Not impressed
Not what I expected.
Scrolling by flick can move text - Ugh
Still a problem - and fatal for me. Using the scroll bar feature works well and can quickly move from top to bottom of a file be sliding your finger tip from top to bottom of the edge of the screen.
But the normal method of scrolling up or down on an iPhone remains how Steve Jobs demonstrated it in 2007. Flicking up and down the screen. 14 years of muscle and brain memory is really hard to stop using.
And this is Taskmator's failure.
I regularly see some random bit of text flying up the screen to a new location without doing a "tap and hold" to select the text I want to move somewhere rose. The problem with the super speed of dragging to the top of the document after just starting to drag seems to have been fixed. So the inadvertent move does seem constrained to be modestly local to the starting location.
When I do use tap and hold it seems to have a significant delay before popping the text up to move. This is good and I wonder how flicking can get past this delay. Perhaps if tap and hold to move is set to only work when the text is STATIONARY. Just thinking.
I will not give up on Mac TaskPaper as it is one of the most creative apps ever introduced. I use it every day and a lot. Thank you to Jesse Grosjean.
Just duplicate TaskPaper on IOS and you can have a real winner.
But the normal method of scrolling up or down on an iPhone remains how Steve Jobs demonstrated it in 2007. Flicking up and down the screen. 14 years of muscle and brain memory is really hard to stop using.
And this is Taskmator's failure.
I regularly see some random bit of text flying up the screen to a new location without doing a "tap and hold" to select the text I want to move somewhere rose. The problem with the super speed of dragging to the top of the document after just starting to drag seems to have been fixed. So the inadvertent move does seem constrained to be modestly local to the starting location.
When I do use tap and hold it seems to have a significant delay before popping the text up to move. This is good and I wonder how flicking can get past this delay. Perhaps if tap and hold to move is set to only work when the text is STATIONARY. Just thinking.
I will not give up on Mac TaskPaper as it is one of the most creative apps ever introduced. I use it every day and a lot. Thank you to Jesse Grosjean.
Just duplicate TaskPaper on IOS and you can have a real winner.
Show less
Dropbox doesn't work; Files app integration is dicey
The direct Dropbox integration doesn't work at all -- maybe it was abandoned when the Files app integration got added? Or so it would seem.
Sadly, the Files app integration is quite bad; syncing doesn't seem to happen. Also (maybe related?) there's some weird lagginess if you turn off Apple Reminders integration.
This app might be okay if you're only working with local files on your iPad, but if you want to store your Taskpaper files in the cloud.
Essentially, this seems like abandonware. Stay away.
Sadly, the Files app integration is quite bad; syncing doesn't seem to happen. Also (maybe related?) there's some weird lagginess if you turn off Apple Reminders integration.
This app might be okay if you're only working with local files on your iPad, but if you want to store your Taskpaper files in the cloud.
Essentially, this seems like abandonware. Stay away.
Show less
What’s happened here?
TM used to be a slick and pleasant app to use.
I don’t know what has happened to this app.
I open app, press + button for new file - Crashes!
Followed instructions person put in Jul review :(
Nothing, keeps crashing!
A shame, really, this was stalwart years ago.
The outliner genre of apps waves farewells to you.
I don’t know what has happened to this app.
I open app, press + button for new file - Crashes!
Followed instructions person put in Jul review :(
Nothing, keeps crashing!
A shame, really, this was stalwart years ago.
The outliner genre of apps waves farewells to you.
Show less
Typing for slow snails
This is a great app when it works. It has sophisticated swiping options, though getting it to perform the one you want is a matter of pot luck. The real challenge is with adding new events. The app‘s typing function adds characters at the rate of about one every two seconds. You type ahead to some extent, but it is hard to predict how much it will remember, and then you are left waiting for when you will be able to type a few more characters. It seems unnecessarily frustrating.
UPDATE July 2022
I have tried reinstalling the app as suggested, indeed more than once, but no avail. In fact, recently the app has developed real problems with accessing Dropbox files, even files that the Dropbox app on my iPhone has no trouble accessing.
I would be happy to correspond with the developer about these problems, but he does not reply to emails.
It’s sad to see once decent app decline so.
UPDATE July 2022
I have tried reinstalling the app as suggested, indeed more than once, but no avail. In fact, recently the app has developed real problems with accessing Dropbox files, even files that the Dropbox app on my iPhone has no trouble accessing.
I would be happy to correspond with the developer about these problems, but he does not reply to emails.
It’s sad to see once decent app decline so.
