The Astrid team has been hard at work on an entirely new version of Astrid worthy to be called Astrid 4.0.
We have been designing Astrid 4.0 with the following goals:
1) To Make it Easier to Use
Through extensive user testing, surveys and our personal use we have seen (sometimes with gut-wrenching pain) many aspects of Astrid that are downright confusing. Astrid 4.0 addresses many of these concerns without compromising on power-user features.
2) To Make it Beautiful
While Astrid is without a doubt the most powerful, reliable, and widely loved to-do list for Android, it hasn’t always been deemed the most attractive. This new look represents a completely new design which makes us proud. We also took care to pay attention to the new Android User Interface Guidelines so this is entirely Android.
3) To Keep it Fast and Reliable
A slow productivity application is oxymoronic. Astrid sync with both Google Tasks and Astrid.com is now much faster and more reliable. List views should scroll faster with much of the extra details removed. This also contributes to Astrid’s beauty. We know some of you will miss this so you can add these details back if you want!
4) To make it work on Android Tablets!
Need we say more? Check out the 3 column layout on tablets (all in a single version of Astrid that adapts to the device it is on).
Astrid 4.0 has a long way to go before we release it on the Android Market, but we wanted to get your input on what you like and don’t. You can report bugs by sending email to android-bugs@astrid.com, or give us feedback here in the comments.
Warmly,
Jon Paris and the Astrid Team
Download Astrid 4.0 (Last Updated: February 22, 2012 – 3:10 a.m. PST)
112 Comments
Hi there,
the new design is different, but I will like it. But what I do not like is, that astrid stucks und break everytime I am trying to edit some options of a task. Even the “more” button after making a task via voice makes astird die. I am using astrid on a samsung galaxy s2.
Greets MAW
Hi there,
deinstalled the beta an reinstalling made it! So it wors until now! Good Job!
Thanks
MAW
Just installed on my Zoom. Had to backup my tasks, remove the app and then install the beta. So far so good love the new layout. Also the 2×2 widget is displaying correctly now.
First, it’s very pretty. Great icons, and I like the Activity list on repeats.
Quick first finds:
The same thing happened to me as the previous poster—I downloaded several times and each time it would force close when trying to open a task. Uninstalled—which was scary, because the fresh install told me “Never backed up”—then found that the old backups were safe nonetheless. Imported my tasks, and all’s well.
____________
I tried moving When to the top and Who below More in Beast Mode and it did the opposite. In fact, I couldn’t move Who at all, and When always drops below More wherever I drag it.
_____________
Tapping a task sometimes opens it, but sometimes doesn’t.
______________
I tried Google sync and got this error (FWIW I haven’t had a successful sync in a while):
_______________
com.google.api.client.http.HttpResponseException 400 Bad Request
________________
Looked in vain for that Multiselect… ;^)
________________
Truly do like the new look!
Congratulation on the good work! One immediately thing I found is that the Reminders -> Show Task doesn’t look to be clickable (just like a label). Probably new users will get confused?
Thanks to all of you who are testing! A few other known issues in the Jan. 27 version:
- Beast mode doesn’t work
- Shared list members desnt work in the day theme
- Timers don’t work for non astrid.com users
We plan on releasing a fix for these issues ln Monday night and as many other issues as we can find!
Same FC problems as the rest. The new design will grow on me, I’m sure. Looking forward to getting more time with it when it becomes more stable. Love to see new widgets next. 4×1, anyone?
Astrid continues to impress me in terms of how quickly it is being developed as well as the way in which they listen to their customers. Looking forward to continued greatness.
Finally, if you are reading this and you haven’t picked up the Power Pack, do it! Even if you don’t care for what features it affords you, it supports the great Astrid team!
I love that you are using the new Android design guidelines. I understand this is beta, but I think the design could use a little more “polish”. In particular I think you should tweak the action bar color. All white (day) and all black (night) are just a little too much and it needs to be broken up a little. Maybe the blue from the website (would work pretty well on day and night mode) or even use a light grey like the stock GMail app or dark grey like in the stock messaging app. Other than that, so far so good. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for all the feedback! We just updated the download link with our nightly build. This should fix most of the force closes (all we could find) and has a few other minor fixes.
Direct link: http://bit.ly/astrid4beta
Thanks for the UI refresh.
To be honest, to me it seems to be some regressions.
* The UI looks like a Windows Phone 7 UI, too much colored, flat design, with no sweet details.
* Each task have same size in list which is a waste of space. On my 480×800, even with a font size of 10, I can list only 6 tasks !! Maybe this version really fits well on a tablet, but on my phone it doesn’t.
