bonus chapter 1 : getting things done for everyone

Bonus Chapter 1 : Getting Things Done for Everyone

In This Chapter ✓ Tackling simple to-dos, tasks, and lists

✓ Taking note of notetakers

✓ Storing and sharing files in the cloud

✓ Tracking weather and packages

✓ Taking banking and budgeting in hand

The apps in the chapter address the everyday tasks that we all do to keep our lives on track and moving forward. We culled the App Store for apps

that help you create to-do (or honey-do) lists and take notes in all shapes and forms. There ’ s an app for keeping up with the weather forecasts and for tracking the shipment of stuff you order online. We close the chapter with tips for doing your banking on your iPhone.

Tackling Simple To-Dos, Tasks, and Lists If you ’ re a listmaker, one of those people who makes lists of lists, this is the section for you. In addition to Reminders, which came with your iPhone, here are three apps that offer you different ways to keep track of what you have to do, when you have to do it, when it needs to be finished, and how you can put off until tomorrow what you didn ’ t do today.

Do It (Tomorrow) www.tomorrow.do , free/$4.99 for HD version

It doesn ’ t get much simpler than Do It (Tomorrow) for jot-ting down things you need to do, as shown in Figure BC1-1 . Tapping an item scratches it off your list. Alternatively, you can tap the right-hand arrow alongside the item to shrug off the task till tomorrow (which I did to the to-do item reminding me to write this chapter for more tomorrows than I care to admit). Flick to the left to see tomorrow ’ s list — which is exactly where any items you don ’ t complete today automatically

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BC2 Tackling Simple To-Dos, Tasks, and Lists

end up at the stroke of midnight. The free ver-sion is fine for most peo-ple and includes six months of free syncing, but springing $4.99 for the HD version offers extras like HTML support so you can use it on your computer, iPad compati-bility (if you ’ ve got one of those, too), a sync fea-ture for staying in sync across your devices (including Android smartphones and tab-lets), and the ability to reorder your to-do items any which way you want.

Taskpaper www.hogbaysoftware.com , $4.99

On the surface, Taskpaper, looks as sim-ple as (actually, simpler than) Do It (Tomorrow), but beneath that pretty simple face is a multi-level task, to-do, and list-making and managing system that tosses in search and filtering options for finding or seeing only the items you want to focus on. There ’ s also a free sync feature for syncing your tasks with Dropbox.

Pocket Informant Go! And Pro www.pocketinformant.com , $3.99 (Go version)/$12.99 (Pro version)

Both versions of Pocket Informant resemble a time management system more than a simple list-making app. Your tasks are integrated with your cal-endar, making Pocket Informant unique and helpful to folks who need to tie

Figure BC1-1 : Easy does it today . . . tomorrow . . . and the next day.


BC3Taking Note of Notetakers

their to-dos to actual deadlines and deliver-ables dates they ’ re accountable for (ducking for cover to evade laser-stare from our editor).

Taking Note of Notetakers

Don ’ t worry about searching for a pen and paper if you have your iPhone with you. The apps here take notetak-ing to a new level. There are a lot of choices in the App Store and we recom-mend these two apps for taking and dictating notes on the go.

Evernote www.evernote.com , free/$5 mo. or $45 a year for premium edition

Our no-contest favorite note-taking app, Evernote, shown in Figure BC1-2 , lets you capture just about any kind of note you can think of, including text, handwritten, photo, e-mail, voice, PDF, and web page notes. Notes you create are automatically synchronized in the cloud, which means they ’ re always up-to-date no matter where, when, or how you access them — be it via your iPhone (or iPad or iPod touch), the Evernote app on your PC or Mac, or by logging in to the Evernote website at www.evernote.com .

The iPhone app (and other versions for other platforms) with basic service, which grants you a few thousand notes a month, is free; upgrade to the pre-mium plan for more features like offline notetaking, shared notes, and enhanced security.

Figure BC1-2 : Evernote keeps all of your different notes in sync across multiple gadgets.


BC4 Storing and Sharing Files in the Cloud

Write for iPhone http://writeapp.net , $1.99

This notetaking app doubles as a text editor. We particularly like the clean user interface and the possibility of choosing a favorite font and formatting it. Night Mode makes capturing those brilliant middle-of-the-night ideas easy — no more trying to decipher what you scribbled in the dark. Sync your notes across your devices with Dropbox or iCloud and share them with your friends and colleagues on social networks or by e-mail.

Storing and Sharing Files in the Cloud

All three of the following cloud-based file sync and sharing apps pretty much do the same thing: Each lets you upload, down-load, and keep files in sync between your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and PC computers (using free companion apps for those other platforms). Browsing, viewing, and sharing your files is a cinch, and integration with other apps — like Documents to Go and QuickOffice — lets you access your files from directly within those apps. Although all three apps and services give you a few gigs of free storage space, serious users must pay a monthly or yearly fee to upgrade to more gigabytes of storage space. We mainly used Dropbox, shown in Figure BC1-3 , to share files between us while we were writing this book, but the other two choices get high marks from users as well, so the choice is yours.

