Android App Of The Month: Any.Do

There are lots of To do list apps around but I have never been particularly happy with them.  They are generally over complicated for making quick lists.  Until recently I have been using an app called ToDo List.  It is pretty good and sits on screen as an editable list widget.  Its limitation is that it is just that, a list widget, which is fine but I need a bit more functionality without having to be a rocket scientist to work out how to drive the app.  Enter Any.Do.

  This list app will take your productivity to a whole new level.  How can this be I hear you cry! It really is simple.  You can create folders and pop your list entry into the appropriate folder.  How does this help, easy, lets say you need to cut the grass, paint a door, pick up paint from the hardware store, you have a bulb blown in a light, have to do banking, pick up a birthday card, plus there may be a long list of groceries to get.  If you just have a straight list you are likely to miss something in a location.  How would you organise Any.Do?  as follows, create folders home, shops, hardware store, supermarket.  You would then drag cut grass and paint door into the Home folder.  Drag the banking and pick up a card reminder into the shops folder and maybe add a reminder to go to the supermarket and the hardware store.  In the hardware folder drag the paint and bulb and into the supermarket you drag all your grocery items.  This way when you go to the shops you have all the things you must do there in the one list.  When you are reminded to go to the supermarket you swap folders to all the groceries that you have to pick up.  That way there is no doubling up on trips

On its own that is enough to sell me the app but as the man with the knives says, there's more.  List entries can be timed and will alarm at the allotted time.  If you miss a call, the next time you look at your phone there will be a popup telling that you have missed the call and would you like to redial it or dismiss it.  You can also set priorities and email list entries to contacts.  

It is possible to dictate your list after pressing the microphone, obviously you have to be connected to Google for this to work.  You can also sort your entries by date instead of folders, however for me this destroys the usefulness of the app above and ordinary list maker app. As well as the list app it also had a widget for the screen.

Here is the absolute clincher, as you complete a task you can swipe through the item and it will put a line through it and relegate it to the bottom of the folder.  This way you can see what you have accomplished.  Then when you feel so good about having ticked off all those tasks you can shake the phone and you will be asked if you want to delete all those finished items.  I suppose if you have had a really big day you can cheer and shake it in the air and delete all your little victories.  Maybe that is going too far but I like the mental picture, feel free to embellish on it.

My one criticism of the app is that you cannot set an order for the folders, or at least I have not found out how to do it just yet.  Verdict, this is a must have app.  It will really make a difference when you are really really busy.