I recently picked up the iOS version of Things 3 for both iPhone and iPad. And there's a lot to love about the new version: the new look is great; the simplicity of the layout is fantastic; and all of the small, purposeful animations are phenomenal.
As an app developer, giving users options — even if your own opinions don't match those users' thought patterns — is ultimately the best way to go forward. This doesn't have to be tweaks to everything in the app and giving the user options upon options. But often, these features would benefit the app for both novice and power users, increasing the flexibility and functionality of the app. And I believe that there are some very meaningful changes that could be made in Things 3.
Here are 3 things I want to see in Things 3:
1. Complete Feature Parity
At this point in macOS and iOS development, the feature parity between the Mac and iOS apps should be the same, except where Apple places a limitation. And when there is a redesign of an app, there really shouldn't be any difference between the two. As more and more users are going iOS only, the functionality of the app should not depend, in any way, on having a Mac. And there are several examples of ways that the Things iOS apps are not on par with the Mac app.
Things 2 had several keyboard shortcuts in iOS. If nothing more, they allowed a user - more specifically iPad Pro users - to quickly create a new task via the ⌘ N shortcut. And it's a big omission for the growing base of iOS-only users. They exist in the Mac app, I would like to see these get added to iOS, as to make the app more usable when using an iPad Pro and an external keyboard.
The Today view is a great way to view your tasks for Day/Night. But one advantage that the Mac app gives you is the ability to sort based on Area; once set on the Mac, this option syncs over to iOS. It's an odd choice that you can set it on macOS, but not set it on iOS. This could simply be another sort option placed in the upper right carrot icon, where you find the sorting by tag, select, and share options.
Speaking of tags, there should be a proper way to manage your tags on iOS. As of now, the only way to manage tags would be when editing a single task. What I would propose is an added menu item in the settings list, so that tags can be managed outside of tasks. This will allow you to organize your thoughts on them in one clear list, group them together, and become more useful as you manage your tasks going forward.
2. Dark Mode
The look of Things 3 is clean. Bleach clean. Almost too clean. And while that's awesome at times for clarity, it is almost too much white. I would love to see a dark mode added. The development cycle has been slow and deliberate with Things, and I feel like this was a miss for some polish and user-facing customization.
As much as I don't like it, there are are many times that I will dump tasks into my inbox just before bed, because I'm thinking of them and I need to remember them for later. Having the dark mode/theme added would be a welcome change. There are elements of it already on watchOS, and something I'd like to see carried into the app.
3. URL Scheme Support
I am a huge proponent of iOS automation. I am constantly using Drafts and Workflow to get things accomplished on iOS. But there aren't too many URL schemes available.
What I would like to see them do, at the very minimum, is open up the app from a URL standpoint to allow the use of an x-callback-URL perspective. This will allow other apps to chain into task creation. Rather than send a list from Drafts to Reminders to Things, I could send that list over iterations from Drafts.
Once that is added, adding additional items like due/reminder times, tags, etc. would be easier. There are many reasons to do this: if you're a new user, you can simply import a text list of items into the app and get going; if you have meeting minutes, you can export the tasks for further processing in Things; and you could build templates outside of the app for importing, similar to how OmniFocus and 2Do currently support. It would make it more powerful while remaining simplistic, which is really what this app strives to be.
We recently decided to get a fourth-generation Apple TV. My entire family uses Apple products, from iOS to Mac. And given that we recently cut cable, we needed something better to watch shows and movies with. Prior to now, we'd have to watch either via the smart TV built-in apps, or through plugging something in. Not ideal at all.
One of the things I really, really like about having the Apple TV is AirPlay. We can use the iPad mini 2 as a giant remote for the TV as well, if we want. My youngest loves the show Thunderbirds Are Go, and until Amazon brings their app to the tvOS, we can just use the iPad to project it on the TV.
The Siri remote is really nice and the battery lasts a long time. I'm a bit paranoid about losing it, and they aren't cheap to replace. But so far, I'm using a remote caddy that I found for less than $10, and that helps keep it in one location. I am considering getting a remote cover for it in a bright color, just so we don't lose it somewhere.
One additional aspect of having the Apple TV: this can lead to HomeKit-enabled devices being a part of our house, as the technology improves and our finances allow.1 It will open up a new possibility for us going forward, even if it's not going to be anything more than a set-top replacement right now.
