If, like me, you use Outlook's task (to-do) list, and have upgraded from WM6.5 to WP7, you're probably disappointed that there is no solution for syncing tasks onto an app on your shiny new phone.
I use a workaround that seems to be OK, and will tide me over until proper task syncing comes along, as I'm sure it will soon.
I use Windows Live Mesh to sync a folder on my Pc, containing spreadsheets, to Skydrive. You can navigate to that synced folder on your phone by pointing your browser to http://devices.live.com/Sync, and going into the folder in question. You can pin the page for the folder to your start screen for quick access.
I created a new spreadsheet in the synced folder called Tasks. What I now do is, each morning while munching my breakfast, I review my tasks in Outlook. They're filtered such that only today's tasks show on screen. I press CTRL-A to highlight them all, then CTRL-C to copy them. I then open the Tasks spreadsheet, clear it out and paste all the tasks into the sheet, then close it. Windows Live Mesh then syncs the spreadsheet into Skydrive. I then access it on my phone and save it to the Office hub.
I now have all my tasks for the day in the sheet. I can add filters to the sheet and filter by, say, category, and I can modify the status of each one to add in notes or say it has been done.
Then the following morning while reviewing my tasks over breakfast once more, I start off by looking at the Tasks spreadsheet on my phone and marking up the previous day's tasks as complete, or modifying them as my notes dictate. Then I paste the new day's tasks into the spreadsheet on the PC and the cycle continues.
Have a go, it's not perfect but it's the best I can come up with.
Unless you have a better suggestion?
Thanks, not a bad solution.
Another method would be to copy your list of tasks into the Onenote webapp on skydrive. This can be set up to sync to your phone automatically. So you would avoid having to use live mesh, but you would still have to copy your tasks from outlook into Onenote.
Obviously neither solution is perfect.
I would even settle for a RTM or Producteev app so at least tasks could be synced to the web.
There are a few task apps on the market place. I haven't tried any of them yet but there's several available.
greener88 said:
Thanks, not a bad solution.
Another method would be to copy your list of tasks into the Onenote webapp on skydrive. This can be set up to sync to your phone automatically. So you would avoid having to use live mesh, but you would still have to copy your tasks from outlook into Onenote.
Obviously neither solution is perfect.
I would even settle for a RTM or Producteev app so at least tasks could be synced to the web.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with doing it via OneNote is the tasks have no structure, they're just lines of text. In Excel, the fields go into columns an you can edit them and filter them, which is way more useful. But yeah, you do need Live Mesh.
Ren13B said:
There are a few task apps on the market place. I haven't tried any of them yet but there's several available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but they all use local storage, so you can't sync with your Outlook tasks. Plus, none of them support start dates and/or recurring tasks so they're pretty useless really.
I know that this is not an outlook task based solution, but if you need some sort of task function, get a free remember the milk account then download the WinMilk app.
True MS tasks have start time & end time & reminder. MS says tasks are NOT supported in MP7
"I use a workaround that seems to be OK, and will tide me over until proper task syncing comes along, as I'm sure it will soon."
What makes you think Tasks will come to WM7?
Poppapete said:
"I use a workaround that seems to be OK, and will tide me over until proper task syncing comes along, as I'm sure it will soon."
What makes you think Tasks will come to WM7?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tasks are already supported in Windows Live Hotmail, I can sync my WM6.5 device's tasks to it. I would have thought MS would write a tasks app that can sync to that in the same way calendars and contacts do. At the moment they're focussing on consumer stuff, but in the new year I understand they plan to start rolling out business oriented stuff like Skydrive support for Word & Excel, and I'm hoping tasks will feature in there somewhere.
Poppapete said:
True MS tasks have start time & end time & reminder. MS says tasks are NOT supported in MP7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you give me a reference for that assertion?
Plus I think it's obvious they're not supported *now* but have Microsoft made a definitive statement regarding the near future?
karelj said:
I know that this is not an outlook task based solution, but if you need some sort of task function, get a free remember the milk account then download the WinMilk app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just had a look - it's an interesting solution. It's a shame it doesn't support Start Date and the WP7 client doesn't allow repeating tasks to be created though. I'll look into Milksync too.