* It is odd that the Plus option in option menu bring two options Parameters and Support. Why don’t you include them in option menu ? is there a maximum option menu item count ?
* The left thin colored bar was a great UI element, I’m really sad you changed it by coloring the checkbox. I dont think we won something in this change. It was elegant and discreet.
* Like MAWSpitau, i also have crash when editing my previous task list. Uninstalling erase old data which a sad workaround. Hopefully I saved the data files before.
* When you edit a task, you have two buttons in top bar : cancel editiong and save edition : 1) the cancel button looks like a remove/delete button more than a cancel. 2) if you go back (with system button) the modifications are saved and applyed which is not (in my opinion) what a user is waiting for (at least ask him what to do).
* A bug with repro : touch existing note, then quicly go back (system button), quickly touch note, quicly go back… until it crashes.
* Not new in this version : I’m french and the UI is still a mix between english and french. Espetially the messages Astrid is giving when its time to realize a task.
I hope you wont take all this reports too bad, I’m really found of Astrid that I’m using every day since I own my phone. I will go back to current version now, that was in my opinion near perfection, just laking of filtering to create personnalized views of tasks like : list all tasks due to today (done or not), list all taks due to today, done today, with priority 4, in list “…”, assigned to “…”. Etc.
Anyway great stuff !! Bye
..and sorry for my bad english and my typing errors…
Hum.. too bad for me, I saved files that seems to be auto saved files (auto.120126-1918.xml, etc.) I lost all my tasks
Could you please implements a backup feature so that we can save data before trying new versions or being able to transfe tasks to a new device ?
Oops sorry to polute your comments, I just discovered the feature in the parameters page. I promise I shut up now.
It’s a bit disappointing there’s still no full, foolproof sync with Google tasks.
There is a Google Tasks API, so it must be possible to perform such sync.
There’s only three possibilities that have to be synced:
Google task has an id not existing in Astrid, so add task to Astrid (with Google id)
Astrid has no Google id, so add Google task and enter task id in Astrid.
For same Google task ids in Google and Astrid compare task timestamps, newer timestamp updates older, so update Google task from Astrid or vice versa for un/deleted, un/completed,and task date.
I’m still not seeing the option for sub tasks. This is essential for me because I utilize this functionality within Google Tasks, which I plan to sync with. Will this be included in v4?
Both first build link provided and the nightly build crash on me. Lenovo tablet.
Jason,
Send the crash log using logcat to support@astrid.com
your latest nightly, astrid-4-2.0beta crashed on the first run, but I can’t reproduce it. This build is a lot more stable in my environment – again lenovo. Also, I’d like to note that the premium widgets were not opening with previous builds, but now is working. BTW When is a tablet re-sizable widget coming
thanks – this + google tasks is the best task list I’ve used to date. Keep up the awesome work!
Well it’s not syncing with google tasks – would a log file help?
Think i’m to apologise for making a comment re sync, as feb 3rd version crashes on me if i only try activating google sync. so no more bother about syncing right.
I haven’t tried the beta yet but I would like to make the following suggestions
- please provide some good widget options that are scrollable.
- please emphasise google task integration, as this is what I manly use astrid for.
- A colour coding / labelling system so some tasks can be marked urgent. I have many lists and tasks and it is sometimes hard to focus on priorities when in a hurry.
- having the option to move through lists by swyping left or right.
-
Still exploring the original version with power pack and in just a week astrid has become the planning I always wanted. Fabulous.
Not interested in trying a beta version I`m curious if the following issues has got attention in the new version, wishlist:
1. possibility of changing font size in the Notes
2. Voluntary rearrangement (order) in the Filter list and List list to avoid unnessary scrolling to the list I use most.
3. I only use this planning tool for myself and my work. In my situation it is annoying that so much screen area is wasted and clutters my view about “”Allocated to” and “private tab allocate to” etc. etc. I really would want to have the option in the SetUp to untick all this stuff about allocating to other people.
I do not like it.
It looks nice, but I don’t like how it works.
I don’t like the columns or the pop-ups.
Please give me the old layout and the new graphics.
Cannot add or edit tasks after the install, evo 4G.
Cannot edit task droid x2
- Snooze spinner buttons dont have arrows, just two gray boxes.
- not sure I like the black-on-black transparent overlays for the menu. The background distracts from the overlaid content, especially the red overdue dates. maybe add a thin vertical border?
SGH-i986, fw 2.3.3, gingerbread-uxkh2
Thanks for all the feedback so far. If you are having bigger issues you can always switch back to an older market version by visiting:
http://weloveastrid.com/old
When I attempted to edit an item the beta crashed (Samsung gt-19000).
