Automate Your Internet with IFTTT App for Android - Android Apps and Games

Since we live in an age in which phones pack more computing power than PC’s from less than 10 years ago, the number of tasks we can accomplish with mobile devices grows very fast. Which means the functionality of applications gets better every day, to give us a faster way to achieve our goals, on a day to day basis. That’s why, a lot of automating apps these days try to stay on top of it for us. One of these aps is IFTTT – If This Then That.
Tasks we can accomplish with the app range from scanning for updates on RSS feeds, Ebay, Reddit or Youtube and connecting to different apps, like Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and much more. For instance, we can receive a notification, if a new item is available on Ebay, or when we are tagged on Facebook. It all sounds great, but the question is how well does it work in the real world?
I installed IFTTT mostly in the hope to be able to stay on top of news and new items, which works really well and is really easy to set up. All you need to do, if you want to scan for specific items on Ebay, is to add a new recipe (+ button on top) and search for the Ebay trigger, select it, and activate the channel. After that, enter the search terms or keywords for which the recipe should be searching for. Now that the trigger is set up, we can choose actions or in other words, what should happen when we get a match. There are a lot of actions to choose from, like adding the item to a spreadsheet or text file on cloud based storage services, or simply sending an email to a friend that the item is available.
The procedure to scan the RSS feed of a website is also very straight forward. We simply select the RSS trigger, after we created a new recipe, and then we paste the feed link and enter the desired keywords, for which we are searching for. Now, we just need to finish the recipe with the desired action, and we are good to go. Anytime something with the desired keywords is posted, we know about it. IFTTT looks for changes every 15 minutes.
On the other hand this is not an app which is great in automating only device based actions. It is not meant for that, yet. The problem is not in triggers which give you more or less what you need, but in actions. Lets say I want to disable the pattern lock screen when I get home. While the trigger for a specific wifi SSID is available, the action for disabling the pattern lock screen is missing. We can only choose to change the ringtone volume and update the wallpaper under actions, which is actually pretty scarce. But this is not where its true power currently lies.
To sum it up, IFTTT is great for connecting together services or different apps like Twitter or Pocket and it is also very straightforward with the building of recipes. Anyone can do it. This is something that other automating apps are missing, which is why IFTTT fits right in. Nobody did provide such functionality in such a simple manner to this day...
IFTTT in Google Play

Related

[Q] Your favourite Mango feature.

I presume most of us have Mango now officially or unofficially so as the title states, what is your favourite feature?
Unrelated note; if anyone wants an invite to Google+ PM me
There are lots of little things I'm really enjoying, but I'll at least narrow the list down to two:
a) The ability to only require a lockscreen password after a set time interval. Surprisingly useful!
b) Improved ListBox behaviour. Makes AlphaJax ad many other apps a joy to use instead of a jerky mess!
Sent from my HD7 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
err.. the ability to search contact by company name ahahahah...
and office skydrive ...
Even though the mult-tasking isn't actually working yet, I am enjoying having a way to switch between different tasks/apps quickly, instead of hitting the back button a bunch of times. It will be really nice once the actual multi-tasking portion is working.
1. The timed interval for password from the locked screen,
2. Unified inbox.
3. Pretty good bar code reader in Bing. Wish it would bring up a few more/better shopping results.
The new Bing utilities are great.
Multitasking & all the API's released to developers in general. Will allow for many things I've wanted.
Updated email & calendar - linked inboxes, threaded emails, birthday/holiday/facebook calendars all important to me.
New voice commands & dictation
Ability to add groups, and group features (group email ect)
Save settings in Camera
Full skydrive sync
Those are the big ones, but the whole thing seems amazing so far.
tiny17 said:
Even though the mult-tasking isn't actually working yet, I am enjoying having a way to switch between different tasks/apps quickly, instead of hitting the back button a bunch of times. It will be really nice once the actual multi-tasking portion is working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What else are they going to do with it?
I was under the impression this was how its going to be? I hope your right but I'm curious as what's going to be added?
Id like to see an x on each window to close or swipe up or down to close...
Sent from my Windows Phone Mango Focus using Board Express
Ie9 is my favorite upgrade. I like that the OS performance is better in most areas. I like the new Bing features and more informative tiles.
I like the new phone layouts for placing and taking calls.
Like that I can switch and app, but no 3rd party aps take advantage from it yet as they all have to resume... and looking for a way to close apps in the task manager....
There are more but I'm tired of typing
Sent from my Windows Phone Mango Focus using Board Express
hi
large buttons!
1. Xbox live screen
2. merged inboxes
1. new xbox live
2. custom friggin ringtones! ( still trying to figure out how to get the custom alert sounds working)
3.IE is way better!
EDIT: for some reason, the podcast downloading from the phone doesnt work. says i need to check my data connection.
So is IE9 faster for everyone? Because it is straight up balls for me >.<
Not only is it faster but it also loads the pages correctly (Finally) my favourite feature has to be threads, it is so damn useful
1.Multitasking (Adding X button will be Perfect)
2.Groups
3.Chatting in Facebook and Hotmail
4.Save Camera Options
5.Linked emails
6.Software speed
7.New way to shutdown the device by sliding the lock screen down after pressing shutdown button.