Related
As far as I can work out, WP7 will not support Outlook Notes and Tasks (To-Dos) or the synchronization of Notes & Tasks.
As I understand it, synch of email, calendar & contacts will happen via your Windows Live account (Windows Live will be an Exchange server soon), which can then synch to Outlook using the Windows Live Connector, but Notes and Tasks are absent from this setup.
There will be no native Notes or Tasks apps on WP7. There will be One Note, but that's a different animal and you have to purchase the PC version to be able to see your OneNotes on your PC.
Unfortunately, for me at least, Tasks is the app I use most on my phone. Since WM5.0, Microsoft crippled Tasks by removing the ability to filter out Tasks with a future Start Date, so I moved to using Pocket Informant which provides this essential feature.
Pocket Informant will not be developed for WM7 if news I've read on the Net is correct. This may be partly due to WM7 having no Tasks database, thus forcing any developer to create their own database engine for Tasks, and in any case there would be no synch with Outlook.
If all this is true, it will prevent me from moving over to WM7. My personal and business life revolve around my task list and I'd be lost without it.
Does anyone have any more information on this, especially any that shows me to be wrong?
Don't know about tasks and notes, but you can connect to any Exchange account you want.
http://www.ahead-app.com/
vangrieg said:
http://www.ahead-app.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
impressive app!
clear, simple! exactly what i need
i hope other apps will be as good as this one (maybe i should start developing wp7 apps too..)
warenbe said:
impressive app!
clear, simple! exactly what i need
i hope other apps will be as good as this one (maybe i should start developing wp7 apps too..)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you should
yup but i've no good idea right now
warenbe said:
yup but i've no good idea right now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if i think of something ill let you know
That Ahead app is more like a Project manager than a simple task manager. It only seems to support priorities called "Urgent", "Later", which doesn't tie in with Outlook's three priority levels. Also it only supports a due date, but no start date. Start date is really important, as a recurring annual task to get my car MOTed should have a start date of a couple of weeks before its due, so it doesn't appear in my task list all year round. It also needs to support lots of different types of recurrance - yearly, monthly, every weekday, every 2nd Friday of the month etc etc.
Also, Ahead App doesn't do Notes or synch them.
Whilst I appreciate the link, I'm afraid it's not what I'm looking for. All I need is an app that replicates all the functionality of Outlook's Tasks and Notes and synchs them.
I can't believe this functionality, which is present by default in every version of Windows Mobile, will be absent from WP7.
I'm going to keep my fingers crossed these two essentials appear in the final release of WP7, otherwise I'll have to stick with WM6.5 and Pocket Informant until they finally do appear, whenever that may be.
Jim Coleman said:
Whilst I appreciate the link, I'm afraid it's not what I'm looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I know. These tasks also won't be synced with Exchange and can't trigger alerts on the phone, so that's not what I need either.
This is very unfortunate, but neither the iPhone nor Android have tasks, so it looks like a trend these days.
tell me if i'm wrong, but with wp7 we will not be able to create an app wich can copy tasks from outlook?
if yes, we have to create a service wich send tasks on internet and then retrieve them on the phone...
Yes, that's right, you will need to install a connector on your desktop to sync tasks with Outlook or have an intermediary server to sync with Exchange for now.
vangrieg said:
This is very unfortunate, but neither the iPhone nor Android have tasks, so it looks like a trend these days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google have started to integrate Tasks into Google Calendar, but thus far it is extremely basic and again doesn't incorporate Start Dates. But I think the direction Google is moving in is to incorporate Tasks into Android and use Exchange Synch.
Notes is another issue though.
IPhone is.......well, let's just skip over that one.
Jim Coleman said:
Google have started to integrate Tasks into Google Calendar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, Microsoft has done that already on Live Calendar, so maybe that's the direction they'll go with WP7, too. When I asked the Office guy directly about Tasks he said "can't comment at this time".