Crashes as soon as I tap an item to edit it. Widget-text hours over widget’s edge. Had to uninstall…
Tried latest beta,but fc when I tried to edit task. Went back to stable version on market. Like the brief glimpse of new interface
Astrid crash ever when I want edit task. I have Dell Streak 5.
Like many others I get FCs whenever I try to open a task, regardless if it is an old one or a new one which needs more input [i.e. the actual day and time I want to be reminded]. I installed Beta 2 via the link provided by Jon Paris above, nothing changed.
Device: HTC Desire HD, GO Launcher EX
The Android download is failing both from the app link to a web page and going to the web page directly. Cannot find the beta in the Market
Crashing on my ice cream sandwich nexus s.
First off, thank you Astrid developers for being so responsive to users and continuing to maintain and improve this app to keep it great.
Tested
- v4.0-beta-4 on Kindle Fire and LG Marquee (Optimus Black)
Kindle Fire
- like the lists column on the left. Would like to be able to hide them to have cleaner UI. Rotating screen 90^ shows 3 columns with task details.
- sync button doesn’t actually run Sync with Astrid
LG
- force close issue after install reproducible: uninstall Astrid, install v4.0-beta-4, go through welcome messaging. Login with username/password. Allow to sync. Try to scroll down, FC. Relaunch Astrid app, some tasks duplicated. Uninstall, reinstall seems to fix duplicated tasks so they don’t get synced to astrid.com. Log errors available.
Workaround: skip login during welcome process, sync later
- however, even though logged in, “Sync” button doesn’t actually sync
Both:
- not a huge fan of the red on white color scheme. Preferred the subtle colored line on the left of the task in previous versions. Can you make old “theme” available?
- when editing task, jump to Activity not helpful, makes 1 extra click. Remove and make that a pref?
- Beast mode prefs not sticking
- Show Task (hide until) is hard to find under Reminders. Make option to show under When tab?
- Hidden task prefs doesn’t seem to sync to Astrid. This testing process appears to have blown away all of my hiding prefs.
- any way to add sync on change so completed tasks or edits are immediately synced? Option to Sync on launch?
Nice UI, particularly in black. Force closed with every attempt to edit, however. HTC Incredible running Android 2.3.4 non-rooted.
Thanks for the Beta.
I am having problems syncing with GTasks which works fine on my DroidX. Error on Xoom is
Sync /w Errors Dec 31 1969 1900
so there seems to be a time sync error
Happy to help work through the issue
Thanks for the update, looks real nice but is not functional. Crashes everytime I try to edit a task. Samsung Epic 4g.
Just updated to beta, but needed to reinstall current version immediately.
Notes (on Nexus One)
New design is quite garish. Way too busy. Last UI refresh was much cleaner and calming IMHO.
Widget (standard) is out of alignment. Too much left/right padding and add task button is too far to the right and partially cut off.
Biggest issue is that it crashes whenever I try to create/edit a task. This means I can’t test it any further until an update fixes this.
I got the same FC issue with 4.0 when I tried to edit a task. So I tried to reinstall the previous version, and now it get a FC just trying to open the app. Can’t open it at all. Now what can I do? Help!!
Installed if from a tweet message. I couldn’t do anything with it. Unnstalled it. Back in business. Loved your app do much that I was pissed the 4.0 beta wouldn’t run. I use Astrid too much to not have it working.
Gut
Reporting the same bugs + my comments:
1. Beast mode settings don’t stick
2. Google task sync not working
3. Night theme should have a visible divider between middle and left panes (right now it’s black on the lack background so it kinda looks off)
4. Not too fond of the night theme now in general.. It’s trying too hard to match ICS that it seems weird mixed with other usual Astrid UI elements.
5. I love the 3 window UI!
6. Sync on change feature missing now…
7. Hope you can add more clean themes like neutral or paper like colors maybe? Similar to the look of your blog maybe!
That’s all so far.. Thanks guys! Keep up the great work! Can’t wait for the final release!
I mean middle and right panes lol
##Comparing Tablet vs Phone##
Hi the new interface looks good on my Galaxy Tab 10.1 but looks weird on my Galaxy SII.
##Too Much Red##
The fault i think lies with your colour scheme..Its a bit irritating to put titles and everything in red…. usually red denotes urgency, missed deadlines etc..so you should reserve red only for those areas you wish to highlight. Headers and Footers that provide navigation should be soothing to the eye ( e.g. Black Font on White/Grey Background (like a magazine, etc)
##Font Style/Sizes##
Since you have this interface, you may want to look at your font style/sizes or allow the user to change the font style as your current style showcase/highlights the fonts of your application.Look at how Anydo presents itself..its very soothing and easy to read.
