Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
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Started by: Denis AltudovDenis Altudov
On: 1265343330|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Number of posts: 16
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Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Denis AltudovDenis Altudov 1265343330|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

The biggest change is one you hopefully won't notice - I have added extensive remote diagnostics to the app. This allows me to address support requests without annoyingly slow back-n-forth, and better yet I can address problems about which people did not complain. You'd be surprised but most people who encounter a problem stay silent and now they will get help too!

I spent a lot of time making sure I get the privacy right, there is detailed disclosure here. Please let me know if you have any concerns. I want to make sure your privacy is well guarded and I can't do that without your feedback.

Remote diagnostics can be turned off in Settings, but this generally means that I will not provide tech support - I can't afford to spend time guessing what the problem is (this doesn't apply to Beta testers - of course I always have time for them).

Apart from that, new features!

  1. At last, tasks can be moved to a different list! There are two way to do it: one is by chosing a different list within task details pane. The other one is really cool: in task list press "Edit" and then try sliding the task to the left - once there is no more room on the left you will be presented with option to move it to a different list. As if you pushed it off the screen, see? Try it, I really this approach.
  2. You can now delete a task from task list after pressing "Edit" and using the familiar red circle thingie. I did not add swipe-to-delete gesture, but I am thinking about that one - let me know if you think it's a must-have. (EDIT: I have enabled it now). The old "delete" button is gone to make room.
  3. You can now open "related email" in Safari when a task has related email. To start using this feature you will need to redownload all tasks by signing-in again (no need to retype password - simply press green sign-in button). Once done, open task details pane and click on the email subject line in blue.
  4. "Smart" orientation lock - once you enable it in settings, the app remembers which orientation it started in and sticks to that.
  5. A change in quick-add-new-task feature - instead of two "done" buttons it now has a "done" and a "next" button. The latter will create a task and immediately let you create another task without dismissing the keyboard. Useful if you need to quickly add a few tasks one after another.
  6. The app will now sync every 20 minutes by itself if set to auto-sync. This is useful if you keep iPhone from sleeping by docking it, or if you use backgrounder (jailbroken devices only). However if the phone sleeps the app is not running and will not sync - this is Apple's restriction, sorry.
  7. You can now order tasks by Title.
  8. Slick new "mini-calendar" thingie, see the screenshot embedded in my post below.

Bug fixes:

  1. Fewer empty tasks are being created (although some still are)
  2. If creation of a task was interrupted, it could have been created twice. No more.
  3. Fixed the sort-by-completeness order problem reported here.
  4. The other problem with due date mentioned in the previous thread is fixed as well.

Instructions:

  1. You must be officially registered to participate in the Beta, otherwise it won't work. Registration is currently closed because Apple restricts the number of participants, sorry.
  2. Download GeeTasksPro-b.10.6.ipa and drag-drop it to iTunes
  3. Download Memengo_AdHoc.v5.mobileprovision and drag-drop it to iTunes. This file did not change since the last time, so you can skip this step if you've done it before.
  4. Sync iTunes with iPhone/iTouch. If you are normally pick-and-choosing which apps to sync make sure to pick GeeTasksPro so it syncs down to the device.
  5. Ta-Da!
Last edited on 1266089615|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover By Denis Altudov + Show more
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Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Tim (guest) 1265386376|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

VERY COOL update!

1. I am absolutely THRILLED about the new way to "slide"a task into a new list—VERY SLICK!! I really like how you've managed to add increasingly more features without cluttering the UI. One suggestion moving forward: Make sure to document these features (and how to utilize them) in the app description. While I *believe* that I would have been able to "discover" this and other features on my own, I might have missed this feature in particular if I didn't know to "look" for it. Users will really find this helpful, particularly users who use GTD methodology.

2. I like the "delete" function via the "edit" button. I would, however, strongly vote for allowing users to "slide" to delete a task as well. I suspect that you are reluctant to do this because in the edit screen sliding moves tasks to different lists (rather than deletes them) and you don't want to create confusion. I don't really think this would be an issue, however. I would use "slide to delete" very frequently because I often might only delete one or two tasks at a time and having one less button to press (the "edit" button) would make that just that much easier. I also think iphone users come to expect to be able to "swipe to delete" since it is a mail function.

3. REALLY am excited about the changes to the "quick add" feature. This will make adding tasks just that much quicker. NICE!

4. Smart Orientation Lock—Not something I'll use, but I could see why people that prefer a particular orientation would like this feature.

5. I probably won't need to use the "related email" function, but I could see why some users would find it helpful—and it isn't at all intrusive for users that don't use it.

6. One Suggestion: Now that deleting tasks is so much simpler and requires less buttons, I think the "purge" feature should "clear completed tasks" rather than "delete" them. Some users (myself included) like to look back and see what tasks that completed on what date and, unfortunately, deleting them makes them gone forever. I wonder if you could make this an option in the "settings" menu: Let the user choose if they would like "purge" to clear completed tasks or delete them.

If you only wanted to offer one option, however, I think "clearing completed tasks" is the way to go, since deleting (particularly if you allow swipe to delete) is so much faster now.


As I use this build, if I encounter any bugs/issues I will be sure to report them.


Awesome new features!

