Android app bug squishing update

Tuesday, October 25, 2011 by Emily Boyd

Following our big Remember The Milk for Android update last week, we discovered a few bugs that had managed to sneak through into the release. :( Bugs just won't do, so we've released version 2.0.1, including:

Enhancements:

• Updated layout of 2×2 widget to show more tasks.
• Updates to localizations for Chinese (Traditional), Czech, German, Italian, Norwegian (Norsk), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, and Swedish.

Bug fixes:

• Fix issue with task counts on lists not clearing when all tasks were removed from a list.
• Fix issue with widgets not being updated after some actions run from the "More" menu.
• Fix issues with Norwegian date parsing.
• Fix issue with missing widget shadows.
• Fix miscellaneous crashes.

We've still got Bob furiously attempting to work around a bug in some Motorola devices that means the widgets don't update correctly in some circumstances. Fingers crossed that Bob will be able to figure out a fix shortly!

Don't have the app yet? Learn more about Remember The Milk for Android.

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Posted in: New Features & Updates

Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Zen to Done

Tuesday, October 25, 2011 by Andrew Conkling

We've covered some organizational methods in the past, namely Getting Things Done and Monk to Done.

This week's tip, shared by sssimon, demonstrates how to organize your tasks using a similar approach, Zen to Done, in Remember The Milk.

The goal of this post is to show how I implement the Zen to Done productivity system using RTM (especially since GTD and Monk to Done have already been described).

I use the following Smart Lists:

1. Today (dueBefore:tomorrow) – this is my main action list which I work with throughout the day. It contains all tasks which I plan to do on a given day, organized by priority.
2. Focus (priority:1 and due:today) – every day I have 2-3 tasks which are the daily most important tasks and have a priority of 1. I address these tasks at the beginning of the day to make sure they are done. I use this list so as not to be distracted by other tasks.
3. This Week (dueBefore:Monday) – I use this list to have an overview of the current week, to make sure that I know what's coming up.
4. Unscheduled (due:never) – this list contains tasks which I have not yet planned to carry out. I periodically look through this list to add due dates to tasks which I want to schedule for the current week.
5. Ugh! (postponed:"> 5") – another list for reviewing. If a task has been postponed multiple times it means that a decision should be made: either do it (set higher priority) or drop it.
6. Daily Review (completed:today) – sometimes you look at the work remaining to be done and you feel that you didn't accomplish anything. This list shows how much you've done today to boost your morale.

Here is my general work flow:

• All incoming tasks land in the Inbox. If possible I assign them a priority and deadline. The deadline can be either hard (e.g., call mom on her birthday) or soft (e.g., go for a walk). The deadline is when I plan to do the task. Tasks without deadlines will appear in the Unscheduled list.
• At the beginning of each week I first define 3-4 weekly most important tasks. Personally, I keep this list in a separate text file but you can keep them in a separate RTM list. From this list I generate new tasks with due dates within the upcoming week. I also analyze the review lists (Unscheduled, Ugh!) and finally look at the This Week list to have an overview of the upcoming week and see if I have not overscheduled.
• Throughout the day I complete tasks from the Today list. I begin by looking at the Focus list (a subset of the Today list) to do the daily most important tasks.
• At the end of the day, tasks which are not completed are either postponed to the next day or deleted. Finally, I look at the Daily Review to feel good about how much I've accomplished ;-)

Be sure to read the full post for some more details.

Thanks for sharing this tip, sssimon! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.

Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we'll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.

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We taught Siri to add tasks to Remember The Milk

Wednesday, October 19, 2011 by Emily Boyd

From the moment we tried Siri on our shiny new iPhone 4S, we knew we had to teach Siri to add tasks to Remember The Milk.

A few caffeine-fuelled days later, and we're super excited to announce that we've done just that! You can now ask Siri to remind you (e.g., "Remind me to pick up the milk"), and that task will be magically added to Remember The Milk.

Check out the demo:

Want to add tasks to Remember The Milk with Siri, too? Just follow our quick set up instructions:

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Posted in: New Features & Updates

Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Catching up on tasks using Smart Lists

Tuesday, October 18, 2011 by Andrew Conkling

Sometimes your tasks can get the better of you, and suddenly looking at your to do list feels overwhelming. However, this week's tip, shared by bookworm, describes a way to break your list of tasks into smaller, more manageable lists.

I keep separate lists for tasks relating to different jobs/areas, so my normal lists are Household, Research, Study, Teaching, Volunteer, and I use Inbox for everything else.