Yes i know that we can change it in the setting but shouldn’t you come up with some good design so that the user does not need to change it themselves.
##Theme Capability##
If possible allow for theming so that you can sell or offer for free various themes suitable for different market segments.
##Tick Boxes##
Changing the tick box color to reflect the importance level doesnt really work for me as i think it makes the color scheme too messy especially if you have a lot of task with different dates and different priority.
You should either allow users to turn off or turn on this option or make the tick boxes with standard colors ( grey/black,etc)
For importance do what you did on the activity tab by either placing a small rectangle colour indicator at the side of the task or bottom of the task.
With the rectangle users should be able to touch it and change the importance directly as well.
##Rename Beast Mode##
Give this a new name, it is hard for me to explain to new users ( those i recommend to convert from other task apps to astrid) why is there a beast mode in a to do list?
Wish you guys best of luck
Thanks..
Sorry Add On
##Color Scheme Purpose##
Your color scheme should not clash with each other and be designed with a purpose in mind.
Existing Scheme
Red: High Importance
Orange : Medium Importance
Blue : Low Importance
Blank/Grey : No Importance
Black : Menu /Text/Options
As such Red/Orange/Blue/Grey should not be used anywhere else in this application other than to denote the importance. Otherwise you are drawing away the attention from the importance level and treating it just as decoration for your app.
remarks/bugs (tested with HTC desire):
- remember the milk sync not working
- crahs when try to edit task
- filter: foler/list of rtm is missing
- crash in general a lot of times
- edit/delete/rename of filter missing
Jon, could you create this as a new app, like say Astrid4 ? I want to give it a try but since there seem to be quite a few bug reports I am reluctant and would like to install it separately so that my existing tasks are not affected.
Astrid the best. However when I downloaded 4.0 no longer syncing with Google tasks. Any help?
On Motorola Atrix. Love the new look, but force closes everytime I try to login to Google. Switching back for now.
I’m sorry but I really really really don’t like the new look. It looks less polished, somehow.
The main reason I downgraded to the previous version, however, was because it crashed every time I tried to edit a task. Every time.
Enabling “show notes” also expands the task to the full length. In my case, up to 4 lines (plus the note). Is this behavior correct?
Also, if there’s no note, seems like a “blank” note line is “displayed”, causing the checkbox and task to no longer be lined up.
Hello all,
Thank you all for your commitment to develop and improve Astrid (and offer it for free!)
I’m having the google sync issues as well.
One more vote for the current UI. The new one is way too busy
Beta4 doesn’t work on my android 2.3.3 (wildfire s): crashes upon opening task detail and sync with google tasks is not working (doesn’t authenticate at all). It’s pity.
Hi, I do not have time to test the new beta, though here are my two observations with the latest alpha:
1. The user might choose which screen will be his start-up screen. I do not want Active Tasks, I want the My Lists screen!
2. Opening a larger list on my Samsung Galaxy S takes ages until it’s fully loaded and can be scrolled. It seems it’s loading the additional attributes in the second row.
Would set up a PayPall account and donate few dollars if the new version fixes it! Paying on Market does make me feel strange.
Had to uninstall 4.0 on my Galaxy S II. It would force close when I tried editing a task. Also, I could not see the entire time portion (of the due date) located to the right of each task title.
I’ll try 4.0 in the future. In the meantime, i’m satisfied with the previous version. Thanks.
As it has been an issue with a former version, once, Version 4beta again doesn’t show all my lists. All my lists that are allocated to currently non active tasks (like hidden ones e.g.) are nowhere to be seen and thus can’t be chosen.
I would like to be able to use Astrid across my phone and tablet (synched).
First issue. Running beta on HP touchpad with cyanogen mod 7. Even though I selected my personal gmail account to sync,I get logged into my business account. Logging out and logging into personal still brings me to the other account, regardless. Wont be able to use as I need to sync with phone.
Why does the program requier access to my personal data and accounts ?
Wow… thank you for all the input! I cannot respond to all of it individually but we will weigh all your input heavily as we continue to move this beta towards a release candidate.
I have updated the release build with a new nightly build with the following improvements:
- fixed transparent themes
- fixed google tasks sync
- fixed Google accounts login to Google Tasks / Astrid.com sync
- added extra debugging information to help fix a crash
- fixed beast mode bugs
I will email some of you directly but we couldn’t reproduce the edit screen bug but this build has some “debugging” code that will help us identify how to fix the issue with our error reporting system. If you could try this build (even though it will still likely crash
that would be very helpful.
Thanks Again!