8.New Layout
9.Grouping app Alphabetically
10.Battery Saver
On the other hand, Some languages still not supported
Search result doesn't find anything
Noway to backup SMS
Still some errors as it is a beta version.
Audio Confirmations
Audio Confirmations! Especially when the locksreen is on and the voice asks you, "would you like to read, reply, or ignore the text".
This is a feature you have to enable in "Speech Settings". It is very useful. You can set it to always on, Bluetooth and Headsets, Bluetooth Only, or wired headset. Give it a try....
IMO the most impressives are :
1. The Unified Message system...
Now all messages (and i mean all SMS-MMS-Facebook-Win Live) are in one place and have the same way of working.
If you try to text a contact the system tells you if he is online (FB or Messanger) and offers to send the message via them.
2. Contacts and Groups. Make a group (family or friends) and put some ppl in the group.
Then pin the group to start page. Fisrt it will give you a fast dialing option for them, and the most impressive
is that any message or FB event/notification or fotos that comes from one of those ppl on the group
will be there live with nice rotating animation.
You must try this ...its Fantastic
I like the new Zune player with Smart DJ.
Social Notifications and Groupings...
This is my favorite. If I have a family group it lists the updates from Facebook or Live which is nice to see. No longer is it necessary to go through a useless FB list in search of specific components about people I want to know about (impossibly difficult to do with any lengthy FB contact list.)
General Social notifications - if someone makes a comment on your picture in FB or in Live I like how the ME tile becomes useful by flipping over and giving you the notification. This is extremely useful to stay on top of the things you care about.
Pictures
I like the dynamic change of the tile - it's a nice eye candy feature
Turning a online gallary picture into a wallpaper is easy without copying to the phone
The people hub is pretty nice to see all your top contacted friend's picture quickly and easily
IE9 - much improved - EXTREMELY better
Local Scout - cool as hell
MOST USED TOOL - Voice to Text for SMS - absolutely killer feature with almost a 90% accuracy rating on short phrases.
Too many to list..
Here are my favorites in no particular order -
1. Shortcut to "Now Playing" on the volume drop down for music
2. unified messaging via Threads
3. Bing Vision
4. Updated zune player w/ "Related" artists and smart DJ, clearly marked downloadable songs for zune pass
5. Faster application and game installs
6. Improved Xbox live interface

New version 3.10.9 Play Store with many small innovations

It will not be one of the versions that probably go down in history this 3.10.9, which takes the place of the previous 3.9.17, but, no matter how small, the innovations introduced are numerous and we're not sure appreciated them all.
We start from the section recommended for you. Whether it's app or books (advice on music yet they are not), or even if you are on the homepage of the store, blocking the slice with the Google personalized recommendations you'll notice that at the top there is a new voice, "improve these councils, "which allows us to add people you know to find out their tastes and also receive recommendations based on them (or so says the description of the function). Good theory, too bad that the vast majority of contacts proposed were complete strangers from the other side of the world, with which (we checked) we did not even vague contacts on Google+. We look forward to a future refinement.
Then continue with the translations. Some apps now have a button "translate" at their description, which basically will only call into question Google Translate on the fly to change the text in a language more understandable to us. In this case the theory is good, pity we did not understand when and when not to appear: comparing different applications, different languages, some of them had the button translate it and other were completely lacking. Also in this case we are confident in a future refinement.
If these two functions must be short andarsele a little 'to seek, we turn now to a thing you will see rather often. You will all familiar with the installation of new apps: you choose one, went on his page, click on install, accept the permissions and you will be thrown back to the description of the app while the progress bar will indicate the percentage of completion. Not any more. After accepting the permissions, and then return to the description of the app, you have inserted a new page, which you can see an example on the right. The aim is to highlight related app and installed by others, but the match as you know is not always the best, by clicking on "back to shopping" you will still be redirected to the description of the app to start. We did not find a way to disable this feature, which basically requires a tap in to install any new app. Annoying.
And finally we come to the last news, the only one on which we could hardly rely on something: it is now possible to remove items from the wish list by tapping on the icon in that list, without having to open a description of each app. It is the same method used to delete applications from the complete list of all the ones we have ever installed and certainly saves us a few more steps. Nicely done.
After then the description of the new features, I leave you the link to download the Play Store:http://d-h.st/ZZB
Thanks, i was just reading about it in the main android themes and apps forum :laugh:

[APP][2.2+] Catena - Anonymous and location based instant chat

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UPDATE: I've decided to discontinue my work on Catena, the project is too heavily reliant on community, and the time investment required to make it successful was several magnitudes higher than what I could offer. If anyone is interested in continuing this project let me know.
If you're interested in any of my other projects check out my site at: http://www.creepybit.co.uk
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Catena is an anonymous and location based instant chat client. The main purpose of Catena is to give you an anonymous outlet for calling out to others in your local area and meeting new people, without the burden of identity. Catena lets you chat in a typical instant chat environment, but also lets you post semi-permanent messages on a shared map, for the whole world to see!
