Is it me or is there no way to specify a reminder time for tasks? Mine always default to 8am :x
Is there an add on that allows you to select a time?
cojones said:
Is it me or is there no way to specify a reminder time for tasks? Mine always default to 8am :x
Is there an add on that allows you to select a time?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out PocketInformant - not just a mere utility, it is a complete PIM tool, which does everything that the built-in PIM tools do (Calendar, Contacts, Tasks etc) but does it much better.
Uses the same POOM database so you can still use the default applications if you want. Still syncs via Activesync to Outlook etc.
But PI allows you to do things like set reminder times, either by default or per item. Very powerful and flexible program. Interface is quite dense so some things take a bit of figuring out...but it's worth it.
www.pocketinformant.com
This topic applies mostly to people who are very mobile or travel a lot. If you're at a desk for most of the day, it probably won't help you much.
This is something that originally came to me while sitting outside a car wash waiting for my car to be done. It took about ten minutes, long enough to make a couple short calls, send a couple of e-mails, or review/approve a short document. Unfortunately, by the time I got done SORTING through the list of tasks to find something that I could do there, with the available resources, in the available time, my car was almost done. I ended up dialing a call just as the attendant had my car ready.
I've generally used categories similar to the ones built into Outlook; Clients, Business, Personal, etc. Those have very limited use, and the utility they do provide is probably not something that helps much.
My solution has been to use categories for a location/resource and the Pocket Informant priority letters to indicate the range of time required to complete the task. For example:
"Call Joe's Pizza to see if they have anchovies back in stock"
Category: Call
Letter: A
So this tells me the task is something that I can do any time I have access to a phone and have 5 minutes to kill. I've arranged the letters in this way:
A: 5 minutes or less
B: 5-15 minutes
C: 15-60 minutes
D: More than an hour
My categories are:
Anywhere (can be done anywhere without other resources, IE, on a plane)
Assigned tasks (things I've assigned to others, don't need to act upon)
Calls (anywhere I have phone access)
Home (something I can only do at home, like "marinate steaks for BBQ")
Low priority (things I don't want to forget, but have a "whenever" priority)
Office work (things that generally require being in the office)
Research (things I can do with my laptop and an internet connection)
I also have various client-name categories. These are things I can only do when I'm on-site at a client's office. Other client work which I can do off-site goes into one of the above categories.
I think I need to further refine the "research" category since I have a Phone Edition device, and have limited internet access anywhere I go. This means I could be working on simple research or basic client support tasks via Terminal Services. Maybe I should have a "laptop" category and an "internet" category...? I'll take creative ideas here.
Sometimes an item falls into two categories, and it can get complex here. A task could REQUIRE two categores, or could be POSSIBLE in either one of the two. I've generally standardized on the latter, since typically for me that's much more likely. For example, if I'm at home or the office I can assume I have full internet access and my laptop. On the other hand, many tasks could be done either at a client's office or in my own office.
I'd love to further refine this and brainstorm with other mobile task-oriented people. Tell me what you think.
I have been trying to figure out email as it runs on Honeycomb (prior to purchase, but this is an interesting question I hope). What I want to do is ditch my computer running windows Live Mail, where all the emails are saved to my computer, and replace with a slinky new tranformer. I realise that a tablet is mostly an online tool, but it has heaps of memory, and I travel too much and still need to access old emails.
But, I cant seem to locate good information regards how the email app operates. Or how others such as K-9 work. So the question is; Do the emails reside on the tablet, can I place into folders, backup locally etc more or less as I do on my PC?
To my knowledge the stock app stores them as entries in an SQL database. You can backup the whole lot, but probably not individually.
sassafras
Having set up my personal e-mail on my TF I've not been able to setup new folders with the default client, I can't find any option to do this. Also it appears as though a copy of your e-mails is downloaded onto the TF and stays on the server unless you enable the option to delete a message only when you delete it from the Inbox. It'll also only download the first 25 messages the first time round, you'll need to hit the 'load more conversations' button if you want to get more to display.