The Answer to Outlook Tasks and Notes
The Answer to Outlook Tasks and Notes
is
1)wait for WP7 Windows Phone 7 to get up to speed
2) WM6.5 Windows Mobile 6.5
run it on as fast a processor as possible (like maybe the HD2)
(no keyboard but you can get used to it)
with as big a display as possible, again the HD2 (same pixels as the tilt2 but more room)
the latest manila / sense, 2.5 ish is now nice and the vendors are supporting the download
co0kies home today v2 is looking very nice, tasks on the home screen.
we who use Outlook for calendar, contacts, notes, tasks
have a single app sync, and we want it not to go away.
maybe we can live with getting exchange accounts, but we're really hoping for a wm7 windows phone 7 activesync.
until this gets in shape . . .
we wait.
looking @ manila/sense with co0kies home today on a fast cpu with a big display,
we're not waiting in that much pain . . .
After almost 17 years on AT&T I moved to T-Mobile
I just got so tired of AT&T lagging on the vendor relationships with HTC and Microsoft.
I upgraded the TILT2 to the latest rom so that I could Finally get tasks on the home page
(I am a long time a complete Outlook user, Requiring Notes, Task, Calendar, Contacts, with a single simple complete sync to the phone).
Co0kies Home Today 2 is marvelous!
The rom started crashing every few hours
CHT put manilla/sense over the memory edge.
it too 45 seconds for manilla to return from sending an sms.
AT&T has no solution.
The HD2 has no keyboard (something i was very worried about)
I dove in.
WHAT A CHAMP this HD2 is.
clock Twice the speed of the Tilt2
tons more memory
a screen of a size fitting the number of pixels available
and after a few days, guess what . . . i am over my keyboard phobia ! ! !
phone number xfer in just a few of hours.
knock on wood, nice transition so far!
only irritating thing is tmomail.net
seems too eager to convert to MMSs, just because they're over 160 bytes.
(small point, that)
There's some progress on the synced Task list front.
Appa Mundi Tasks does at least sync with Exchange Server tasks lists, which is a start. Unfortunately it doesn't support recurring tasks, so you can't use it for your annual MOT or your quarterly VAT return.
Also, strangely, tasks with a start date in the future appear in the list of "Active" tasks, which is just plain wrong.
Anyway, I remain hopeful a tasks app will become available soon which does support recurrances, filters active tasks properly, and syncs with Hotmail tasks so we don't have to purchase an Exchange service online.
Keep your eyes peeled and post on here if you spot anything.
I was looking at Remember the Milk as well but it doesn't support start dates or recurrences either.
Ever try Toodledo?
I used Toodledo when I when from WinMo to iPhone and really needed tasks. It's a terrible web UI, but has a full featured iPhone app that would sync with Outlook tasks. I'm working a WP7 app right now. Not sure what other sync capacity it has, but it's MUCH better than Remember the Milk.
http://photon.funkymule.com/post/photondo-sneak-peek-1.aspx
Keep an eye on that for PhotonDo, it's a task app that syncs with ToodleDo. Then again, why didn't MS allow Live Hotmail to support tasks and we wouldn't have to wait for a tasks app.
Hotmail tasks are pretty bad. Better than Goigle, but nithing comparable to Outlook/Exchange tasks...
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Just had a look at toodledo.com and it seems to do what I need. Until Photondo comes out, I can probably handle using the mobile version of the site, toodledo.com/slim
I'm going to import my Outlook tasks to toodledo tonight, and start using it for a bit to see how it goes.
Thanks for the tip.
FYI... I just purchased "To-Do Tasks" in the marketplace. Nice app that seems to be well supported. Synchs with Toodledo perfectly.
Frank_Toronto said:
FYI... I just purchased "To-Do Tasks" in the marketplace. Nice app that seems to be well supported. Synchs with Toodledo perfectly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I imported my outlook tasks to toodledo last night, all looks good. Am downloading To-do Tasks and will give it a spin.
Edit: The trial doesn't support sync so I can't really see how it works. Can you tell me, does it support recurrances and start dates? Doesn't look like it does. Do tasks with a future start date show up on-screen? I need future tasks to be hidden. The upcoming PhotonDo should do all that I think.
hello, how well does Windows phone 7 sync with Outlook tasks?
Hi,
as far as I know, Outlook is unable to synchronize tasks to the cloud via the Hotmail Connector. So you wont be able to get your outlook tasks to your phone. However WP7 does support tasks and so does Windows Live. You can create and view them in the Calendar Hub (swipe to the left). You'll just be unable to synchronize Outlook with them. You could contact the Windows Live team to check, wether tasks synchronization will be included in the next Connector Version or not.