Catena is free, there are no user accounts or signing up. The instant you install Catena you are able to chat. For those who need an identity, either to maintain a conversation or single yourself out for others, there is a type of disposable user name that you can change as often as you want. There are also chatroom like tags you can use that make your messages private and only viewable to others with the same tag.
You can find Catena on the Google Play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=Creepy+Bit
I also have a website up with more info at: http://creepybit.co.uk
I started development on this app when I couldn't find an anonymous alternative. I'm a single developer working in my spare time around work, but I'm currently still managing to push out almost daily updates. Catena is currently in Alpha stage, meaning I'm still adding and changing features, and I'm still modifying the server equipment.
I'd really appreciate it if you guys could give this app a go. Catena has been live for a week and I currently have around thirty users. The users I have thus far have given me really great feedback, and I think with some more hard work down the way I can make this a really great app that people will love.
I have similar idea for Android app. This is good idea, but when not enough people have this app, this is not good working. I wish you more and more downloads!
Sounds awesome. This sounds like the Love Section on Craigslist where people say, "Oh I saw this sexy woman at Walmart. Hope to see you again".
It would be great to leave messages up for like a day and be able to show your GPS route. That way, at the end of the day, you could retrace your day and see if anyone left you a note. Like, "To the hot guy sitting at the bar in the blue collared shirt. I think I love you".
I always wanted a personal area chat room.
It could also be used for marketing such as "Burgers tonight are top notch!". Perhaps if things take off, you could sell extended comments that last longer.
I haven't used it yet, but how would this program handle a single place with lots of chatter? Is it a single point on the map that links to a chat room style interface? 1 map point per comment would create clutter. In my mind, a single comment would just be a dot on the map which would open for dialogue. You'd also probably want to allow accessing ANY of those locations on the fly. So if I want to go get dinner at Red Lobster downtown, I can find the location on the map and read the comments left there. Perhaps someone says, "4 hour wait @ 7pm". Or actually having the ability to ask someone that is physically there to put your name on the list, haha.
I can see SO many possibilities for this.
So perhaps you can only START a chat based off your location but you can join ANY. Also it might be a good idea to be able to disable GPS in case someone is at their home and doesn't want anyone to know where they presently are (can't start a convo but can join one). You don't want to hear about how crazies are killing girls using your app. lol
[UPDATE]
I would do away with broadcast messages. Obviously they just annoying and childish. I would just show the dots to let you know there is a comment there, to open up the local chat for that dot. In the future, I would make the broadcasts a paid ad type thing. Like $20 a day... which is super cheap. Even right now, I could broadcast a business and 30 people would instantly see it.
As the app gets more popular, the map will get flooded with broadcasts and you'll be unable to even see the map. Icons should scale with the map. It's ok right now, but again, things may get crowded. You might also think about playing with the idea of making the icons semi-transparent so you can see the underlying map.
At this point I'm unsure how to even find other local chats; if it is even possible at all. All I see from the map are the broadcasts.
I just want to be able to create a chatroom at my GPS location and be able to have others leave comments. Right now, I see several broadcasts, but I can't chat with them. One was about a guy speeding. It would be fun to be able to go in that chat and leave a message like, "There is a guy going slow" or "That was me!"
player911 said:
Sounds awesome. This sounds like the Love Section on Craigslist where people say, "Oh I saw this sexy woman at Walmart. Hope to see you again".
It would be great to leave messages up for like a day and be able to show your GPS route. That way, at the end of the day, you could retrace your day and see if anyone left you a note. Like, "To the hot guy sitting at the bar in the blue collared shirt. I think I love you".
I always wanted a personal area chat room.
It could also be used for marketing such as "Burgers tonight are top notch!". Perhaps if things take off, you could sell extended comments that last longer.
I haven't used it yet, but how would this program handle a single place with lots of chatter? Is it a single point on the map that links to a chat room style interface? 1 map point per comment would create clutter. In my mind, a single comment would just be a dot on the map which would open for dialogue. You'd also probably want to allow accessing ANY of those locations on the fly. So if I want to go get dinner at Red Lobster downtown, I can find the location on the map and read the comments left there. Perhaps someone says, "4 hour wait @ 7pm". Or actually having the ability to ask someone that is physically there to put your name on the list, haha.
I can see SO many possibilities for this.
So perhaps you can only START a chat based off your location but you can join ANY. Also it might be a good idea to be able to disable GPS in case someone is at their home and doesn't want anyone to know where they presently are (can't start a convo but can join one). You don't want to hear about how crazies are killing girls using your app. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some nice ideas, I'll let you discover it but it's basically the world is just one huge chat room, but you filter the messages you receive by range. So it ends up being a digital "everyone shouts and you choose how far you listen" kind of thing.
If a small area gets really popular and you can't hold a conversation then there are things called Hash Tags. They're basically a short keyword you filter your messages by and it's sort of like joining a chat room. For example I could apply the hash tag "Crime" (like in the screenshot), and it basically means I only see messages from other people with "Crime" and they are the only ones that see my messages.