Overall, I'm really pleased with how the Apple TV is working for us at home. I'm sure Apple will announce something even better at WWDC, but I'm happy with it as it currently stands. I'm sure I'll find even more uses for it over time.
Ecobee 3
Home ownership is... well... fun? Yes, fun. Let's go with that. Owning a home means often maintaining or improving it; improvement is often necessary and can be expensive. But spending the money up front can yield dividends down the road.
Recently, I improved the insulation and ventilation in our attic — something that was long overdue. With that in place, I wanted to keep the house at a good temperature year round, no matter what the weather. We had a basic thermostat that worked well. But one thing we have to consider in our climate is which mode — heat or cool — we have to be in at any given time. In the spring/fall times of the year, we might want cooling in the day and heating at night; the temperature swings can be 40-50°F difference, and that has made from some interesting mornings when waking up.
So I started searching for a thermostat which would automatically switch, thus providing better HVAC performance. And much to my dismay, I wasn't coming up with much. Really, when it comes down to it, I just wanted to have my thermostat automatically switch modes. Then, at the suggestion of a friend of mine, I started looking into smart wi-fi thermostats. He has a Nest, and was really happy with it. My house is a little larger than I think the nest could handle accurately, so I looked at an Ecobee3 Thermostat w/ Remote Sensor.2 In addition, also picked up a 2-pack of the remote sensors. Now I can monitor the whole house temperature: I have one sensor on each side of the 2nd floor, one in the family room, and the integrated sensor on the thermostat in the center of the house.
The setup for the thermostat is pretty rad. If you download the Ecobee app, it guides you through the installation process complete with instructions, images, and videos. There's a bit of wiring involved, but at no time did I worry about it; the app does a great job at doing everything needed. Speaking of the app, it's a really nice app that supports iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. I can make adjustments when I'm gone, or even if I'm feeling lazy and don't want to get out of bed.
Now, one big reason I went the route of the wifi thermostat vs a traditional one: rebates. Before you look into purchasing one of these, see if your electric and gas companies offer a rebate on wifi thermostats. I was able to get one for each utility company. With those two rebates, and a third for my newly-installed insulation, I was able to completely pay for my new thermostat with the extra remote sensors. Not bad at all. With the new insulation and thermostat, I'm really anxious to see how well this cuts down on our energy bills.
BUBM Universal Accessories Bag
I might have a watch band problem. It's not be as bad as others, but I have a total now of 12 watch bands. And for a while, I haven't really had a good way to store them. There are times that I would like to take them with me: if I travel or change from work to workout, I want to be able to grab a new band whenever I feel the need.
I stumbled upon the BUBM accessory bag thanks to this article on iMore. Priced at $13, this seemed like the best choice on the list, rather than going with the $50 option. The bag comes with enough space to store a total of 16 bands, 2 in each slot provided. It also gives me a little spot to include four to six more bands or some other accessories, such as a Speck CandyShell Fit Case or a charging cable for the Apple Watch; I'm also keeping the Lightning to headphone jack adaptor and the Apple Pencil charger adaptor. The best part is that it is better protected and takes up less space than what I was using previously. It's the perfect little carry case for all of my extra accessories.
The smart light bulbs and switches are still expensive. But I think the cost is coming down, thanks to more manufacturers developing products in this space. ↩
I found this on sale at The Home Depot, presumably because the Ecobee4 thermostat is now on sale, which has an integrated Echo into it. But I'm ok with not yelling at my dingus to change the temperature. ↩
I've recently ventured into the podcast world. I've been wanting to do one for a long time, and I'm thankful that I'm finally able to do that with my friend Seth. Now that it's been out for a bit, I thought I'd share a bit about my setup. I'm starting out in this space; I went with some equipment that, while not the top end, is widely recommended for a beginner: the Blue Yeti microphone. I ended up getting one on Amazon Prime Day, as well as a DragonPad pop filter. My initial plan was to use 2 iOS devices: an iPhone 5c for the FaceTime call and my iPhone Plus for recording, utilizing the Lightning to USB3 adapter to record my end using Ferrite.1 However, I was gifted a 2009 Mac mini, which surprisingly still works well for recording. We use FaceTime Audio to make the call and Audio Hijack to record. So while I use iOS for everything in my personal life, this is the only thing for which I use a Mac.2
With my recording hardware set, I needed a good space to record. One particular area in our basement was pretty well isolated from the house, and would be a good place to start. First, I needed a decent desk. My parents brought me the unused drafting table from their house, and I was able to set it up at a good height for standing. I added some 2" scrap foam blocks and an unused piece of 3/4" plywood to elevate the desktop to a comfortable height for me; I also added some other spare wood that I cut to length so that I could elevate the monitor a bit. I covered it with a blanket I wasn't using to help attenuate the metallic noise from the desk itself. Though that portion of the basement is carpeted, I also bought an anti-fatigue mat that helped with standing while recording.