As for your existing e-mails I'm guessing that they are stored locally on your computer and are no longer available 'in the cloud', is that right? If so that will be a bit tricky to get them transferred over to your TF. If those messages are still in the cloud however you shouldn't run into any problems setting up your account on your TF.
By default POP3 email servers should keep the emails on the server (until it is too old by server's auto-delete definition) and you should be able to download your old emails on your transformer (unless you deleted them from your email app on PC, which will cause it to tell the server to delete it too). There's a reason why I started using Exchange instead of POP3.
So am I alone in wanting offline email, archiving etc? Really the only person desperate to replace notebook with tablet, but needing solid productivity from email?
alhart345 said:
So am I alone in wanting offline email, archiving etc? Really the only person desperate to replace notebook with tablet, but needing solid productivity from email?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you need to archive your emails? If you need to back the lot of them up, you can. Using a root explorer, you can browse to the /data/data folder on the device and copy the email client folders located within (I believe com.android.email and com.google.android.gmail) to whichever storage medium you like.
Unfortunately you cannot back up or copy individual emails.
sassafras
I run a business, when visiting customers, vendors or travelling I am often without internet access or it is too slow to be good for much. But I need to access old emails regularly, and email is the central tool for managing my workload. So I sort my old emails by activity in folders locally on my notebook and often refer in meetings to past actions, prices etc. Pretty typical business/corporate action. I may be asking too much of a tablet at this stage, seems most people use it to augment their PC, not replace.
I think storing much locally goes against how Google and Apple view tablet devices. They view storage as a cloud based resource. So emails and documents are stored on their (or your ISPs) servers and accessed from the mobile device. This ensures that your data is constantly backed up and accessible from any device you have, phone, tablet, netbook, etc.
The downside is that this data is in the cloud so access assumes that you have a connection.
alhart345 said:
I run a business, when visiting customers, vendors or travelling I am often without internet access or it is too slow to be good for much. But I need to access old emails regularly, and email is the central tool for managing my workload. So I sort my old emails by activity in folders locally on my notebook and often refer in meetings to past actions, prices etc. Pretty typical business/corporate action. I may be asking too much of a tablet at this stage, seems most people use it to augment their PC, not replace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suspect that part of your problem is that you are using your email folders as a "CRM" database, whereas you'd probably be better off if you could actually move to a true CRM solution. This may be easier said than done if the data volumes (i.e. your email "database" is large) but will probably provide a much better solution in the long run.
Regards,
Dave
I haven't used the stock Android email app since Android 2.0 and my OG Droid, but I'm rather sure that the GMail app will only locally store the most recent emails, either by date or by number, not sure which. My personal email only goes up until the 23rd before it has to 'load conversations', which I believe is grabbing them from the network.
There is a degree of offline email with these recent conversations, as I've typed up emails off-network and they send as soon as I hit Wifi (or 3G in the phone's case). But nothing like the Outlook-level of Offline email. There is GMail offline for PC, so it is possible Google will bring it to tabs eventually...who knows.
alhart345 said:
I run a business, when visiting customers, vendors or travelling I am often without internet access or it is too slow to be good for much. But I need to access old emails regularly, and email is the central tool for managing my workload. So I sort my old emails by activity in folders locally on my notebook and often refer in meetings to past actions, prices etc. Pretty typical business/corporate action. I may be asking too much of a tablet at this stage, seems most people use it to augment their PC, not replace.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use the tablet for work that much, but I understand your situation. eMail is actually a pretty lousy tool for what you're doing. A good practice is to just delete mails as soon as they get to you, get read and the information is used. But, of course, there are times when you will need to keep some of the information a mail came with, but not the email itself. The reason is that email *is not always available*. You either store it on the servers or you store it locally. Being on the servers makes you dependant on an internet connection. Having them locally makes it more prone to database corruption, and simple things such as search, backup and restore are more complex (before I get bashed, I didn't say difficult or impossible, just complex).
