If you’re forgetful, Things iPhone sync is useless

Edit: I got a response from Cultured Code 🙂 great to get such a quick response with a detailed answer.

Hi,

Thank you for your inquiry.

As you can imagine, wifi sync was only a first step. We are already working on a multiple Mac and iPhone over-the-air syncing solution. That’s the most requested feature currently. At present I can’t give you a time frame, though, when this is going to be ready.

When Push Notifications come to Things touch in version 1.5 Things will be able to update the application badge icon without launching the application itself.

Best, Roman


Things for iPhone screenshot

I’m forgetful. That’s why I bought the wonderful Things for Mac and iPhone by Cultured Code. One nice feature is that if your iPhone and Mac are on the same network, the two will sync whenever you run the iPhone application, no third-party slow web-based system required. The problem is it’s completely useless if you’re forgetful, because you’ll forget to sync when you’ve added new items. And let’s face it, if you’ve bought Things, that’s probably you.

There are a couple of use cases where the Things iPhone sync doesn’t work, and there are really simple ways to fix them.

Zzzz…Oh! I just remembered…

When I’m in bed, my mind has a tendency to remember things I need to do tomorrow, or come up with new ideas for Twitterfall. You’d think I could just fire up Things on my iPhone, quickly jot it down, and thanks to the wonders of iPhone sync it would transfer to my iMac humming away the other side of the room ready to remind me when I get up in the morning?

But no.

Even though when I load Things it immediately syncs with my iMac, it takes quitting and restarting Things once I’ve added the item before it’ll be on my iMac as well. This is because Things only syncs on launch. 20 seconds ago the application spoke to my Mac, chances are it is still there now, so why not sync the new item too?

Solution: If Things has just synced, when I add a todo item, sync it straight away. Then I can get back to sleep.

Out and about

I’m a university student. When I go onto campus I often remember things I need to do when I get back to the house, so I note them down on my iPhone. However like I said, I’m forgetful. By the time I get back I’ve forgotten I even wrote those items down on. I understand it can’t sync over the air with my Mac while I’m out, but what if my iPhone could remind me by setting the Badge icon for Things as just what is in my inbox – which is where I keep items I’ve written during the day? That way I’ll see it next time I use my phone.

Solution: Give me the option of just showing what is in my ‘Inbox’ on the iPhone badge icon to remind me I need to sync.


Both these solutions sound pretty trivial to me, and would really help my workflow. Now I just need to forward this blog post to the guys at Cultured Code 🙂

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