Lately I've been quite behind on a lot of tasks, and the amount of catching up I needed to do was quite overwhelming. The first step in catching up was to go through each list and set realistic due dates (where possible). The second was setting up Smart Lists based on the due dates:

• Immediate: dueBefore:tomorrow – all the things that HAVE to be done today. (Tasks due today and overdue tasks.)
• Shortly: dueWithin:"2 days of today" – all the things that I have to be aware of today.
• This week: dueWithin:"7 days of today" – a picture of what I have to do in the next week.

Between my lists and my Smart Lists, I can now focus on tasks from one area (e.g. the Volunteer list), or make sure I'm not getting behind on any tasks from any area (the Immediate smart list).

I'm almost caught up on all my work now, thanks to being able to just focus on two days' tasks ('Shortly' Smart List), which keeps the long list of tasks from being too overwhelming. And the 'This Week' Smart List allows me to easily look further ahead across all areas of tasks so I can plan which tasks to work on when.

Thanks for sharing this tip, bookworm! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.

Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we'll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.

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The ginormous Remember The Milk for Android update

Monday, October 17, 2011 by Emily Boyd

Our promised Android app update is finally here, and it's a big one! We've overhauled the UI of the app and the widgets, snuck in some cool new features and new widgets too, and…

The basic app is now free for everyone!

Until now, our Android app has been available as a free download on the Android Market only for those of you with a Pro account. That's changing today; like our iPhone and iPad apps, the Android app is now free for everyone to use — yay!

What's the catch? We've introduced some limits to the free app: you'll be able to sync manually once every 24 hours with the Remember The Milk servers, which is great for backing up your tasks and notes online. There are also a few features that are exclusive to Pro users.

Exclusive to Pro: Unlimited push syncing + reminders + widgets

Pro accounts (and the awesome people who upgrade to them!) help us to maintain Bob T. Monkey's stash of fresh bananas and, well, keep Remember The Milk running. :) Upgrade to Pro, and you'll be rewarded with:

• Unlimited push syncing, which means that changes you make to your tasks on Android are automagically pushed to Remember The Milk online (and vice versa).
• Reminders in the notification bar and app dashboard, so you'll know instantly when tasks are due or when a location with tasks is nearby.
• Widget goodness! You'll get our freshly revamped List Widget, as well as our brand new Smart Bar Widget and Badge Widget (more about those below).

And don't forget the other Pro benefits, including membership in our Pro Tester Program, double votes for product ideas, priority support via email, and of course that little icon next to your name to indicate your awesomeness.

What's new in the app?

Version 2.0.0 (aka "Deckard") is our biggest Android app update ever, and brings a whole bunch of new features and improvements. Check out the demo we prepared earlier, or read on for the full scoop…

A whole new interface

First, the app has been completely redesigned. The action bar at the top gives you quick access to sync, search and Smart Add — so you can add a task from anywhere in the app. In the new task list view, you can also switch easily between incomplete and completed tasks using the tabs.

Introducing the dashboard

When you launch the app for the first time, you'll discover an entirely new screen: the dashboard. From the dashboard, you can get an overview of your tasks: what's due today, tomorrow and this week. You can also jump to your lists, tags and locations. Want to come back to the dashboard at any time? Just tap the blue title bar at the top of any screen.

Edit multiple tasks at once

We've made some handy improvements to working with your task lists. You can now edit multiple tasks quickly and easily: simple select them with the checkbox, and either tap the 'Complete' icon, or tap the 'More' icon to postpone, edit the due date, priority, list, or tags for multiple tasks.

Swipe to get stuff done

You can now swipe a task to complete, postpone, edit, or delete — making all of these actions super fast. And we like super fast at Remember The Milk. :)

'This Week' view

This new view, available from the dashboard, makes it easy to see what's due this week.

Add tasks using the Android 'Share' menu

Remember The Milk is now available in the Android 'Share' menu — so you can quickly add tasks from other apps. For example, you can use 'Share Page' from the browser to add a task for the webpage you're on.

Exclusive to Pro: Reminders Bar

In addition to displaying reminders for your tasks that are due or located nearby in the Android notification bar, the brand new dashboard gives you quick access to your outstanding reminders via the Reminders Bar.

Exclusive to Pro: List Widget (freshly revamped!)

The List Widget has been freshly revamped with an all-new design — so you can add a task with Smart Add right from the widget. In addition to the original 2×2 and 3×3 flavours, the List Widget now comes in a much-requested 4×4 size for full screen goodness.

Exclusive to Pro: New Smart Bar Widget

Want to add a task with Smart Add? Add a task by voice? Search your tasks? Launch the app? The brand new Smart Bar Widget does it all!

Exclusive to Pro: New Badge Widget

This one's our favourite! The new Badge Widget lets you see the number of incomplete tasks in a list, tag, or location; tapping the widget will take you straight to the corresponding screen in the app. There's also a special Badge Widget just for Smart Add, where you can add a task directly from your Home screen without needing to launch the app.