Figure BC1-3 : Dropbox keeps your files in sync between your iOS gadgets, Macs, PC s, and even Linux systems.


BC5Tracking Weather and Packages

Our three recommended cloud-based file storage and sharing apps are

✓ SugarSync ( www.sugarsync.com ): 5GBs free; $4.99 a month or $49 a year for 30GBs; $9.99/$99 for 60GBs; $14.99/$149 for 100GBs; $24.99/$249 for 250GBs

✓ Dropbox ( www.dropbox.com ): 2GBs free plus up to 18GB free (500MB per referral that signs up); $9.99 a month or $99 a year for 100GBs; $19.99/$199 for 200GBs; $49.99/$499 for 500GBs

✓ Box.net ( www.box.net ): 5GBs free and up to 50GBs with referrals; Business plan, $15 per user for 3 to 500 users for 100GBs

Tracking Weather and Packages Whereas you keep track of your deadlines and obligations with the previous apps, these two apps help you keep track of things that could affect the probability of you meeting those deadlines: the weather and waiting for packages. Check these out so you know if you need to order galoshes for that trip to Ireland and whether or not those galoshes will arrive before you depart.

Weather Radar www.exactmagic.com/products/weather-radar , $2.99

Weather Radar determines your location and provides a radar view of weather conditions for your location, the United States, as well as a global view. Choose the type of radar you want to see and watch the progression of storms and clouds as they happen.

Hurricane, Tornado, Wildfi res, or Earthquake by American Red Cross www.redcross.org , Free

If you or your loved ones live or are travelling to an area threatened by natu-ral disasters, these apps are great resources for timely weather and evacua-tion information, as shown in Figure BC1-4 . You can also receive alerts in the Notification Center, even when the app is closed. The apps provide useful emergency preparedness and shelter information along with fun quizzes and interesting historical facts.

Delivery Status Touch https://junecloud.com/ , $4.99

Don ’ t let the nearly $5 price throw you off — Delivery Status Touch, shown in Figure BC1-5 , is worth every penny if you do more than a little mail-order


BC6 Banking and Budgeting in Hand

buying or shipping. The super-smart app auto-matically determines shippers based on a tracking number you copy from confirmation e-mails or shipping page details, and notifications let you know what ’ s what with your package , from processing to shipping status to expected arrival and final delivery. An optional (and free) Dashboard Widget for Mac lets you track the same info on your note-book or desktop Mac, and any deliveries you enter on either of those or the companion web-site are automatically added and updated no matter which one you ’ re viewing.

Banking and Budgeting in Hand

We don ’ t know about you, but we don ’ t remem-ber the last time we actually entered a bank. With direct deposit, online payment, wire transfers, and online stock and mutual fund transactions, banking is truly electronic these days. You could probably even rob the bank electronically, but we don ’ t explain that transaction in this book.

Figure BC1-4 : American Red Cross provides free apps for tracking natural disasters.


BC7Banking and Budgeting in Hand

Even if you bank in a more traditional way, your iPhone can help you budget and track your expenses and income. Search “budget” in the App Store and you find a lot of results. Here we share two of our picks from the handful that we tried. And then we give you a tip about electronic banking.

Money Monitor www.maxwellapps.com , Free/$1.99

The initial set up is quick and intuitive: create accounts and budgets and then add income and expenses, as they come up or on a schedule that Money Monitor tracks. View your financial situa-tion by category, account, or budget for the time period that you want, as in Figure BC1-6 .

Smart Budget http://smartbudgetapp.com/ , Free/$1.99 full version

For household budget management, Smart Budget puts some fun, as shown in Figure BC1-7 , into an often boring task, but that doesn ’ t mean it ’ s not a seri-ous app. Track your day-to-day spending and create spreadsheets to help cre-ate a budget. One of the best features is the ability to sync from different iCloud accounts, so if more than one person spends the household money, the others know so you don ’ t exceed your monthly budget allowance.

Figure BC1-5 : Stay on top of delivery status from start to finish.


BC8 Banking and Budgeting in Hand

Your bank ’ s app Because most major U.S. banks offer an iPhone app for their institutions, finding the one that ’ s right for you is merely a matter of searching for your bank ’ s name on the App store or visiting your bank ’ s website, where you usually find a link to their custom online bank-ing app. Credit card com-panies offer the same types of apps for tracking your charges and payments.

Figure BC1-6 : Taking money matters in hand.


BC9Banking and Budgeting in Hand

We haven ’ t tried it, but we also saw GoBank on the App Store, a com-pletely mobile, low-fee bank account ( www.gobank.com ). Scan checks with your iPhone to make deposits and then buy things or with-draw cash with a debit card. Could this be the banking wave of the future?

Figure BC1-7 : Budgeting doesn ’ t have to be boring.


BC10 iPhone All-in-One For Dummies