For the map I'm currently in the process of implementing an upvote system. Messages on the map (I call them Broadcasts) will expire after a certain period, that period is shorter depending on how busy the area is, you can extend the life of a broadcast by 'Bumping' it.
I'd love to add new stuff as I go along. But as it's been said, the key thing I'm lacking is users.
Ahhh I see about the "how far you listen" type range thing. Thats fun and all... but really hinders the usefulness.... well let me think, no I guess it wouldn't if you simply picked a restaurant and did a Spoof Location from that area. I would change that and label it as something like, "Chat from here" or something. Also need to intregrate the map better. Maybe have that as the initial screen that users see. It is a pretty map and looks fantastic. Opening the app to just see an empty chat is a let down. I would initially start zoomed out so you can see the surrounding areas and users online. Tap = popup "Chat from Here" button.
Also a slider for chat radius that displays as a blue circle around your location. Having to go into settings to set a number is kind of awkward.
Focus on the map and let users pop in and out of chat as will based on their location.
Broadcasts expiring based on how busy the area is, is a good idea. I had no idea about the bumping. "Bumping" a thread, I get it... but I when I bumped the broadcasts, it didn't do anything. Maybe just a simple vote system like "Was this helpful: -1 and +1". Because honestly most of those broadcasts are retarded. Peeing on the benches? Smelly Town? Sand Vaginas? The community needs to be able to down vote and get rid of those messages as badly as they need to up vote. Regardless of votes, Broadcasts should still naturally go away after a set time. Like broadcasts = 1 hour with 1 day max.
Also the hash tags, perhaps make it more user friendly... such as a button for "Create a Group" or "Join a Group".
player911 said:
Ahhh I see about the "how far you listen" type range thing. Thats fun and all... but really hinders the usefulness.... well let me think, no I guess it wouldn't if you simply picked a restaurant and did a Spoof Location from that area. I would change that and label it as something like, "Chat from here" or something. Also need to intregrate the map better. Maybe have that as the initial screen that users see. It is a pretty map and looks fantastic. Opening the app to just see an empty chat is a let down. I would initially start zoomed out so you can see the surrounding areas and users online. Tap = popup "Chat from Here" button.
Also a slider for chat radius that displays as a blue circle around your location. Having to go into settings to set a number is kind of awkward.
Focus on the map and let users pop in and out of chat as will based on their location.
Broadcasts expiring based on how busy the area is, is a good idea. I had no idea about the bumping. "Bumping" a thread, I get it... but I when I bumped the broadcasts, it didn't do anything. Maybe just a simple vote system like "Was this helpful: -1 and +1". Because honestly most of those broadcasts are retarded. Peeing on the benches? Smelly Town? Sand Vaginas? The community needs to be able to down vote and get rid of those messages as badly as they need to up vote. Regardless of votes, Broadcasts should still naturally go away after a set time. Like broadcasts = 1 hour with 1 day max.
Also the hash tags, perhaps make it more user friendly... such as a button for "Create a Group" or "Join a Group".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is good stuff, I'd love to implement most of this. I'm very close to starting the up vote system so I'm not sure how I'll be doing it yet but I definitely plan to have down voting. Or at least a report button! Thanks for the post!
Love the idea but u might wanna look into integrating facebook n g+ somehow.
Sent from my SK17i using xda app-developers app
I agree, you need users and you should use social network to get them automatically
How about adding video chat for the devices with front camera?
What kind of social network integration would you want? Something like when you post a broadcast you get to share it on your wall? I'd be tempted to do something like that down the line.
Video chat would be hard because my server bandwidth would struggle to keep up, but I could certainly try adding an easy way to connect to other users and enter some sort of skype room or something.
I just uploaded version 31, this has the new upvoting and downvoting system. I called it Bump and Report just to be edgy and different (you love it), but the basic functionality is there. By default a Broadcast needs 10 reports to disappear, but the more it's bumped the more reports it'll take.
I'll see how it goes, there's room for lots of changes but it'll be server-side so I can do it over time in small increments.
Also, Yesterday evening I cleared the Broadcast database, which wiped out the whole map of Broadcasts. Clean slate now but it's looking rather barebones.
This weekend I'm possibly upgrading my servers again. You shouldn't notice any downtime though.
This is great! This has so much potential!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
great
Omg this is so cool The location spoofing is a great idea. I hope that you are aware that your app is unique and there is a lot of potential in it
Keep up the great work
Thanks guys
My current plan is going to be to add private messaging and some changes to client-server communication to fight spam (in anticipation). Is there anything else you guys feel should be added before I start the Beta phase? Once we're in Beta I'm going to be much more conservative with adding new features so now is the time to make a case. I'll consider practically anything.
This looks like it could be interesting.
Will keep an eye on it.
Hey guys, today I found out I'd apparently taken out server time synchronization at some point in the past. That's fixed now so there shouldn't be any odd problems with message order anymore. You might find that your messages appear in odd places but that's because your clock is offset from the servers time (not blaming you obviously, but I can't really fix that).