Show less
Response from developer
Delete Taskmator and then reinstall the app. Also reboot your ios device before reinstallation. If it still does not work please contact me taskmator@gmail.com
Very good
Well thought out.
Just really unintuitive and difficult to use
I couldn't figure out even the most basic tasks. Swiping left to mark a task done hardly ever works. Too easy to accidentally move a task when trying to scroll the window. Overall more trouble than it's worth.
One of a few indispensable iOS apps
I was slow to accept TaskMator because of its visual paradigm. When I make a task list on paper, each item has a check box and I check that when it’s done. If I strike through the task, it means I decided against it - decided the task wasn’t a priority. TaskMator, like other TaskPaper apps, strikes through completed tasks, which makes less sense to me and makes my record of completed work harder to read. TaskMator just works so well that it won me over anyway. It’s simple, easy, reliable, synchronized across all my devices, and the tagging mechanism makes it easy to filter my lists to see what I want - quicker and easier in most cases than a “real database” app. I use TaskMator not just for task tracking, but for other lists like groceries, packing lists, and items I am collecting. It’s one of my most-used apps.
Show less
Developer Stands By His Work
I have been using task paper for 8 years with my job. It’s critical to what I do, and there is nothing that replaces it. Taskmator is an excellent app, although last year it took a while for it to be properly updated. Although Amit doesn’t get a lot of money from this app, he still supports it. I would pay much more for it, it’s that important to me.
Show less
Many strengths, some weaknesses
First, the good: this is a much-needed app, filling a gap created when the developer of the original Taskpaper app abandoned iOS to concentrate on the Mac version. The text editor Editorial, which seemed like the best alternative to the original Taskpaper, appears to be abandonware now: the developer hasn’t upgraded it to work with Apple’s Files, which is pretty much a dealbreaker these days. Enter Taskmator, which can read and write Taskpaper files, and is fully up-to-date with the current set of iOS technologies, including Files. It presents the files attractively and clearly, and provides all the basic tools you need for working with them. If you happen to like the Taskpaper format — a simple plaintext format for to-do lists — then this is the app you want.
Now the bad news. First, it’s not entirely stable. I’ve managed to hang it a few times, most often when using the ‘Move …’ menu.
Second, the UI could be better. On a desktop app, I’d say that it was “mousey”: lots of mouse-clicks are needed to get anything done. I’m not sure what the equivalent is for a mobile app: “fingery?” “touchy?”
So, for example, adding a new project heading requires you to press the ‘+’, which creates a new task item, then click on the new item, then click the ‘…’ icon to bring up the menu, then choose ‘Item Type …’ and finally choose ‘Project’. That’s a lot of clicks just to make one new item. And you haven’t even put it where you want it, which requires a whole new set of clicks. This could definitely be handled better.
Items can be moved, re-ordered and re-parented using drag and drop, which is a reasonable way to do it. However, on my phone, I sometimes found that the drag system either didn’t respond at all or responded suddenly and unexpectedly, resulting in the item being dragged to the wrong location. Maybe Up/Down and Indent/Outdent buttons, as seen in some other outliners, would work better. You can, of course, also use the ‘…’ pop-up menu to move items, but that’s not ideal.
Given the absence of competition, these aren’t exactly dealbreakers, but it does mean that working with Taskmator is a lot less efficient and enjoyable than it could be. The results are nice, but everything takes longer than it needs to.
Now the bad news. First, it’s not entirely stable. I’ve managed to hang it a few times, most often when using the ‘Move …’ menu.
Second, the UI could be better. On a desktop app, I’d say that it was “mousey”: lots of mouse-clicks are needed to get anything done. I’m not sure what the equivalent is for a mobile app: “fingery?” “touchy?”
So, for example, adding a new project heading requires you to press the ‘+’, which creates a new task item, then click on the new item, then click the ‘…’ icon to bring up the menu, then choose ‘Item Type …’ and finally choose ‘Project’. That’s a lot of clicks just to make one new item. And you haven’t even put it where you want it, which requires a whole new set of clicks. This could definitely be handled better.
Items can be moved, re-ordered and re-parented using drag and drop, which is a reasonable way to do it. However, on my phone, I sometimes found that the drag system either didn’t respond at all or responded suddenly and unexpectedly, resulting in the item being dragged to the wrong location. Maybe Up/Down and Indent/Outdent buttons, as seen in some other outliners, would work better. You can, of course, also use the ‘…’ pop-up menu to move items, but that’s not ideal.
Given the absence of competition, these aren’t exactly dealbreakers, but it does mean that working with Taskmator is a lot less efficient and enjoyable than it could be. The results are nice, but everything takes longer than it needs to.
Show less