Even though the area was isolated from most of the noise in the house, there was still some ambient noises coming from the air conditioning ductwork above my head and the two vents into the basement on either side of me. So I got to work [over-]engineering a solution. During my research, I found a portable mic surround that would isolate the noise around the mic; rather than line the wall with foam, I thought this would be a good idea for the space. Later that day, my wife came home one day with a wooden crate at Michael's, presumably for my youngest's toys. But the moment I saw it, I thought of creating a box to stick the Yeti into, surrounding the mic with foam in order to isolate the mic from the ambient sound.3 After a few iterations and some on-hand materials, I had something I was happy with.
Although the desk is a nice height for standing, the microphone wasn't in the proper height for me to record, and I needed to elevate it. I looked around the house for unused items, rather than buying a stand or a boom arm. I ended up making a stand for it using the base for our TV that was going unused, as we had wall-mounted the TV. Using some spare plywood around the house, I was able to make up a shelf for the mic box to sit on. The mic can now be used sitting or standing, which gives me the option depending on how I'm feeling.4 I've also added a couple of brackets to set my headphones and cable ties to clean up the cords a bit.
Here's a "pro-tip" for setting up your own space: before you go buying anything, use what you have around you. You'd be surprised what a little thought and time will get you. I was able to get a lot of things just by rummaging around my house. The foam, the TV stand, repurposing the desk. Even the shelves I have for my desktop speakers were things just sitting: in fact, they are actually the corner packaging from a MacBook Air box. Reduce, reuse, recycle.
I've also been able to think about this space with more than just my podcast setup in mind. When I'm not recording and I want to do some serious writing, I can use the stand to elevate my iPad Pro in the Logitech Create Keyboard Case. For ergonomic purposes, I ended up picking up a Magic Keyboard to use not only with the Mac mini, but my iPad as well for longer writing sessions. Not only do I have a podcast space, but I also have a quieter space to write, be creative, and is a retreat that I didn't have previously. Having personal space is important.
I've used various foams I had around my house in the setup to isolate different things: the mic to the box, the box to the stand, etc. There was also ambient fan noise from the furnace. To minimize a lot of it (most of which was coming from the closet behind me), I had found some scrap foam and carpet remnant. I attached the carpet to the wall using a staple gun, and glued the foam to cardboard to hang behind me. Glueing the foam to cardboard didn't turn out well, and I ended up getting some foam-core poster boards. I attached the foam using special foam adhesives and are easy to apply (peel-and-stick). I affixed two adhesive hooks to hang each board by two small screw eyes from the ceiling. I also created a board for the ceiling, using the same strategy and a small piece of chain that I had lying around. We had some standing dividers, which were useful to set to the side to help minimize noise on the sides. With all of this set up, I basically ended up making a small studio.
I'm really happy with how all of this turned out. It's efficient and I've minimized how much money I wanted to put into this thing. I really truly have only put in under $100 total (not including the equipment), and the rest I was given or able to find/repurpose. In the future, I might pick up some better sound isolation foam from a local store, replace what I have, and add more; but for now, I'm going to keep utilizing this and be happy in my personal space. Being resourceful, reasonably mechanically inclined, and thinking outside the box about using some old items in my house, I have been able to make a decent setup that sounds good enough for audio quality. Sometimes, all you need to do is look around you and you'll find everything you need.