Version 32 is up, it includes some new stuff:
- haptic feedback on message receipt
- you can now disable the lingering tray icon
- Cast Range now defaults at 100,000km, I'll keep it like this until we reach a release version
Nice I see you are working on this really hard. Thats not a bad thing I'm looking forward for the private messaging feature

Want to find organizer / to-do / project management / etc.

So I've been wanting to find something to help me organize my life through the use of my phone for quite a while and have always come up short, mostly because of the oh-so-limited search functionality of the Android market (even on sites like Androlib etc.). Part of the problem seems to be the set of features I want to be included in the app, or at least in interlocking apps (ie one can be opened from within the other and data from one is seamlessly shared to the other), which up until now I have yet to find. So I've come here hoping that our community of tinkerers has found something that might fit the bill. Here is a list of the features I need / want:
Need:
- Calendar integration with alerts, preferably with Google calendar
- Appointments with alerts
- Tasks with multiple levels and with alerts
- Contexts
- Checklists that can be recycled and which can have alerts attached to both the list and individual items
- Contacts integration
- Multi-platform integration (ie can sync with online service and with my desktop)
- Easy to use and easy to keep using (read: doesn't require an hour of my time each day to make sure everything is set for the next)
- Useful widgets
- No monthly fee
- 100% functional (minus sync of course) without a data connection so it can be used when in poor coverage areas or on a plane
Want:
- Much prefer a "Getting Things Done" (GTD) style application
- Location specific alerts (ie upon getting home, a reminder to take the trash out... and yes, I do need this sometimes )
- 100% free (I'm willing to pay for the app, though not a monthly service, but I prefer not to if I don't have to)
- Integration with Email, Text, Phone, and Contacts (ie ability to set a callback appointment from within contacts or us an incoming email to generate a task)
- Persistent alerts (read: I'm going to dismiss something important at some point and I want to be reminded of it again automatically)
Anyway, I know this is a hefty list of demands, but if any of you have suggestions that can actually fit some or all of these, I'd really love to hear them so I can give them a try. I've been looking for this for a while and just can't seem to find something I that fits enough of my important criteria to make it useful to me.
Thanks.
You can try the following :-
Any.Do (free) - A basic to do app without the location feature, it has alarms, different levels of priority and also syncs with your browser.
Remember The Milk (free) - though some features which you are looking for such as location based reminders come with the pro version, which requires a monthly fee that adds up to 25 USD a year and is a bit too expensive in my opinion.
Astrid To do (free) - You can get extra features such as location based based reminders and widgets for about 4 GBP total.
Hope I helped!
Thanks a lot, I'll have a look at those to see if they fit the bill. Do any of them have calendar integration?
treblesum81 said:
Thanks a lot, I'll have a look at those to see if they fit the bill. Do any of them have calendar integration?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I'm aware, I think Astrid does. I've only ever used Astrid and Any.Do. But you should be able to see the feature list on the Play Store. If you're looking exclusively for calendar integration, I think you should check out Gtasks
madgooner2810 said:
As far as I'm aware, I think Astrid does. I've only ever used Astrid and Any.Do. But you should be able to see the feature list on the Play Store. If you're looking exclusively for calendar integration, I think you should check out Gtasks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess that's another one I'll have a look at, but the thing is that I'm looking for a daily planner, which is also a task manager so I can build to-do lists into my schedule, while also having a good schedule app, if that makes any sense. Kind of an all-in-one type of thing with as much versatility / features as can be packed in.
treblesum81 said:
I guess that's another one I'll have a look at, but the thing is that I'm looking for a daily planner, which is also a task manager so I can build to-do lists into my schedule, while also having a good schedule app, if that makes any sense. Kind of an all-in-one type of thing with as much versatility / features as can be packed in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Then, in my opinion, your best bet would be Astrid with the paid locale add on.
madgooner2810 said:
Then, in my opinion, your best bet would be Astrid with the paid locale add on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've spent the last few hours messing around with Astrid today (not the locale plug in though) and found that it lacks the ability to make a reoccuring checklist or at least subordinate lists (ie a task with a list of tasks contained within it) which is one of the most important features that I'm looking for. Unless I just haven't found the right way to do it, if I wanted to make a recurring checklist for cleaning the house, for example, I'd have to enter in each separate cleaning item as its own task which would be cumbersome and also would start filling up my inbox with old tasks pretty quickly if I decide to defer some items off a week or two.
I guess now the question is what would be your second recommendation, if any, while keeping in mind the need for checklists / subordinate tasks? Do any of the other apps like Doit.im, Shuffle, or DGT GTD (all of which have subordinate lists, but not checklists a la remember the milk, and all of which I've tried, but not been able to use successfully for one reason or another) have locale-type add-ons?
Thanks again
treblesum81 said:
I've spent the last few hours messing around with Astrid today (not the locale plug in though) and found that it lacks the ability to make a reoccuring checklist or at least subordinate lists (ie a task with a list of tasks contained within it) which is one of the most important features that I'm looking for. Unless I just haven't found the right way to do it, if I wanted to make a recurring checklist for cleaning the house, for example, I'd have to enter in each separate cleaning item as its own task which would be cumbersome and also would start filling up my inbox with old tasks pretty quickly if I decide to defer some items off a week or two.
