Suggestions for iPhone and iPad user interface
Some on here who have read my other posts may know that I am a big fan of the look and feel of the Things iOS apps. And I know many others are too.
I would be very satisfied if the Nirvana iPhone and iPad apps turned out to look similar to the Things apps in terms of the general layout of portrait and landscape. I think Things' layout would serve as a very good model for the forthcoming Nirvana apps. I particularly like their move and star buttons that temporarily changes the check box into a move or star toggle.
I think that another nice user interface element for the iPad app would be the ability to tap and hold to drag tasks around such as for resorting lists or dragging from the inbox list to a project in the sidebar. The click and drag behavior for that is currently available in the web app serves is a good model of this.
2 Posted by Proximo on 22 Jan, 2012 05:41 PM
Things sure makes a good looking app.
+1
3 Posted by david-drake on 22 Jan, 2012 06:48 PM
I agree!
+1
4 Posted by Mark S on 23 Jan, 2012 07:08 PM
For a great example of utilizing drag and drop in an iPhone app look at TaskBook.
I didn't like it for other reasons but the way you can arrange/sort your tasks is very, very nice.
Hope the Nirvana app has this level of drag-drop functionality.
Thanks,
Mark
5 Posted by Phil on 23 Jan, 2012 08:05 PM
@Mark S
Thanks for pointing that out. I found the following video on the interface, and I agree, it does look nice. Not sure I like other aspects of that app's interface, though (like how all that stuff is cramped in the right margin).
I'm not convinced that draggable tasks would work so well on the iPhone's small screen, but I can see this being really useful in an iPad app.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV6a5txurT0
6 Posted by Phil on 23 Jan, 2012 08:12 PM
On second thought, this could work on the iPhone if the "sidebar" was hidden behind the task list and revealed itself once tasks were selected. I could see the task list sort of sliding to the right a little to reveal the sidebar underneath. Kind of like how the sidebar slides to reveal itself in the current Facebook for iPhone app.
7 Posted by Phil on 23 Jan, 2012 08:20 PM
Maybe the sidebar would only reveal itself it a task(s) were dragged over to the left edge of the screen. Once the sidebar was revealed, tasks could be dragged back to the right edge of the screen to put them back in the task list if you wanted.
8 Posted by Proximo on 24 Jan, 2012 02:44 AM
I know this will not be something everyone wants, so let me suggest it as an option you can turn on or off.
I like the ability of a good mobile app like most people. I still find that most of my work is done in front of my computer and in most cases the iPhone app would be a quick way for me to look at a list but I will probably not spend that much time working with it as some others would.
So the option I want is this.....
I want an option for the launch screen to be a big Giant CAPTURE button. This way I can open the app, hit that button and start capturing my thoughts one after the other.
Just a very fast capture tool.
Have a home icon that can be picked to enter the normal app. This way the app will have two buttons. A HUGE Capture button and a good size Home button.
If you turn this off in the settings, the app will launch in the home page like normal.
What say you?
9 Posted by Phil on 24 Jan, 2012 02:56 AM
@Proximo
Did you ever get around to trying Captio? It's great for fast capture.
10 Posted by Proximo on 24 Jan, 2012 03:01 AM
@Phil
ROFL
You must have some shares in this company. Just kidding.
Captio does exactly what 1Tap Mail does. It looks like 1Tap Mail went under or something because you can't get it anymore, but I paid my $.99 and it still works perfectly.
It opens ready for me to start typing and sends it to Nirvana and then it's ready for me to enter something new.
As long as the app keeps working, I don't see a need to pay for another app that does exactly the same thing. :-)
I recommended Captio to some people who were looking for something like I had but I am too cheap to pay for it myself since 1Tap Mail works perfectly for me.
If the Nirvana mobile app had the option to enter in this mode. I could remove an app from my iPhone which is always a good thing.
11 Posted by bumpa on 25 Jan, 2012 04:31 AM
I've been using Captio ever since I saw Proximo mention it sometime back. Works great, quick and simple. I too would like to see an option like this in the Nirvana iPhone app.
12 Posted by Proximo on 30 Jan, 2012 12:51 AM
@bumpa
I will give the credit of Caption to Phil. I think he was the first to suggested. I already had a solution but it's no longer available so Caption is the best choice today.
13 Posted by bumpa on 09 Feb, 2012 12:37 PM
@Phil
Thanks for recommending Captio! Great little app, use it all the time. I've got a couple of buds using it as well, I enjoy passing on a good idea.
14 Posted by bumpa on 09 Feb, 2012 12:40 PM
+1 on Phil's comment about Things.
15 Posted by Phil on 09 Feb, 2012 08:12 PM
@bumpa
Yea. Captio is pretty great. I learned about it from http://www.macstories.net/ which is generally a great site to keep up on the latest and best iOS apps and services.
16 Posted by Lasse on 10 Feb, 2012 09:44 AM
@Phil, I'm also a big fan of the Things apps but I've always wondered why you need so many taps to edit tasks. Changing dates in Things for iPhone, for example, takes 6 taps and a turn of the date wheel! This is a real pain in the neck if you want to change the dates of multiple tasks (say, when a project deadline has been extended and you want to change sub-tasks accordingly). Appigo's Todo only needs four taps (i.e. three steps less) AND it supports batch edit, which means you can change the properties of multiple tasks all at once (i.e. change their date, move them to a different list, etc.). While I still prefer Things to Todo, I've always wished that Things was as easy to use as Todo. So my wish for Nirvana would be Things' look + Todo's ease of use.
While I'm at it: I'm not a fan of date wheels, I much prefer a calendar!
17 Posted by pkbldr on 10 Feb, 2012 10:42 PM
-1 on Date Wheels, +1 on calendars.
Support Staff 18 Posted by Mitchell Amihod on 10 Feb, 2012 11:17 PM
thanks for all the suggestions folks. while i generally don't reply to them, i am reading them.