Jon
Just installed Beta 3, and did a quick test for Edit Task, which turned out positive: I was able to open a task and edit and save it.
Let’s see how this turns out in daily routine.
Tech info: HTC Desire HD, unrooted, GO Launcher EX [no changes since last build]
Last night’s build crashes on open for me (Motorola Electrify). Sent an alogcat log.
Think it might be time to start a new thread? ;^)
I agree with Jack. Also I wish that Astrid would just send ONE tone or vibration notification for multiple tasks that are due at the same time. I like having my notifications vibrate at me 3 times. This works great if i have a meeting to get to at 3pm and it vibrates 3 times at 2:45.
This is less great if i have 10 tasks due at the default time and it vibrates at me 30 times… & god forbid i’ve got the sound turned on when this happens!
keep up the great work! Astrid in conjunction with my Producteev account works seamlessly across my work Mac, work PC, home linux machine, google cal and my Android phone. what more could we ask for?
i LOVE being able to email myself a task to producteev and have Astrid take over the reminders. there is something so satisfying about clicking that little check box
thanks for all you do
I like your application and your new design but even version 4.0-beta-5 cannot synchronise with Google Tasks (Final version 3.9.2.3 is able to synchronise).
More Information:
com.google.api.client.googleapis.json.GoogleJsonResponseException: 400 Bad Request
{
“errors”:[
{
"domain": "global",
"reason": "invalid",
"message": "Invalid Value"
}
],
“code”: 400,
“message”: “Invalid Value”
}
Just downloaded beta on Samsung Galaxy Ace and I noticed that the free widget isn’t displaying correctly. The plus icon in the widget (to add a new task) is positioned too far to the right and is slightly cropped. You also seem to have to be very accurate when touching the plus sign, it doesn’t always seem to respond to my touch first time.
The widget plus button is also offset in beta-5 for me, but tapping it appears to work correctly on my N1. Editing tasks also doesn’t crash now.
I’m using a rooted Samsung Galaxy Nexus with AKOP M3 and franco.kernel which is very stable in general.
I updated Astrid from beta 4 which was running fine. When I start beta 5 Astrid force-closes immediately.
I installed beta 2 (aapp only, not data) using Titanium Backup which worked fine.
I then installed beta 5 on top again and it would start, show the task list, but f-c as soon as I would press anywhere.
I’m back to beta 2 which is the last version I have available on my phone. Is there a place where I could download beta 4?
the new beta force closes right on startup with process “com.timsu.astrid” crashing.
Like the new layout. The checkbox square could be a little smaller. The vertical spacing could be a little tighter.
Just downloaded onto mobile and received this error:
The application Astrid Tasks (process
com.timsu.astrid) has stopped
unexpectedly. Please try again
Force close
[QUOTE]The application Astrid Tasks (process
com.timsu.astrid) has stopped
unexpectedly. Please try again
Force close[/QUOTE]
yeah, me too. I forgot to tell you that it was on a nexus s with stock gingerbread 2.3.6
a awesome UI but keep closing when I open or add a new task. It is not functional.
We just updated the build. Which we believe fixes all the force closes we have seen and added a new them: Day – Blue. Now my personal favorite!
Enjoy!
beta 6 seems to be stable now.
I like that i can supplement a comment with a photo now; much appreciated.
There seems to be a quirk with the themes now:
day is red on white
night is blue on white
transparent (white text) is solid black
transparent (black text) is translucent, but the font color is white…
How can I delete an activity (like a comment or a picture)??
Hi,
I have installed the Beta (downloaded evening of Feb 7th) on my Samsung Galaxy S running CM7.1. Had to install using ADB but otherwise, I am not getting FC issues and runs pretty smoothly.
Overall I like but a few things can get on the nerves. The red/white color scheme is not easy on the eyes. The blue color scheme from the website looks better. Also, red should only be used to highlight and make things visually “pop out”; aka indicating something “urgent” like an overdue task. Overdue tasks should be what’s burning the eyes of users. Not the user interface.
I like the approach you are taking to make the user interface
Regarding menu and action bar items, Google posted some more guidance. Have a look at the post “Say Goodbye to the Menu Button” from the Android Developers Blog. I would consider moving the “Tasks” from the left and create a dropdown on the right. In lieu of “tasks” I would put the astrid icon. In the right dropdown, I would put “Tasks”, “Activities” “Edit List”, “Edit Filter”. This way, everything on the left applies to the whole application while everything on the right is contextualized to the list being displayed.
A few specific improvement suggestions:
“List” activity: Changing the font size should also reduce the upper and lower padding of the list items. This would help increase the number of items on display.