If your tasks are stored on a Exchange Server you will be able to view them in special apps.
Regards
Chris
To-Dos in Windows Live are not Tasks, they're To-Dos. That is why they are named differently. You can't set Recurring To-Dos for example. For someone who seriously uses Outlook Tasks, Windows Live Calendar To-Dos are useless. Trust me, I've tried harder than I care to say.
I just sync my Outlook Tasks to my iPod Touch through iTunes and use that.
Both Windows Live and Google Tasks/ToDos are pretty rubbish, IMO.
ChrisKringel said:
Hi,
as far as I know, Outlook is unable to synchronize tasks to the cloud via the Hotmail Connector. So you wont be able to get your outlook tasks to your phone. However WP7 does support tasks and so does Windows Live. You can create and view them in the Calendar Hub (swipe to the left). You'll just be unable to synchronize Outlook with them. You could contact the Windows Live team to check, wether tasks synchronization will be included in the next Connector Version or not.
If your tasks are stored on a Exchange Server you will be able to view them in special apps.
Regards
Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Almost correct. Since Mango you don't need 3rd party apps to view, set up and edit Outlook tasks when using an Exchange server. It's part of the Windows Phone calender. But some apps provide more features than the calender does.
I believe exchange server is a Microsoft's business product. Something that a normal consumer do not have access to. Does that mean I am pretty much out of when it comes to taking my Outlook's tasks mobile except for as N8ter suggested using iTunes and an Apple device.
I want to avoid using Apple device at any cost.
Thank
I took O365 account for 6eur a month. Gives me own cloud with exchange email, calendar, tasks and contacts sync perfect with my WP7. I also have Onenote synced to the O365.
Yes, its not free but Im happy I took it.
Loco5150 said:
I took O365 account for 6eur a month. Gives me own cloud with exchange email, calendar, tasks and contacts sync perfect with my WP7. I also have Onenote synced to the O365.
Yes, its not free but Im happy I took it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. Thanks I'll have a look into it. Is it similar to Apple iCloud which is free of charge?
I never used iCloud, but assume O365 is way more powerfull.. Its like GoogleDocs + all I wrote before.
You have your own cloud to sync everything I mentioned and you can also share office documents to non O365 users. You can decice what documents you share and to whom you share that specific document to. And like I wrote before you have all office tools, word, excel, powerpoint and onenote as browser based applications too.
If you want to sync onenote with your home computer(s) you need Office 2010 installed.
You get an address for the 6eur a month (something like [email protected], I dont remeber but you get the idea), but I took myowndomain.com for 10usd/ year to get my email as I want m([email protected])
Its is pretty cool to have my own exchange server + all the other things I wrote.
Also I took in to consideration that if I would ever change mobile platform, exchange would always be able to sync my contacts and email to the new device without doing other changes.
FinancialWar said:
Is it similar to Apple iCloud which is free of charge?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Apple iCloud is similar to SkyDrive, which is also free of charge. Sharepoint is much more powerful and secure.
Since the Mango update Tasks sync with Windows Phone 7.
If you sync with an exchange server, tasks that you view in Outlook will be on your phone under Calendar
Under settings for email accounts, for Outlook, there is a checkbox for Tasks.
Then, tap the Calendar tile.
swipe to the to-do tab.
See your tasks there.
From a task, you have the options Complete Edit and the ...
... reveals 3 more options. delete, postpone a day, and do today.
what does Sharepoint have to do with Office365?
FinancialWar said:
what does Sharepoint have to do with Office365?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, mixing things up. Office 365 gives you Sharepoint functionality to share Office files and sync OneNote with your phone, as well as Exchange for Outlook functionality (email, calendar, contacts, tasks). So you get quite a lot for something like $6 a month.
will I need Microsoft Office SharePoint Workplace? Because I only have Microsoft Office 2010 Professional not Professional Plus.
Don't know. Just head over to the Office 365 website and find out!