Eight new languages

Last, but not least, the app is available in eight new languages: Chinese (Traditional), Greek, Italian, Korean, Norwegian (Bokmål), Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, and Ukrainian. We'd love to support as many languages as possible, so if you're interested in helping to make the app available in your language, please check out our online translation program.

Enjoy the updates!

We hope you like this latest app release! Want to learn more about the app in general? Check out the Remember The Milk for Android section of the site.

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Posted in: New Features & Updates

Birthday #6

Wednesday, October 12, 2011 by Emily Boyd

Wow, it's hard to believe we're six years old today! We want to say a massive thanks to the over 3.1 million people who've entrusted Remember The Milk with their tasks, and of course an extra big thanks to the lovely folks who support us with Pro accounts. :)

What's going on in Remember The Milk land? Well, Bob's been crazy busy cooking up new features and improvements based on all your feedback over in the Ideas forum (you guys sure set him up with a lot of work… from the web app to the mobile apps and beyond, there's a lot of awesome ideas there!).

Keep your eyes peeled for some of Bob and the team's work on a few different projects coming along shortly, and keep on sending us your feedback so Bob knows where to direct all that banana-fueled energy. :)

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Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Using Remember The Milk with Monday meetings

Tuesday, October 11, 2011 by Andrew Conkling

Remember The Milk can be useful for keeping track of what you have to do, as well as what you have already completed. This week's tip, shared by taylor.andrew, discusses how you can use both in weekly meetings to keep things on track.

At work, we recently introduced meetings every Monday morning where we go over our objectives for the previous week and decide on objectives for the new one. It works pretty well, but having it first thing after a weekend means people forget what they've accomplished and what they want to do next. Here's how I've solved that problem by integrating our new system with RTM:

First, I use priorites to categorise things. You could use tags if you use priorities for something else, but let's go with this for now.

Priority 1: things I want done for me (expenses etc)
Priority 2: this week's tasks
Priority 3: things I've been asked to do, but not this week
No priority: things I'd like to do eventually

Next, I have three Smart Lists:

"This Week's Tasks": the main list I refer to while working. The search is:

priority:1 OR priority:2 OR dueBefore:Monday

It catches anything I want to do, have been told to do, or need to do.

"Done Last Week": the first list I refer to in meetings. The search is:

completedWithin:"9 days of Tuesday" AND NOT priority:1

On Mondays, it tells me what tasks I completed the previous week. Every other day, it tells me what tasks I've completed so far thatweek. (This works because on Mondays, "Tuesday" refers to the following day, but every other day it refers to the Tuesday a week later.)

"Next Week's Tasks": this is the second list I refer to in meetings. The search is:

tag:nextweek OR dueBefore:Tuesday OR dueWithin:"6 days of Tuesday" OR priority:2

Again, on Mondays it tells me everything I need or have been told to do that week — the same as "This Week's Tasks", but without my personal objectives. From Tuesday onwards, it tells me everything due the week after. It also includes any incomplete tasks from this week, since I'll presumably want to finish them next week.

You can also create copies of the Smart Lists for weeks starting on a Tuesday (after bank holidays) but personally I find the extra lists annoying.

In the meeting, I use "Done Last Week" and "Next Week's Tasks" to make sure I'm given credit for everything I did and allocated time for everything I need to do. Anything we agree I should do that week gets marked priority 2 and anything we postpone to the following week is tagged "nextweek" and gets added to "Next Week's Tasks".

The rest of the time, I work on "This Week's Tasks". When I remember, I run through my Inbox list on a Friday afternoon and tag things I want to bring up in the meeting with "nextweek", but even if I forget, the Smart Lists catch anything urgent.

See this related tip for daily meetings for another way to keep track of tasks.

Thanks for sharing this tip, taylor.andrew! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.

Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we'll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.

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Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Running to-do lists

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 by Andrew Conkling

It can be difficult to manage "today's" tasks when sometimes there's too much to do on a given day. This week's tip, shared by kylir, suggests using priorities instead of due dates for any tasks that don't need to be done on a specific day.

I'm often annoyed by having to reschedule overdue tasks when in reality I just want to get that task done today and if not today then as soon as possible. To solve this problem, I've created a simple "Today" Smart List which shows things that are due today or which have a priority.

I then mark tasks in my other lists with a priority which then means I should do them as soon as I can. If I don't finish them today, they automatically appear in my today list for tomorrow without me having to change their due dates. My "Today" Smart List looks like this:

dueBefore:tomorrow OR NOT priority:none

Thanks for sharing this tip, kylir! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week.

Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum, add a new topic, and let us know how you use Remember The Milk. Each week we'll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.

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