I guess now the question is what would be your second recommendation, if any, while keeping in mind the need for checklists / subordinate tasks? Do any of the other apps like Doit.im, Shuffle, or DGT GTD (all of which have subordinate lists, but not checklists a la remember the milk, and all of which I've tried, but not been able to use successfully for one reason or another) have locale-type add-ons?
Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You talk about a requirement for a multi-level checklist, unless I'm mistaken, is it the same as the one in the first screenshot of Astrid's Google Play page? Doit.im, Shufle and DGT GTD do not seem to have location add ons, but I did come across another app which might interest you :- "2Do: To do List | Task List" It's for about 6.99 USD and it does seem to have all features EXCEPT location based notifications. My advice would be to fully explore/understand Astrid and then buy the add on if you're interested. I still think it has the necessary feature (sublists) , I am downloading the app and figuring out how to do the same, if I find a way, I'll post it here.
EDIT: To make subtasks, create the two seperate taks (for example let the main one be clean room and the subtask be make the bed), then longpress make the bed and drag it to the the faint grey divider you can see between every task, when you drag it there, you may notice that make the bed got indented to the right and that should make your subtask list! You can verify if your subtask has been included by checking the main task, in this case, clean the room, and if both clean the room and make the bed get checked out you should have understood the whole process. Similarly, you can add more subtasks, say vaccuum the floor, by longpressing and dragging it to the divider just below the main task. Hope I Helped!
alternatively you can check this website out for more help: blog.astrid.com/how-do-i-create-subtasks/
madgooner2810 said:
You talk about a requirement for a multi-level checklist, unless I'm mistaken, is it the same as the one in the first screenshot of Astrid's Google Play page? Doit.im, Shufle and DGT GTD do not seem to have location add ons, but I did come across another app which might interest you :- "2Do: To do List | Task List" It's for about 6.99 USD and it does seem to have all features EXCEPT location based notifications. My advice would be to fully explore/understand Astrid and then buy the add on if you're interested. I still think it has the necessary feature (sublists) , I am downloading the app and figuring out how to do the same, if I find a way, I'll post it here.
EDIT: To make subtasks, create the two seperate taks (for example let the main one be clean room and the subtask be make the bed), then longpress make the bed and drag it to the the faint grey divider you can see between every task, when you drag it there, you may notice that make the bed got indented to the right and that should make your subtask list! You can verify if your subtask has been included by checking the main task, in this case, clean the room, and if both clean the room and make the bed get checked out you should have understood the whole process. Similarly, you can add more subtasks, say vaccuum the floor, by longpressing and dragging it to the divider just below the main task. Hope I Helped!
alternatively you can check this website out for more help: blog.astrid.com/how-do-i-create-subtasks/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the help so far. I'm once again moving away from Astrid because I can't seem to get the subtasks to reoccur as subtasks on a daily / weekly schedule. I'm a manager at a restaurant, so I tried to put together a store closing checklist, which worked fine the first day, but when I set it to repeat for the second day, it did not retain the subtasks as subordinate to the main task and mixed them all in with other tasks I'd created. In addition to this problem, I've been unable to get any tasks that I create to sync with my calendar, even when enabling the GTasks sync and then having GTasks sync with my calendar, which again means that a primary function is not working as needed, or at least I have not been able to figure it out.
I'm going to have a look at 2Do to see what its got going for it, but I'm starting to feel like a lot of the apps that we've discussed so far, while still decent apps which are well written, are not going to present me with the catch-all I was hoping for.
On a side note, I have found that more apps are starting to include location based reminders, but they often come with fatal flaws for my desired use. MyLifeOrganized has location based reminders, but the only way to sync it to my calendar is to use either the cloud based sync or the desktop program both of which cost extra money and, from what I've read, create a system where getting tasks to appear in your calendar is hit or miss at best.
I've also noticed a distinct lack of proper calendar integration in everything I've tried. Some are able to put a task on the calendar, but if I want to be able to attach a to-do list to an appointment or time block, which is possible from what I understand about the calendar code, there just isn't any kind of option beyond making the appointment and then making a task which is due at the same time. Maybe I'm asking too much of these apps?
treblesum81 said:
On a side note, I have found that more apps are starting to include location based reminders, but they often come with fatal flaws for my desired use. MyLifeOrganized has location based reminders, but the only way to sync it to my calendar is to use either the cloud based sync or the desktop program both of which cost extra money and, from what I've read, create a system where getting tasks to appear in your calendar is hit or miss at best.