FinancialWar said:
will I need Microsoft Office SharePoint Workplace? Because I only have Microsoft Office 2010 Professional not Professional Plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need Sharepoint Workspace for Office 365 - Sharepoint Online can be used entirely through the web.
In fact, you don't even need Office desktop at all to use Office 365 Although if you have desktop Word / Excel etc, you can switch from the browser Word / Excel to desktop version by clicking a button (this doesn't work in the Google Chrome browser). Web versions are quite good but have limited features.
Another nice thing is that the mailbox size for Outlook online is 25GB and so far, very fast
I think MS offer a 30-day trial so you can test it out before paying any money.
Thanks, I am waiting for my Omnia 7 to arrive, and once it does. I will sign up for a 30 days of Office 365 and see if I get this going.
N8ter said:
To-Dos in Windows Live are not Tasks, they're To-Dos. That is why they are named differently. You can't set Recurring To-Dos for example. For someone who seriously uses Outlook Tasks, Windows Live Calendar To-Dos are useless. Trust me, I've tried harder than I care to say.
I just sync my Outlook Tasks to my iPod Touch through iTunes and use that.
Both Windows Live and Google Tasks/ToDos are pretty rubbish, IMO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am looking at Outlook right now at work. My Outlook Tasks are synced to my Windows Live To-Dos, which I guess you are not disagreeing with. However, within Outlook I do not see the ability to set recurring tasks, this is only possible within the Calendar section of Outlook.
There is a button for recurrence in outlook. You not being able to find it does not make it not exist. I've been using outlook since office 97. it has almost always had recurring tasks.
And paying $for a redundant service to sync tasks I'd terrible value proposition.
Sent from my HD7 using Board Express
As above. Can't because there is no demand, can it? One of the big let-downs for me coming from PalmOS and Agendus is the really week Calendar app. Let's not get into the bizarre two week limit on past events! I also miss the tweakability of ChatterEmail. But that was then ...
So why no PIM or email apps? Is it a programming issue? Is the WP market entertainment, not enterprise? Will it change with Apollo/WP8?
Just wondering.
PS: other than that I love WP7. Just hoping for more.
truthfully the built in is so good and i use exchange so i never really thought about it. I also have yet to see anyone but you so far ask for it, so i am not thinking the demand is there yet. I have see in the marketplace a few task and calendar apps though.
ROCOAFZ said:
truthfully the built in is so good and i use exchange so i never really thought about it. I also have yet to see anyone but you so far ask for it, so i am not thinking the demand is there yet. I have see in the marketplace a few task and calendar apps though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PIM was very useful on WM, I don't understand why there is no demand for it? I guess it is what it is, Don't want to even ask because I don't what to hear some [email protected]$$ fanboy comment about that feature is so 1999 or something.
The real reason is that everything is sandboxed.
You don't have direct access. You used to just import poutlook.dll Then you could send an email. It would go into the phone's outbox for the account you wanted to send with. It would get sent on the next sync.
Now, you will be asked if you want to send the mail.
Also, I don't think there is any way to programatically get at the content of your emails. This is actually a good security piece. Imagine a dev writing a pretty cool app. You use it. Only months later you find that the content of all email messages on your phone were being sent to the dev while you used the app through a http post.
This is the why. Now, Microsoft could provide controls that would access this information.
Back in Windows Mobile, I wrote an app for users of Sense that also used the Facebook tab that would go through all of your contacts that were linked to Facebook. It would let the user update the contact with the Facebook pic. It used poutlook.dll.
ROCOAFZ said:
truthfully the built in is so good and i use exchange so i never really thought about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Built-in so good? I don't think so. Good as far as it goes maybe. I too use Exchange, that's the backend. It's the presentation of the PIM data that is so lacking.
Needs more views. Today summary. Ledger view for day. 5/7 day week view. A proper month view, with readable text and icons. Templates, filtering. Ability to duplicate events. Tasks in the tile. Lots of little things. When I think what could be packed into my little 320 X 320 Centro display ...
Have a look at the features in the iOS and Android versions of PocketInformant or Agendus.
While I'm at it, the email app needs customisable notifications per mailbox.
JVH3 said:
The real reason is that everything is sandboxed.