“List” activity: “Activity” icon: move icon to a dropdown. I think of it as viewing the list “by Tasks” or “by activity”.
“List” activity: When viewing a list, the grey zone should be replaced by a “List Settings” button where the “activity” button is located. Removing the grey area will increase the space for list items.
“List” activity: When viewing a filter, a “Filter Settings” button should be available for the user to edit the filter settings. Same location as the list settings but points to the same activity used to create a new filter but with the existing filter settings preloaded (I really wish we had that on version 3. The only way one can edit a filter is through the back button once the list is created.)
“List” activity: List Selection dropdown: I am not entirely sure that the “New List” button is at the right place. After all, a “new filter” “button” at the same location would also make sense (instead of the regular menu).
“List Settings” Activity: I tried selecting an icon for a list with no success.
“List Settings” Activity: How does the “Silence Notifications” work when a task is in multiple lists and the task has notification set?
“Edit Task” Activity: Is the “Activity” tab new? Having this displayed by default is quite annoying. Especially since this is a “Edit Task” activity and not a “View Updates” activity. From a user experience point of view (on a phone), does it make sense? I don’t share my tasks with anyone else. I really don’t care how often I have completed a specific recurring task. How does this render on a tablet? Are both tabs visible at the same time? (a bit like the website)
“Edit Task” Activity:I would not have used as big margins as what you have on there. There seems to be a lot of “wasted grey” areas. Thinner margins might look better and reduce the feeling of lost space.
“Edit New Task” Activity->When->No Repeats->”Every 1″ Popup up/down arrows are not displayed. Only empty grey buttons are shown.
The new theme “Day – Blue” is quite nice. Very easy on the eyes. That should be the default.
The Blue in the Black Theme should be Ice Cream Sandwich blue. Lots of people would like it that way. It might already be but I have the vague feeling that it’s not quite the right blue. It might just be my eyes…
The Transparent themes names should indicate the red/blue controls and white/black text. If it was available, my preference would be Transparent/blue/black. Proof you can never please everyone I guess…
When using transparent White Theme, long-clicking a filter or a list, the context menu is not themed properly. It’s white on almost white.
Overall I think that this is great improvement over the last UI. In version 3, there were always things that bugged me about the user interface. A good user interface is one you don’t have to figure out or one which makes you think before doing an action. V3 consistently tripped me on silly things. Looks like V4 won’t. Let’s give it a few days of usage to see if this proves to be right.
Thanks for all the efforts!
Now on build 6, still able to open and edit tasks without crashes.
Hi Guys,
To add to my comments above: I just installed the same beta on my Nook Color (7″ Tablet) and some of the user interface decisions now make sense.
Having a user interface make sense on both a phone and a tablet while being consistent is indeed a challenge.
I’ll work with the tablet as well and post more comments later.
Thanks
If I use the “share to astrid” option astrid force-closes. Very happy the encouragements are configurable now.
tested v4.00,here are my comments:
seems a lot slower on a 800Hz android 2.3.5, sync does not feel to be fasters.keeps hanging (black screen) after hit home key, backback.
when forcing sync, itvremains asking how or via whome…one should ask once, and then only adapt in settings…
main issue for me: reminder popup: buttons are very long,but not squared.i do not hve large fingers so square buttons are much better
ohh yeah, forgot to mention, great idea the add comment feature, makes it also a nice tool to have some logging on task performed(e.g. called. not available, called busy)
Under new task defaults – it would be very beneficial to add the following:
- default list, for example majority of my tasks are “personal”, having this default would make it much faster for me to add new tasks
I tried beta and uninstalled immediately. It is too slow and crashes HTC Sense on HTC Desire S
Excellent work.. it’s definitely getting there. I like that some of the “polish” is starting to come back to the UI like I (and others suggested). I would suggest that Day Blue be the default theme. Day Red still seems a little shocking to me… generally red does not soothe people.
Hi,
I’m not much of a commenter, but when I do, it’s mostly when I’m either super pleased or when I’m super upset with the topic in hand. With Astrid, I’m a very happy camper, to the point that I bought the Astrid power-pack merely to support Astrid – I don’t even use the widget.
Today, for the first time I saw the iPhone Astrid app. And it amazes me how intuitive, beautiful and colorful (in the right ways) that app is. In contrast, Astrid’s beta app (which I’m using on my Nexus S) is still confusing, unintuitive, and somewhat gaudy in its color scheme
To Elaborate (not-intuiive)
For example, I currently have the beta Android app open, with my active tasks listed. As an average user who wants to find a way to jump to my list of lists, I find it “intuitive” to try my luck with the menu button on the top left. I expect that when I press that button, I’ll get a drop down menu with an option “Lists” in it.
