All,
I have had a chance to extensively use OF for iPhone this afternoon and evening. First of all, it is a great thing to have. I was out and captured a bunch of stuff and when I got home it was all in OF. I love having the sync functionality. Great stuff!
That said, here are my thoughts and concerns...
1. Performance. I am not sure if it is the size of my database but I have noticed several lags which make using OF awfully painful especially when there is a wait of over 15 seconds. First, when I launch the app and it is launching and reading the document (about 10 - 20 seconds normally however it has stalled and taken as long as 3-4 minutes ). Second, the first time I hit "Projects" on the home page it can take up to 20 seconds. Third, if I add any new inbox items and go into add it to a specific project, it lags about 10 -15 seconds with no response upon typing. Finally, I changed the setting for due soon from 2 days to 24 hours and it seemed like it locked up but it was actually working and took about 1 minute and 30 seconds. FYI, I did rebuild the database before beginning with 1.1 and OF for iPhone and I also reset the phone. By the way, I also had the application crash when trying to uncheck one of things I had checked about 15 seconds before.
2. View settings. As I said in another note, if the premise of OF for iPhone is to serve as a standalone app as well as a complement to the desktop app, the settings for "in projects, show" seems to fall short of a full implementation. Put simply, it feels like there is too limited of an ability to add granularity (particularly in planning) to how to view your information in OF for iPhone. My assumption, perhaps foolishly so, was that the implementation would mirror the items in the view bar in the desktop app. For example, if I select "Remaining" on the iPhone app and "Remaining" on the sidebar show filter, I would see active, on hold, pending and stalled. This is not the behavior. The only way to see on hold projects is to select "All" on the iPhone app. However, then I also get all completed projects and actions as well because the implementation of the "All" preference includes the action status filter of "Remaining." This is very confusing.
In addition, when I go to view a list of actions there is no way to group by when they are due and sort them by project. This is particularly helpful if you are looking at a context and you have a list of 62 actions with no apparent rhyme or reason. This leads to the next point.
3. Smart filters and perspectives. I love the implementation of the smart filters but perhaps the missing link is the syncing of perspectives for OF for Mac users. This could kill two birds with one stone. Instead of implementing a separate way to implement perspectives on the OF for iPhone app, this is a benefit to those syncing with the Desktop app only. Then add a slightly more robust way of viewing on the OF for iPhone so that individuals can use it more effectively. For example, in my implementation of GTD with the desktop app, all my Someday/Maybes are On Hold projects. I have a perspective of all on hold projects and then I review them once a week and determine if they stay, if I have time to plan some of them I add actions but may not make the project active until it needs to be. There is no possible way to look at all your on hold projects in OF for iPhone and this limits the ability to have a portable Someday Maybe List. Then a few more ways to sort and view the information on the OF for iPhone would also be helpful for those who do not use the OF for Mac desktop.
Overall, I like the app and I look forward to the polishing. Keep up the great work.
Peter
p.s. by the way, if you want to use my database for testing, I am happy for you to use it. I have copied this to the support ninjas as well. Let me know.
I have had a chance to extensively use OF for iPhone this afternoon and evening. First of all, it is a great thing to have. I was out and captured a bunch of stuff and when I got home it was all in OF. I love having the sync functionality. Great stuff!
That said, here are my thoughts and concerns...
1. Performance. I am not sure if it is the size of my database but I have noticed several lags which make using OF awfully painful especially when there is a wait of over 15 seconds. First, when I launch the app and it is launching and reading the document (about 10 - 20 seconds normally however it has stalled and taken as long as 3-4 minutes ). Second, the first time I hit "Projects" on the home page it can take up to 20 seconds. Third, if I add any new inbox items and go into add it to a specific project, it lags about 10 -15 seconds with no response upon typing. Finally, I changed the setting for due soon from 2 days to 24 hours and it seemed like it locked up but it was actually working and took about 1 minute and 30 seconds. FYI, I did rebuild the database before beginning with 1.1 and OF for iPhone and I also reset the phone. By the way, I also had the application crash when trying to uncheck one of things I had checked about 15 seconds before.
2. View settings. As I said in another note, if the premise of OF for iPhone is to serve as a standalone app as well as a complement to the desktop app, the settings for "in projects, show" seems to fall short of a full implementation. Put simply, it feels like there is too limited of an ability to add granularity (particularly in planning) to how to view your information in OF for iPhone. My assumption, perhaps foolishly so, was that the implementation would mirror the items in the view bar in the desktop app. For example, if I select "Remaining" on the iPhone app and "Remaining" on the sidebar show filter, I would see active, on hold, pending and stalled. This is not the behavior. The only way to see on hold projects is to select "All" on the iPhone app. However, then I also get all completed projects and actions as well because the implementation of the "All" preference includes the action status filter of "Remaining." This is very confusing.
In addition, when I go to view a list of actions there is no way to group by when they are due and sort them by project. This is particularly helpful if you are looking at a context and you have a list of 62 actions with no apparent rhyme or reason. This leads to the next point.
3. Smart filters and perspectives. I love the implementation of the smart filters but perhaps the missing link is the syncing of perspectives for OF for Mac users. This could kill two birds with one stone. Instead of implementing a separate way to implement perspectives on the OF for iPhone app, this is a benefit to those syncing with the Desktop app only. Then add a slightly more robust way of viewing on the OF for iPhone so that individuals can use it more effectively. For example, in my implementation of GTD with the desktop app, all my Someday/Maybes are On Hold projects. I have a perspective of all on hold projects and then I review them once a week and determine if they stay, if I have time to plan some of them I add actions but may not make the project active until it needs to be. There is no possible way to look at all your on hold projects in OF for iPhone and this limits the ability to have a portable Someday Maybe List. Then a few more ways to sort and view the information on the OF for iPhone would also be helpful for those who do not use the OF for Mac desktop.
Overall, I like the app and I look forward to the polishing. Keep up the great work.
Peter
p.s. by the way, if you want to use my database for testing, I am happy for you to use it. I have copied this to the support ninjas as well. Let me know.
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