You don't have direct access.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The more I look, the more I'm getting that message. Just have to see what the future holds.
conorn said:
Built-in so good? I don't think so. Good as far as it goes maybe. I too use Exchange, that's the backend. It's the presentation of the PIM data that is so lacking.
Needs more views. Today summary. Ledger view for day. 5/7 day week view. A proper month view, with readable text and icons. Templates, filtering. Ability to duplicate events. Tasks in the tile. Lots of little things. When I think what could be packed into my little 320 X 320 Centro display ...
Have a look at the features in the iOS and Android versions of PocketInformant or Agendus.
While I'm at it, the email app needs customisable notifications per mailbox.
The more I look, the more I'm getting that message. Just have to see what the future holds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PIM is only needed for sms and history. Exchange or hotmail backs up the rest when you put contacts in unless you don't have a data plan. And if you want it all backed up... here yah go (only for stock roms)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1346276
by xda themselves
Next
Needs more views. Today summary. Ledger view for day. 5/7 day week view. A proper month view, with readable text and icons. Templates, filtering. Ability to duplicate events. Tasks in the tile. Lots of little things. When I think what could be packed into my little 320 X 320 Centro display ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me break this down for you...
Duplicate events... go to the event, scroll down, hit more details. press occurs, Choose once, everyday, every weekday, every saturday, every (Day number) of the month, ever month day (as in yearly)
For Tasks in the tile - while on agenda,
Week view? for someone that has a lot of appointments, weekview is never readable, same with month. At least in month you can tell there is an appointment and click on it.
For tasks tile that syncs with exchange try this one - http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/apps/3455bef8-895d-49d6-9c71-131a8fd0106a
They do however show in agenda once you have opened the task
ROCOAFZ. Maybe you don't understand what I was trying to explain (BOTD). Also, please don't be so defensive, I'm not trying to diss WP. I'll be in for the long run. But if I see (IMO) a weakness I will point it out. And to me the functionality in the Calendar app is poor. Especially when other parts of the OS are so good.
Responding to your points ...
Firstly, forget about Exchange, etc. I'm not talking about backing up. I'm talking about the presentation and management of the data. I don't care where it's stored. Could be local, could be cloud - doesn't matter.
Secondly, when I use the term PIM, I mean it in the broadest possible way. I want to manage my personal info. Traditionally, on PDAs, that meant calendar, contacts and tasks. Smartphones have replaced PDAs, so now I want my current smartphone to do this at least as well.
Thirdly, the intent of the original post was to query why there are no 3rd-party PIM-type apps available for WP7. There are for iOS and Android, even BB. There were for WM6 and PalmOS. Why not WP7? A couple of replies confirmed what I suspected. The OS doesn't provide the access programmers need. Everything is very hands-off. Maybe this will change in future releases. there are indications that this may be so.
Finally, some specific comments -
ROCOAFZ said:
Duplicate events... go to the event, scroll down, hit more details. press occurs, Choose once, everyday, every weekday, every saturday, every (Day number) of the month, ever month day (as in yearly)
For Tasks in the tile - while on agenda,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I'm talking about duplicating existing appointments. Not recurring events, i.e., I had a meeting today at 2pm. We agree to meet again on Friday at 4pm. All other details the same. Previously I would quickly duplicate the event, update the date/time and I'm done. Now I must create from scratch. I right-click drag in Outlook, Google Calendar has Duplicate in More Actions - so it's not just me.
ROCOAFZ said:
Week view? for someone that has a lot of appointments, weekview is never readable, same with month. At least in month you can tell there is an appointment and click on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My choice to decide, but at least give me the choice. In month view I want to see better indicators. Maybe the smallish Lumia 800 display is at fault, or my chosen theme, but I really have difficulty noticing the existing (pretend) indications and they give no indication of what's there (task, appointment, all-day event). There is plenty of room to show boxes and bars for an 'at a glance' overview of my time. Especially in landscape view. BTW, what happened Categories?
ROCOAFZ said:
For tasks tile that syncs with exchange try this one - TaskTask
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. That, and some others, look interesting. But comes back to the issue raised by others. The only way to get at the tasks data is to go direct to the server. Shouldn't have to do that. It does work though, but should be in sync with inbuilt, not duplicating functionality.
conorn said:
Responding to your points ...