However, the options I get are – Tasks, tutorials, settings and support (where are my lists?)
If this is a decision based solely on the beta status of this app where developers expect lots of crashes, I understand. However, if that’s not the case, I disagree with the choices in this menu. Tutorials, settings and support, should probably be hidden in a corner somewhere because –
1) Once a person reads a tutorial, he’ll rarely go there again
2) Settings – Once a person sets his favorite settings, he’ll rarely go there
3) Support – On a relatively good app, support should hopefully never be needed. Even if needed, it should not be in such a prominent menu where one would go to move around the app.
Kindly refer back to the intelligent placement of these options in the iPhone app, where they are mostly out of site, unless you scroll to the very bottom of your lists.
Elaboration on Looks/Colors -
Interestingly, the icons next to the list items in the iPhone are colored (must like in the astrid web app). On the android phone however, these icons are a lifeless gray.
For tasks, bright red squares represent “top priority tasks”, I get that, but they’re certainly not overdue! Please don’t scare me when I open my app.
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Currently, as the beta app for android stands, I’ll humbly request you to make the android astrid app look and behave (very intuitive) like the iPhone astrid app.
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I hope that beneath the somewhat harsh criticism you see the frustration of an android user using a pro-android company’s product and wondering why their iPhone app is better! (it should be just as good as Androids, or in this case their android app should be just as good)
Also, and this is in all honesty, I do like the android beta app better than the original. Its much faster.
Thanks for filtering the feedback, and taking the good from it.
Latest beta (2/7) has not crashed so far.
Blue theme is calmer and doesn’t burn my eyes like the red theme.
Widget layout is still messed up
Few Quick Suggestions -
1) in “Manage old tasks” in settings, please add an option – Update all overdue items to
2) Please add an option to view lists in a scrollable fashion like we can see tasks currently.
3) Personally, the transparency in the drop down menu’s is unsettling to me. It could be a person to person thing, but maybe you could take an internal poll within the company.
4) This is probably mentioned elsewhere in the above comments. However, I’ll repeat – When the task font size is reduced, it’s in the expectation of seeing more tasks at a glance. However, that is not the case with the current implementation. Kindly look into that.
Thanks for listening, and thanks for the free product. You guys are doing an awesome job at the end of the day.
While I love the new design, these lasts two betas (the only ones I’ve tested, btw) crash whenever I try to edit a task (or create a new one with advanced options)
The new layout is nice, but i feel that the right column is wasted space, or maybe i dont understand how to use. I dont collaberate with anyone on lists, so maybe an option to hide that column would be nice. I don’t care to see a list of all the actions i have just done.
Looks good but crashes before I can use it HTC Flyer with Android 3.2.1.
Can’t wait to try it out. Downloading now.
I’m liking the new blue theme. Awesome! And you guys fixed the black middle-right partition in the night theme thing I mentioned too! Good job!
Google tasks and beat mode are working fine again.
Bugs:
- Even after clearing completed tasks and purging deleted tasks the count on the left side isn’t refreshed. ex. I cleared my one and only task under “Errands” (A Google task list of mine) which I had completed already (crossed out) so it no longer shows but the Google list label still shows “1″ as if it were still there but when I click on it it really is empty.
- Text layout issue when viewing Google task lists. The task list name is too far to the left such that it gets overlapped by the check box. Changing task list size does not help.
Refer to picture: http://tinypic.com/r/258cihl/5
That’s all I’ve spotted so far!
Great overall improvement of the application. But, and this is a big but, it causes an fc everytime I try to edit a task.
I’m using the latest MIUI on a Motorola defy. Android 2.3.7
Hi Guys,
Updated to Beta-9. No FC issues.
Bug/annoyance: When using transparent theme, the activity to create a new filter is displayed on top of the “task-list” activity. Both are still visible making it very confusing. The “create filter” activity should be just like the “edit Task” activity and hide the previous activity.
Bug/annoyance: When using transparent theme, the activity to edit the list settings has the same problems. (2 activities shown on top of each other – unlike the “edit task” activity.
New “Ideas” tab: BAD IDEA! an option should be available to COMPLETELY de-activate this feature. This feels like a complete breach of security and trust that the user has on the app. After all, I don’t want to google and search on amazon for every single task I have in my to do manager. In some cases, some of these tasks may be considered confidential. Having the app go and fetch “ideas” on “taking the garbage out” is not a good idea. This also feels like ads. Users who pay for an app expect and demand not to have any ads whatsoever. (I have purchased both the locale and powerpack add-ons – and I use both!).