I've also noticed a distinct lack of proper calendar integration in everything I've tried. Some are able to put a task on the calendar, but if I want to be able to attach a to-do list to an appointment or time block, which is possible from what I understand about the calendar code, there just isn't any kind of option beyond making the appointment and then making a task which is due at the same time. Maybe I'm asking too much of these apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You ARE asking for a for a really feature heavy app. I guess what you require isn't just available in one single app right now. Maybe if you would be willing to combine 2 or 3 apps to get the job done you could achieve what you need. I'm sure app devs will add more features, but as of now I guess all apps I can suggest are insufficient for your needs. If you want, I can tinker around a bit and see what apps you can use as a combination?
madgooner2810 said:
You ARE asking for a for a really feature heavy app. I guess what you require isn't just available in one single app right now. Maybe if you would be willing to combine 2 or 3 apps to get the job done you could achieve what you need. I'm sure app devs will add more features, but as of now I guess all apps I can suggest are insufficient for your needs. If you want, I can tinker around a bit and see what apps you can use as a combination?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am willing to combine apps, but only if they are interlocking, or at least very easy to use together. Trying to juggle 2-3 different sets of tasks / appointments / calendars just seems like it would be too cumbersome for me to stick with it, which is ultimately going to be the deciding factor about how successful the app(s) are for my needs. If I have to re-enter a new set of checklists, or even re-subordinate each subtask every time I want a checklist to repeat, I'm not going to use it very long. Just like if I have to do triple-entry bookkeeping to have an appointment or project deadline, plus have that project have a to-do list associated with it, and also have trouble integrating everything into a single calendar, I'm not going to use it very long. If any of that makes sense?

[APP][Thesis][2.2+]Creativity Study - Participants needed!

Hey there,
I'm currently writing my thesis on "connection between context and creativity of persons" and made a simple note taking app for this. Every time you work on an idea (e.g. "How to get my cat to like me more") several contexts are collected (location and date) which will be send to a server for later analysis.
The long goal will be an app that supports you in your creativity and will notify you when you are in a similar creative context.
More info and the APK can be found here: http://apptest.willey.de
Thanks for your help!
Willey1986 said:
Hey there,
I'm currently writing my thesis on "connection between context and creativity of persons" and made a simple note taking app for this. Every time you work on an idea (e.g. "How to get my cat to like me more") several contexts are collected (location and date) which will be send to a server for later analysis.
The long goal will be an app that supports you in your creativity and will notify you when you are in a similar creative context.
More info and the APK can be found here: http://apptest.willey.de
Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Based on the description, you have me wondering why I need an app to tell me when I'm being creative. Or am I missing something? This is being asked because I'm curious, not to be argumentative.
ph37rd said:
Based on the description, you have me wondering why I need an app to tell me when I'm being creative. Or am I missing something? This is being asked because I'm curious, not to be argumentative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that sounds weird
Imagine a student who works on a project with some fellow students. And they are in the "Idea Phase" where everyone should collect some Ideas which will be discussed in the next group meeting. Everyone knows how this works. One hour before the next meeting we write down some ****ty ideas and that's it.
What could you do about this?
Set some fixed reminders like "Every Day at 8:00 pm, COLLECT IDEAS FOR PROJECT!!"
So every day at 8:00 pm you get a reminder no matter what your actual context is. If you don't feel like thinking about the project you dismiss the reminder and that's it
The goal of this app would be that it waits until you are in a similar situation (f.e. in a cafe, in a park, at home, in the evening, in the morning, on mondays, ...) and then suggests "Hey wanna think about your project?"
I hope I could make it a little bit clearer, english is not my native language
Your English is fine, in fact, while not prefect, better than quite a few native tongue, or fingers if you will.
So based on a calendar or location you can set reminders? Does it, or can it, tie into Google products such as: Now, Calendar or Keep?
Unfortunately ATM the app is purely for evaluation purposes to see if there are any patterns in usage or if creativity occurs just randomly. Developing a full App would be the next step if any patterns are found. Without patterns the "intelligent notifications" wouldn't make any sense I think
This almost sounds like the chicken and the egg argument. You need to find patterns before intelligent notifications, but without knowing when to prompt, how are patterns determined?
A typical note taking app like Keep, tied into a time keeper like calendar with the geolocation ability of Now would partially answer your issue. "Ok Google. Remind me to enter project ideas in Keep everyday when I get to work." Not sure Google now is quite there yet on its own, but there are things like AutoVoice with Tasker that would do those types of things now.
---------- Post added at 01:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:30 PM ----------
Willey1986 said:
Unfortunately ATM the app is purely for evaluation purposes to see if there are any patterns in usage or if creativity occurs just randomly. Developing a full App would be the next step if any patterns are found. Without patterns the "intelligent notifications" wouldn't make any sense I think
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As for when creativity happens, it will probably be determined to be individualistic. Some will display randomly, some during sleep and wake up to record. Others may only be prompted by environment as opposed to scheduling like work (think song writers or authors).
ph37rd said:
This almost sounds like the chicken and the egg argument. You need to find patterns before intelligent notifications, but without knowing when to prompt, how are patterns determined?
A typical note taking app like Keep, tied into a time keeper like calendar with the geolocation ability of Now would partially answer your issue. "Ok Google. Remind me to enter project ideas in Keep everyday when I get to work." Not sure Google now is quite there yet on its own, but there are things like AutoVoice with Tasker that would do those types of things now.
---------- Post added at 01:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:30 PM ----------
As for when creativity happens, it will probably be determined to be individualistic. Some will display randomly, some during sleep and wake up to record. Others may only be prompted by environment as opposed to scheduling like work (think song writers or authors).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem with "traditional" Solutions like Tasker/AutoVoice would be that you enter those notifications yourself. So you set notifications when you plan to be creative. My idea is to look at your past, find "creative highs" and notify you when you are in a similar situation.