Firstly, forget about Exchange, etc. I'm not talking about backing up. I'm talking about the presentation and management of the data. I don't care where it's stored. Could be local, could be cloud - doesn't matter.
Secondly, when I use the term PIM, I mean it in the broadest possible way. I want to manage my personal info. Traditionally, on PDAs, that meant calendar, contacts and tasks. Smartphones have replaced PDAs, so now I want my current smartphone to do this at least as well.
Thirdly, the intent of the original post was to query why there are no 3rd-party PIM-type apps available for WP7. There are for iOS and Android, even BB. There were for WM6 and PalmOS. Why not WP7? A couple of replies confirmed what I suspected. The OS doesn't provide the access programmers need. Everything is very hands-off. Maybe this will change in future releases. there are indications that this may be so.
Finally, some specific comments -
No, I'm talking about duplicating existing appointments. Not recurring events, i.e., I had a meeting today at 2pm. We agree to meet again on Friday at 4pm. All other details the same. Previously I would quickly duplicate the event, update the date/time and I'm done. Now I must create from scratch. I right-click drag in Outlook, Google Calendar has Duplicate in More Actions - so it's not just me.
My choice to decide, but at least give me the choice. In month view I want to see better indicators. Maybe the smallish Lumia 800 display is at fault, or my chosen theme, but I really have difficulty noticing the existing (pretend) indications and they give no indication of what's there (task, appointment, all-day event). There is plenty of room to show boxes and bars for an 'at a glance' overview of my time. Especially in landscape view. BTW, what happened Categories?
Thanks. That, and some others, look interesting. But comes back to the issue raised by others. The only way to get at the tasks data is to go direct to the server. Shouldn't have to do that. It does work though, but should be in sync with inbuilt, not duplicating functionality.
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Click to collapse
1st, not being defensive, just pointing out the way others like myself do it. What i say may or may not work for your situation but it's good to see another way to do it.
For contacts, calendar and tasks - without exchange - they are synced to the cloud hotmail. You don't need to back them up in that case. Last time i hard reset my phone, i didn't even restore via Zune. I put in my hotmail account. That brought in my local contacts and birthdays + vet appointments for my dog. i then synced facebook. That brought in all my friends. then exchange which brought my work contacts, email calendar, tasks ect. You have to get a windows live when you 1st bring up the phone. It is an automatic backup. Now what i did lose was my app list and saved games + contact history.
For apps go to https://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/my under get my apps and you will find a list of everything you purchased or got for free. you can send each app to your phone from there. So only thing is lost is contact history and saved games. Zune sync brings back pictures and music. I wanted to change what i had on my phone and didn't care to keep the exisint pics since they were on my pc anyway so i opted not to do this.
But if you want full local backup i highlighted a homebrew way to do it that doesn't require you to be unlocked.
Tasks - for your example, if you created the event, i normally would just edit it and change the date. Granted it's not copy but does the same functionality, unless you need a record of the event that passed.
I have a Titan so my display it pretty big. I probably could show a week view but on some weeks there are so many appointments that it would have to be bars. They should allow month view to zoom into calendar even if pinch to zoom to satisfy everyone.
Categories i didn't miss because i didn't use them but someone else asked me about them before purchasing a phone. That is when i noticed they were not there. Instead of categoris, i add to the subject.
example = Meeting with consumer - Billable
Instead of a billiable category which i can't do much with i add the text because outlook will allow me to search for it. at the end of the week when i bill out, i just enter in outlook's search (i do billing from pc) billable and it will show all my Billiable appointments in a list with time and date. it works way better that way for me. I haven't quite figured out what people use categories for yet though but i do know that they are not on the phone. Probably because each calendar has it's own color.
Thanks again. But, really, I have no issues with backing up, syncing, etc
Yes, I do keep old events. Which is why I can't believe you can only go back two weeks. Thank goodness for web access.
Second half of post is interesting. I may just have to change my habits. Certainly the idea of using different calendars for colour coding sounds good.
conorn said:
Yes, I do keep old events. Which is why I can't believe you can only go back two weeks. Thank goodness for web access.