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Unfold Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more by Tim (guest), 1265386376|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Denis AltudovDenis Altudov 1265404897|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Clearing completed tasks is a real pain to implement due the the way Google APIs are structured, so I cheated my way out by replacing it with "delete". I know, it's lame. :-) I have an elaborate plan to get it working as it should, alas it's plenty of work for marginal benefit so it's on the back-burner for now. Sorry :-)

"Related email" is the kind of thing I love to do - there are people who want this really strongly, and yet if you don't use it you will never be exposed to a new concept or button or whatever. Hence I can preserve the simplicity for the rest of the users.

I'm really glad you like the slide-to-move feature. I tried many different things before I settled on this one and it's hard for me to be objective now, so please keep the feedback coming.

The point is taken on documentation. People usually don't read the description, so I will have to do something smarter than that. It's on the radar.

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Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Denis AltudovDenis Altudov 1265405449|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Update: I have enabled the swipe-to-delete in beta 10-2. I don't promise I will keep it, just something for you to try out.

There are couple of other subtle changes in 10-2 as well. They subtle and I hope they reduce friction at some sub-conscious level.

  1. Suppose you need to move two tasks t1 and t2 from list L1 to L2. After you move t1 and when you get to moving t2 the name of L2 will briefly flash blue background in the list of destination lists, so that you can easily find L2 (the last list you used). I noticed that when I have a lot of lists I can get easily disoriented with all the animations so this should help.
  2. When backing out of details pane into task list the task you were just seeing will also flash blue background at you. This way if you've been meanign to delete or move it you can easily find which task you were at.

going back to swipe-to-delete - the reason I hesitate to allow swipe to delete this is because I could have reused the swipe gesture for something else, such as collapse/expand a list of subtasks. Yet there is overwhelming demand for this. I'm torn. :)

Thanks so much for your feedback - it keeps me going.

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Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Tim (guest) 1265413702|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I like this "swipe to delete" I have to say. One bug, however, I noticed is that "swipe to delete" doesn't work when tasks are "grouped by date." It does, however, work in every other sort option.

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Unfold Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more by Tim (guest), 1265413702|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Denis AltudovDenis Altudov 1265746685|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I see. I can't easily fix that I'm afraid, so it back to the old ways in that case.

Last edited on 1265747150|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover By Denis Altudov + Show more
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Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Tim (guest) 1265768220|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

In that case, maybe it would make sense to not allow "swipe to delete" and use the "swipe" feature for something else (like hiding subtasks), as you originally planned. This might be more consistent, as well, since you can't have subtasks (on Google Tasks) when tasks are grouped by date. Some users will probably think that it is a "mistake" that you can't "swipe to delete" when tasks are grouped by date, better maybe to use that option for something else that won't create that confusion. My 2c anyway.

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Unfold Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more by Tim (guest), 1265768220|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Tim (guest) 1265413194|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Just tried the "see related email feature." I have to confess that I didn't even know about this feature of Google Tasks until now. Worked beautifully! Now that I know about this, I think I'll be using it more often!

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Unfold Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more by Tim (guest), 1265413194|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Denis AltudovDenis Altudov 1265746795|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I have just updated the beta to 10-3. I think you will love this.
Doesn't work very will in landscape though, so I may remove it before shipping this release.

MiniCal.png
Last edited on 1265747013|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover By Denis Altudov + Show more
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Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Tim (guest) 1265767830|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

This is an awesome feature! As someone who always uses due dates for tasks, this will make entering tasks so much quicker! I switch back and forth between using portrait and landscape view and actually like the way this looks in both orientations. While I know that landscape view is technically "cut off," I don't feel that it looks cut off or unpolished. To me, it just looked like a landscape view layout that was intentionally made to look slightly different to accommodate the larger keyboard.

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Unfold Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more by Tim (guest), 1265767830|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Tim (guest) 1265768435|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

You might want to be extra careful, though, in the app description or website to call this the "quick add" date feature, so that some users don't get bent out of shape that they can only select from dates over the next few weeks. I think most people will be able to figure this out, but you know how some people are.

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Unfold Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more by Tim (guest), 1265768435|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Denis AltudovDenis Altudov 1265774748|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Good point.

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Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Denis AltudovDenis Altudov 1265769083|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Cool. I'm glad you like it.

Let me know if you can easily make sense of the information presented by this view. For example, there is no name of the month present to conserve space, so you would have to either remember what month it is now or look at the tiny string in the bottom-right corner, and then correlate that string with what you see in the calendar. Also, can you easily tell the today's date?

I'll tweak the landscape a little bit later today.

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Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Denis AltudovDenis Altudov 1265780115|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Ok, I sorted out the landscape thing. Try Beta 10-4.
minical_l.png

Last edited on 1265835531|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover By Denis Altudov + Show more
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Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Tim (guest) 1266366900|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Looks great!

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Unfold Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more by Tim (guest), 1266366900|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover
Re: Beta 10 - move task to different list, related email and more
Denis AltudovDenis Altudov 1266014383|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I have updated the Beta to 10-5. This enables the HTTPS support for GeeTasks Standard and a slight speed/bandwidth usage improvement.

Last edited on 1266014401|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover By Denis Altudov + Show more
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