There's a great reference for using the adaptor over at Six Colors. It includes helpful tips and the capabilities/limitations of using it on iOS. ↩
At least until an iPad Pro with updated software can record both ends. Once that happens, then I'm likely going to be back to only iOS for everything. ↩
I was able to scrounge around and find some foam from various sources: old packing boxes, an old SuperDrive shipping box, some free toolboxes I got while in college. You can get it multiple places, but if you can get it for free, do it. It can only help improve the isolation. ↩
I'll generally be standing for recording, however, as I tend to fidget a lot. ↩
Every year in spring, it seems as thought I get sick at least once: the changing of the weather, additional allergens in the air, kids bringing home more and more germs. Whatever it is, it sucks more now that I'm an adult. It usually knocks me down in one form or another, and harder than it used to previously; I need more rest in ever increasing amounts. Getting old sucks.
So, as is tradition, I spent all of this past weekend sick. Naturally, the weekend hit a multitude of complications with our plans and family productivity. Obviously we, as a family, need to be flexible when something like this happens. But when I get sick, it puts a tremendous strain on everyone else in the family. Not as much gets done, our plans change, and everyone is usually bummed about it.
This time, the sickness also took something that made everything that much worse: my voice. It's simply laryngitis, and thankfully nothing worse. Not having one's voice is difficult, and I couldn't imagine life like this permanently; it's incredibly frustrating to have to figure out ways of communicating other than by speaking. I count myself unbelievably lucky that I have my senses. In a way, I'm grateful that this happened, because it has allowed me to think of things differently in terms of the accessibility of my devices, and also brought an unexpected accessibility feature along with it. There are times that we, as a family, need to communicate via messages — mainly due to the youngest one sleeping. I'll have to send messages to my teenager, who purchased his own Bluetooth on-ear headphones, and sometimes can't hear me talk, even when I'm right behind him.1 But this weekend was especially important. I don't like being a family that just texts from couch-to-couch, but we ended up planning dinner and our evening activities together in a group chat. Sometimes simple text can adequately convey your message.
When it came time to make dinner, however, I wanted my oldest to make it. I try as often as I can to impart wisdom and small tasks that he should be able to do. But how on earth, with no voice, can I give him directions? My first thought was to send a text, but even though I can type fast, it wouldn't be good for what I need. So I looked on my iPad to see what tools I have at my disposal. It was pretty apparent that I should use Linea. I could simply use a white canvas and a black pen or marker to write. It was easy for me to write down some simple instructions for him. Using layers, I ended up writing out how to put things together, just as a reminder of the things he should be putting into the meal because he has made this before. It made it easier to communicate with him, and dinner turned out pretty well. Being able to simply write down directions to him was a huge help.
As the weekend went on, I continued to use Linea for communication in my house. We ended up doing more than I thought we would, despite my inability to communicate verbally. I interacted with my youngest by working on letters and numbers with him; I also drew him small pictures to make him laugh. While Linea is primarily an app for artists,2 Linea allowed me to get past a communication barrier I was facing, and interact with those around me.
When life throws you a curve ball or two, sometimes you find something unexpected that can help you along your way. I'm very thankful that I picked up Linea as soon as I got my iPad Pro. It was a wonderful weekend companion for me and allowed my voice to be heard with my family.
Recently I started playing around with different systems, making different changes to how I work. This should surprise exactly no one. Long story short, I'm reading Getting Things Done for the first time:1 not just passively reading and finding little hacks, but rather studying the material. I'm reading it very slowly; I'm using iBooks, highlighting passages and taking notes in various places on how it applies to me. So many people swear by the system, and I want to see what this system could do for me. With all that I have going on, I wanted to make sure that I have a handle on anything and everything that needs to get done. One of the things that has resonated with me so far is that the system isn't about just one task app. The notion that you can only utilize one of those apps often gets lost on people; the idea that a single task manager will solve all of your needs 100% of the time is a falsehood, even if someone tells you that "This task app is the best ever!" — even if that someone is me . Your needs change, your roles change, your life changes. Things need to evolve as you do.