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Hmm i never notice that. In the hotmail calendar it goes back further. I always thought it followed the email since i have it for a month but i never look back that far.
I didn't know if you knew this but if you change IE to Desktop version in settings you can do full outlook web access with all calendars including shared. (i know this works on 2010 exchange at least). One thing the iphone can't do as you are locked to mobile version and Outlook has no link to change out of it.
What features I need:
Must have a reminder, set date and time
Should be FAST, clean and easy to use.
I tried Todo with alerts. Not very fast, 1 of my task got disappeared, don't know what happened. Overall, its average.
I would prefer an ads-free free version, if available.
lamborg said:
What features I need:
Must have a reminder, set date and time
Should be FAST, clean and easy to use.
I tried Todo with alerts. Not very fast, 1 of my task got disappeared, don't know what happened. Overall, its average.
I would prefer an ads-free free version, if available.
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If you don't need it to support Exchange, I'd recommend giving "So what's today" a shot. It's clean, easy to use and gets the job perfectly done.
What Im missing here? You have integrated tasks in your calendar where you can set reminder?
Loco5150 said:
What Im missing here? You have integrated tasks in your calendar where you can set reminder?
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Thats what I use. Love it.
I also use the calendar to do list. Works great! Integrated reminders, etc.
stock calendar app?
svtfmook said:
stock calendar app?
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Yes the calendar built in to the OS. When you open it, swipe over to the "to do" list. Its an excellent place to create quick, clean, reminders.
Yes the integrated to-do list is good. Clean & fast. The only thing I would ask MS is that they would add active task count to the calendar tile... Please MS please
I also use Agenda live tile, which shows your next four appointments from the calendar on a live tile
Inbuilt calendar app is best.
Loco5150 said:
What Im missing here? You have integrated tasks in your calendar where you can set reminder?
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Unfortunately the Tasks from Windows Live do not support recurring tasks. If that is OK with you then you don't have to look any further.
Same goes with Google Tasks.
I ended up using To-Do Tasks. It is a paid app and it can work with Toodledo. It can also use tasks with a local (phone) database but when I tried that the repeat feature was not available.
Fuzzy John said:
Unfortunately the Tasks from Windows Live do not support recurring tasks. If that is OK with you then you don't have to look any further.
Same goes with Google Tasks.
I ended up using To-Do Tasks. It is a paid app and it can work with Toodledo. It can also use tasks with a local (phone) database but when I tried that the repeat feature was not available.
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FOr the recurring element, isnt that where the actual calendar comes into play? Outlook of the PC doesnt have a recurring tasks feature....
morpheus1982 said:
FOr the recurring element, isnt that where the actual calendar comes into play? Outlook of the PC doesnt have a recurring tasks feature....
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First... Outlook on the PC does support recurring tasks, with a very strong subset of recurrence options. I use Outlook 2007 and the Recurrence button is right in the middle of the ribbon when you open a task.
I know some people who use the calendar for tasks. While you can get by doing it I do not believe the calendar is the proper place. The calendar is suited for appointments. The only time time the calendar meets tasks is when it overlays the tasks on the calendar view(s) you have.
Fuzzy John said:
First... Outlook on the PC does support recurring tasks, with a very strong subset of recurrence options. I use Outlook 2007 and the Recurrence button is right in the middle of the ribbon when you open a task.
I know some people who use the calendar for tasks. While you can get by doing it I do not believe the calendar is the proper place. The calendar is suited for appointments. The only time time the calendar meets tasks is when it overlays the tasks on the calendar view(s) you have.
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"Removing" nonsense post.
Yes but recurring tasks wasnt what the OP listed that he needs.
Especially clean and fast is just what the built in task manager is.
I also tried few apps from the marketplace. To-do Tasks was the last one, but even though I paid to get it I deleted it. I hated the fact that you always have to manually sync it.
Other few task apps I tried from the marketplace were too slow.
I like the built in tasks app really much. It is missing few features and the biggest one for me is actually that the calendar tile does not show active task count.
I tried to test and set a recurring task from my outlook (I have exchange O365, so I dont sync to live), but I didnt see that option in Outlook 2010?
EDIT: OK Im blind, I just found it. Well see what happens when I set it.