Comments on Tablet UX. Beta 9
Using a Nook Color running CM7.1
In “portrait”, the layout is just about perfect. A list of lists next to a list of tasks is the perfect layout from a GTD workflow point of view. I can easily navigate from one list to the next and I can see a lot of tasks without loosing a lot of space for useless junk. (Line spacing should be smaller when using small fonts. The number of tasks on display would be even greater.)
Using a transparent theme in portrait, the edit task activity works with a good theme (default tab should be the details).
In “Landscape” the layout is probably the worst one I can imagine. I would rather see the list of tasks flow on two columns rather than loosing all that space to something I never use (Task Activities). (I suspect that very few people will find any real use for it)
Something I don’t get: When adding a comment from the 3-column interface, to which task is the comment added? Or is it added to the list? Also, how can I delete/edit the comment?
Using a transparent theme in landscape, the edit task activity doesn’t work! The fragment is transparent and we still see the “activities” fragment. this makes it very confusing. If it was gone or replaced by the edit task fragment, then it would work fine.
The only FC issue I have identified is when the tablet is rotated when the task is being edited. It FC both ways (from portrait to landscape or the other way around)
Hope this helps.
Keep up the good work!
A superb android app
Thanks will compare
Started using it on my Samsung Galaxy S on Gingerbread (was using it on my Transformer Prime on ICS in my past comments)
Bug – viewing Google task lists that have content in them causes an instant FC lol
Sheena can you try tonights build? We discovered a Google Tasks fc and we are now barely seeing any force closes. We are trying to kill every last one!
Pierre we are going to improve the landscape view to make it feel less overwhelming. Probably in tomorrows build.
Jon,
Things on the Gsync are looking great over the last several day after the well commented issues from the initial betas
Running on a DroidX and Xoom with Gsync and all seems to be stabilized and syncing between the three.
Great job.
Cheers, Steve
Great Improvements
I was really hoping you’d add a batch edit feature to this release. It’d be great to click on the menu button, select batch edit, and be able to set a due date for multiple tasks or add them all to a list.
If I mark an task in the list sync with Google when my device is off-line, it reverts into uncompleted state after next sync.
Oh, Astrid, u have created organization where there was chaos. My A.D.D. riddled brain appreciates you. This new beta is powerful and intuitive. It also fixed the reason I stopped using the previous version: it used to not make reminders on my google calendar.
##Ideas Tab##
I agree with the earlier comment that User should be allowed to turn on or off the future
##Enable Drap and Drop#
In the tablet UX, try to enable drag and drop where task on the right can be dropped to the list on the left.During this drag and drop enable a multiselection option.
##Colour Theme##
Thanks for the blue theme, can we have a few other options, orange, green as well as grey.
Track which theme users use the most.
Overall a much more polished effort !!! Good work
I notice when I go to add a new task there is a blank like underneath the description. When I click on it Producteev workspace and assignee options come up. Is there a way to label this field “Producteev options” and/or move it elsewhere?
Notes re: 4.0-beta-b113 on Nexus One (OS 2.3.6)
“Show task” setting does not work
When creating/editing a task & setting the date to a future date, the task is visible even though the “Show task” setting is set to “At due date”
Upon saving and re-entering edit mode for the task, the “Show Task” setting is set to the task’s previous due date (for previously-created tasks) or to the current date (for new tasks).
Option to turn off “personality”
There is the option to turn off encouragements, but when I tap on a task reminder from the notification bar, a dialog is displayed with Astrid saying things like “can you handle this?”
This gets annoying very quickly when going through multiple reminders and I would very much like to be able to turn such messages off.
Ideas tab
I strongly agree with other users who would like the option to disable the “Ideas” tab in the task edit screen.
I really do not like the idea of a task’s details being sent over the air to any 3rd party server).
As the developer, you may feel that this is completely safe because of the way you’ve implemented it. However, users do not know how it is implemented (e.g. is the query sent only when the ideas tab is displayed or every time the task is loaded, etc.) and appears to be a privacy issue we have no control over. The ideal solution would be to provide users with the option to disable this feature entirely. Explaining the safety of the implementation (via documentation, blog post, etc.) is of no use to users testing Astrid for the first time; they will simply uninstall the app if they feel there is a privacy issue.
I will definitely be staying at the v3.9 release if this issue is not dealt with.
Report: Astrid (the latest beta version) displays NullPointerException message when I send selected link from Opera or RSSDemon to Astrid, but allows to create a task with the link.
Question: Is it possible to create a task in the list synchronized with Google by that way?
I wholeheartedly agree with Jive about the Ideas tab. There should be a way to easily and completely disable it.