for Tracks!!

I am up in Canada, so no iPhone for me, but my perfect iPhone/GTD implementation looks exactly like Tracks ( http://www.rousette.org.uk/projects/ ) formatted to fit with the iphone screen.

In the latest trunk, there is web 2.0 autocomplete on almost everything, which is a godsend. I implemented it at work, day 1, for problem tracking/resolution, and could not be happier

Why isn’t it included?

I think it’s because Leopard is right around the corner and todos/notes will be merged into the Mail program. In the mean time, there’s already many many ways around the problem while we wait a couple months for Leopard.

$.02

I am forced to use a Windows PC at work. I am very disappointed that the iPhone does not sync with the Task List and Notes in Outlook. If you are going to sync with Calendar and Contacts, why not sync with Notes and Tasks?? agghh..

John, what is “Tracks”?

I’ve tried backpackit.com for the iPhone. I find it’s better to use the /mob address, which looks nice. I already use it as a repository from my normal cellphone, since I can send email to backpack and make a todo entry, note, or just make sure I can read the email later.

Of course, the /mob pages are missing some functionality, but it’s still quite useful.

I think the word is that Apple will be including to-dos in a later generation with the iPhone so that it can integrate with the to-do service coming in Leopard. Not sure how that will work with PCs, but that’s probably why Apple is holding out on this feature.

That HTML front-end to OmniFocus sounds awesome. Then it should be a piece of cake to forward a port from the Internet to my Mac, and I’ll be able to see OmniFocus lists from anywhere. Hopefully it will allow you to set a custom port, though…

And are they planning to make the HTML interface interactive, or will it just be for viewing lists? The former, obviously, would be preferable.

I may be stating the obvious here, but there is a (free) public beta at http://www.Jott.com In a nutshell you are given a toll free number to call, where you can leave (successive) 15 second recordings which are then transcribed to text and sent to your email in box. You can also choose to “broadcast” your messages to others. It’s a slick web program.

Read more details here: http://www.jott.com/WhyJott.aspx

I’ve just been using iGoogle and one of the standard to-do widgets. Works well enough for my needs, but I don’t need much. I also have the Remember the Milk widget on there, which also works fine, but I haven’t used it much.

Haha - OmniFocus’ feature does it for me. It is VERY awesome. Even in it’s very first pre-alpha weirdo broken mode. At the moment it’s stuck on port 3000, but i’m sure they’ll offer an option - and although you can’t add ToDos yet, you can check them off as done, and see from your various contexts.

Minor quibbles about a major revolutionary development that’s been a long time coming - I’ve been writing about it since 1979. It’s inevitable that the first model will have some flaws.

I use Remember the Milk. I especially like being able to email myself tasks that will then show up on my task lists. I use the mobile version on my iPhone since it loads quicker if I’m using EDGE.

The OmniFocus interface is interactive. It currently supports viewing available actions, inbox items, and adding new inbox items. And you can of course check things off.

Hopefully we’ll publish some screenshots soon.

I was looking for the to dos on mu iPhone for about 5 minutes… I just never imagined they’d leave such a basic feature out. Bad news for GTD people… I’m a fervent user of Actiontastic which is supposed to come with a web interface but the app hasn’t been updated in a while and I’m starting to be skeptical about its future. At this point, I can only hope OmniFocus comes out soon! :)

Wow! I’m really surprised that more people haven’t said anything about this! Why would Apple leave out part of the functionality of iCal when syncing to iPhone? Tasks are just another set of calendars!!! Why does this make any sense? As mentioned, even the generic Smart Phones (must we mention Windows?) have tasks. Genuinely disappointed in this as a staunch GTD’er… Hope they add it with their first update.

Wouldn’t Stikkit also fall into this space (and a whole bunch others)?

For what it’s worth, I cover browser-based and web apps that are GTD-specific or GTD friendly in my column for About This Particular Macintosh, Next Actions. I’m trying to be as comprehensive as possible (which is getting more difficult, as they seem to multiply on the order of rabbits). You might find what you are looking for in my list.

Does anyone use Backpackit? I figure that might be useful for accessing tasks via Safari on the iPhone. I haven’t borrowed anyone’s iPhone yet, so I have not tested it out.

http://backpackit.com/

I’ve posted a compendium of opinions of iPhone users and a discussion on using the iPhone for GTD. For those who prefer to wait on buying an iPhone, the lack of a functional To Do list is a reasonable excuse. (And boy, we need excuses, I might add.)

what does my preferred solution look like? The last thing I want is another standalone app to manage tasks. Why? Because it forces me to do one of two things:

1. Change my entire task management process from what I use now to an entirely different application, or…

2. Extract those tasks I want to see on my iPhone and manage them in a different system than all my other tasks.

Option 1 ain’t going to happen, and option 2 is utterly contrary to good GTD practices.

Right now I’m using iGTD and I really like it. Tried demoing OmniFocus, but I simply can’t use it until it’s Mail integration is in place. Email is too heavy a part of my workflow to bother testing without it. Now here’s the thing, I would optionally like to get access to all my tasks via my iPhone, but at its core what I’d like to be able to do is sync only certain contexts to the phone. I don’t need to see my @Office tasks on my phone. I’m at the office and presumably I have my laptop. Same with @Home tasks. But I would REALLY like to see @Phone and @Errands so that when I’m out and about I can deal with those tasks.

In iGTD I can select those contexts to sync with iCal and omit the others. All I really want is for the iPhone to sync with ALL of iCal. I don’t understand why this is a big deal. It’s running the full OS, right? Just give me what is already there and I’ll be reasonably happy.

So it’s great that these other apps are appearing, it’s a great sign. But I’d like something that syncs with iCal so I’m not managing in multiple places. And what I really want is iGTD on my iPhone. Will take a hard look at OmniFocus when it’s functionality set is in place.

Backpack works great on the iPhone (like Ta-da List, it’s from the geniuses at 37signals). And I can share the page with my assistant, who can add to-dos to my list that I receive on my iPhone instantly. It rocks.

I use Vitalist a terrific GTD tool. The mobile version vitalist.mobi works very well with the iPhone. Love my iPhone, but I do agree was expecting a to-do feature. the notes are handy for little things.