From the book:
Your life is more complex than any single system can describe or coordinate…
Single system. You might need multiple as your life changes. You will, at the very least, need multiple parts for the system: a task manager, a calendar, email, and even some long-term reference storage. This could be all in a single app, but more than likely, it will be multiple apps. Sure, in the grand scheme of it, having multiple sources is really hard when it comes to conducting a weekly review and making sure you capture all of your tasks; it puts the onus on the user to review multiple places, which some can find difficult. Due to constraints at my workplace, I need to use two task managers to get my life sorted out as part of my system. This works for me if I am diligent about my weekly reviews; the weekly review is vital to making sure you don't miss anything, and you need to be relentless about conducting them. The weekly review is one of the key elements to a successful system, and I've been able to set up weekly reviews utilizing reminders for both work and personal, and I'm getting through life mostly unscathed.
One of the keys to the GTD methodology is capture. It works best when you have a single, trusted place for capture, so that you can process everything later: this is your Inbox. So while I could use any app to input tasks — like 2Do or OmniFocus or Reminders or Todoist or [insert app name here] — the important part for me is to set up my system so that the inbox for capture is the same. So that it's muscle memory. As it turns out, I have the muscle memory for this already: Drafts. As it is a permanent member of my dock, and that's where 99% of everything text related starts already, it makes total sense for me to use this as the GTD Inbox with my system. I utilize the app for so much, and I was doing most of this already. But one thing I wasn't doing was really utilizing it in the best possible way.
Before, I would write tasks down in a draft. Sending to a singular app is easy. Then, when I bifurcated my system and utilized one app for work and one app for home, I created separate lists to send over with actions for each list. But the separation was really hard for me to keep when I started trying to think of everything that I needed to get done in my personal and professional lives. In episode 3 of the GTD podcast, David Allen — the man behind the method — guides you through a mind sweep. I recommend sitting down and listening to the episode, and highly suggest you follow along. When I went through it the first time, I listened through it and often paused the episode when he mentioned certain things that triggered some tasks or actions that I needed to remember. I've done it a few times now, and each time I've thought of at least five additional items - some even larger projects - that I needed to ensure are in my system.
You might think that you need to use a singular task management app for this to work effectively. But through the power of Drafts' ability to tie into multiple apps, you can make it so that you can effectively do the mind sweep, and send things to where they need to go if you use more than one. For multiple reasons, I will need to keep a separate system for work so that I can process tasks on my work machine. But chaining things together in the right way will allow me to keep both task managers in my system, and really focus on capturing.
If I were to use a single system, the Drafts Action Directory is filled with great actions that can send various bits of the text — [[draft]], [[selection]], etc. — and create tasks simply. I most often use [[selection]] in my actions; if nothing is selected, it defaults to [[draft]] and grabs the entire contents. If I'm in a meeting taking notes, I can quickly grab each task out of that meeting and send them to Todoist, my work system. If I have an upcoming business trip that I need to make sure I have something packed for, I can send that over to my ever evolving personal system. I can add a calendar event or send an email. If I need to store some text for reference, I can even send it over to DEVONthink. You get the idea.
Even when I use a split task system, I can utilize multiple actions and send items to the apps I need them to go. However, to help better facilitate sending the mind sweep of my tasks all at once to other places, I created a simple workflow that takes the draft text as the input, then allows you to parse the tasks line-by-line into the system of choice.2 I don't need to think only of home, work, or family oriented tasks in separate ways when sweeping; I can think of everything in my life all at once, and send it where that needs to be. Not only can I send to multiple places, the workflow allows me to tinker with multiple apps to broaden my knowledge and experience.
What I'm finding out the more I get through the book is that even though I am using multiple-app system, I'm using as many apps as I need and as few as I can get by with. This reduces my mental overhead, and allows me to focus on the task(s) at hand; it's always there, always available, no matter where I am. Most importantly, I trust in it to work for me, so that all of the people around me at home and work can rely on me. As I continue to read and learn more, I'm hoping that this sparks some more ideas to apply the methodologies I'm learning. No matter what systems I try, no matter what new methods I am experimenting with, at the center of all of it is the foundation for my productivity: Drafts.
If you've read the book, or are a guru of this stuff, bear with me on all of this. You're probably going to think I'm really late to the party, and you're right — but I'm glad I'm expanding my knowledge. ↩
The workflow contains four such apps that I have used, but you could use whatever works for you. I made this simple example, but it can be done a number of different ways and you can make it customizable for your needs. You can add calendar, email, or reference storage to this as well. ↩