Examples would be
--> Person X tends to work on his idea on mondays and fridays in the afternoon when he is at location X but never after 9:00pm.
--> Person Y worked on his ideas in a park nearby when the sun was shining
--> Person Z tends to work in cafes in the morning
...
To find these patterns (if there are any), is the first step. The next step would be to implement the intelligent notifications based on the users past behavior.
--> Welcome home, time to think about your Idea "Solve world hunger"
--> Hey look at the beautiful weather. Time to go outside and think about your "Cat Problem" ?
--> There are 5 Cafes nearby, time to think about "how to take over the world"?
So the agenda looks like this
Track users creativity to see if there are any patterns
Create notifications based on this
???
Profit
Willey1986 said:
The problem with "traditional" Solutions like Tasker/AutoVoice would be that you enter those notifications yourself. So you set notifications when you plan to be creative. My idea is to look at your past, find "creative highs" and notify you when you are in a similar situation.
Examples would be
--> Person X tends to work on his idea on mondays and fridays in the afternoon when he is at location X but never after 9:00pm.
--> Person Y worked on his ideas in a park nearby when the sun was shining
--> Person Z tends to work in cafes in the morning
...
To find these patterns (if there are any), is the first step. The next step would be to implement the intelligent notifications based on the users past behavior.
--> Welcome home, time to think about your Idea "Solve world hunger"
--> Hey look at the beautiful weather. Time to go outside and think about your "Cat Problem" ?
--> There are 5 Cafes nearby, time to think about "how to take over the world"?
So the agenda looks like this
Track users creativity to see if there are any patterns
Create notifications based on this
???
Profit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tasker can be utilized and is utilized exactly as you have described. There are "assistant" apps/tasks that allow events to be kicked off automagically based on environment: location, light sensor, what WiFi you're connected to, time of day or day of week, etc.
I can have a task set that will turn on my WiFi when I get to work if it is Monday-Friday before 5p. It can also make sure to turn off my Bluetooth and kick off my time recording app. When i arrive home, a textthingsred off to my wife letting her know I'm home so she can add to my honey do list. These tasks run apps, turn things off and on all based on location and calendar.
I'm not trying to make a case for utilizing tasker and other apps to do what you're trying to do. Getting all of that stuff configured is not the easiest thing to do. Just mentioning it is possible and being done.
Now if you can have your app recognize patterns and trends in how people think (their creativeness), you're onto something beyond this university assignment.
ph37rd said:
Tasker can be utilized and is utilized exactly as you have described. There are "assistant" apps/tasks that allow events to be kicked off automagically based on environment: location, light sensor, what WiFi you're connected to, time of day or day of week, etc.
I can have a task set that will turn on my WiFi when I get to work if it is Monday-Friday before 5p. It can also make sure to turn off my Bluetooth and kick off my time recording app. When i arrive home, a textthingsred off to my wife letting her know I'm home so she can add to my honey do list. These tasks run apps, turn things off and on all based on location and calendar.
I'm not trying to make a case for utilizing tasker and other apps to do what you're trying to do. Getting all of that stuff configured is not the easiest thing to do. Just mentioning it is possible and being done.
Now if you can have your app recognize patterns and trends in how people think (their creativeness), you're onto something beyond this university assignment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know Tasker but I think it is horribly complex and still you have to program it yourself when to notify you or do certain actions. For someone who is brainstorming on a project and just wants to be reminded from time to time Tasker might be overkill.
I don't want to analyze the users behaviour or analyze how people think. In the best case no data will leave the device because everything could be done locally (Get current locations type via Openstreetmaps, search similar locations, search current weather conditions, ...). For my thesis I just want to see if there are simple but interesting regularities like 90% of my users used the app in the morning, they rarely switched locations when brainstorming, .... Or in the worst case no patterns at all.
Willey1986 said:
I know Tasker but I think it is horribly complex and still you have to program it yourself when to notify you or do certain actions. For someone who is brainstorming on a project and just wants to be reminded from time to time Tasker might be overkill.
I don't want to analyze the users behaviour or analyze how people think. In the best case no data will leave the device because everything could be done locally (Get current locations type via Openstreetmaps, search similar locations, search current weather conditions, ...). For my thesis I just want to see if there are simple but interesting regularities like 90% of my users used the app in the morning, they rarely switched locations when brainstorming, .... Or in the worst case no patterns at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Something to think about, the 90% of the users that you talk about may only "be creative" in one or very similar ways and may not give you an adequate picture of the data you're trying to acquire.
Your app may only appeal to one segment of the creative audience.
It's already been shown that people learn in three different ways and many of those often blend two of the designations. Seeing, hearing and doing. Being creative isn't going to be any different, just look at the examples I've started before.
You're going to have to design your app with multiple interfaces that will appeal to different audiences. A robotics engineer, oil painter, song writer, dancer, marketing executive aren't going to think and record notes intuitively the same way.

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