I'm used to a Microsoft ecosystem for personal productivity which means that I have outlook and onenote. What I do is:
emails with attachments, where I need to keep the attachment for future reference: I save the attachment and delete the email
emails with information: I drag the email to Onenote and delete the email.
In a PC/Tablet environment there is no reason why you can't do something similar, although it might not be as streamlined as how Microsoft designed their own products.
But, what I picture you being able to use is:
- Mails with attachments - save them to dropbox or get some other PC-Android folder syncing solution. Get rid of the email.
- Mails with information - Save them to evernote or catchnotes and they automatically get synced to your tablet. I think the premium version of Evernote has offline access (i.e. local storage of notes) and Catch does it anyway.
Evernote has a nice feature where you can mail stuff to your evernote account and it will show up.
As you can see it involves that you change a bit how you work and manage information, but if you make this step you can be more productive.
Hi Ferparedes, thanks for the response, took me a while to get back to it. It may be possible to use a notetaker to do this, but I am pondering the steps needed to integrate as you suggest. I take about 100 emails a day, covering say 50 customers and 1-5 new projects per customer, plus ongoing business - folder structure is 3 and 4 deep. I guess, suck it and see is the final result. If working on the TF is so satisfying for everything else, then a way will be found...
Thanks again for the input.
Well, then again it could be that a tablet is not the best tool for your needs, right?
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
alhart345 said:
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows tablets have been around for ages, no?
alhart345 said:
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Windows 8 tablets should appear in spring 2012.
alhart345 said:
For everything else, it is just right. But the email thing is a show stopper for me. I shall have to curb enthusiasm and wait for the software to come up. Or a windows tab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems like the easy solution is to get internet access on the go. Why not just get a 3g hotspot from your provider? Or, if you have an android phone, set up the mobile access point?
if my experience can help...
Avoiding complex configuration setting up a mail server at home, I've the following config:
- the home pc access my accounts (isp, yahoo, gmail) through pop protocol, with accounts configured to leave messages on the server 15 days
- tablet has same accounts configured with imap access
This way all mails are anyway downloaded and backedup on my local pc, while still being accessible from the tablet.
Of course some diligence is required: if erasing a mail from the tablet while having the pc in standby, the mail will never be available on the pc (but I suppose this is not a big deal: mail has been read and judged to be erased).
My 2 cents
I have lately been playing around with my SGS2, trying to setup a nice sync between my Home PC, Laptop & Phone with the use of some battery-hogging sync apps. I said f* it to trying to keep my battery going for as long as possible - this phone is a smart-phone and I sure am going to use it as such. With the programs (+ normal daily usage) I will list below my SGS2 will easily run for 24+ hours without a charge and that's all you really need, charging it every night is not that much of a hassle.
Here are some of the programs I have used to get the job done. If you know any better solutions or other programs you use, please do share!
Firefox Sync (built-in to the browser)
For keeping all my bookmarks, sessions & browser history stored online for easy access. Everything is still synced locally so no need to worry in case you can not connect to the Mozilla servers. And I must say I like having the browser history with me on the SGS2 it saves tons of time when visiting certain familiar sites that you don’t have bookmarked! Firefox Beta on the SGS2 works well enough with the exception of no flash support.
Alternatives: Xmarks & Opera has a similar solution as “Firefox Sync”
Lastpass (Browser extension)
For keeping all your passwords saved online “securly” and then automatically logging you into your favorite sites. It can also save user registration info to make it easier/faster to register on new sites. If you are using Firefox own built in way of doing this - then stop it right now! The way Firefox does this is not secure enough and can quite easily be cracked with some basic knowledge. Lastpass is a lot more secure in the way it stores your passwords.
Read It Later (Browser extension & App on android)
A way to keep “temporary” bookmarks synced. Easily put it’s a secondary place to keep bookmarks that can easily be added and just as easily be removed (1click). Perfect for saving a bookmark in a long forum thread or other small items that you want to read later and remove after that.
Evernote
A way to keep all your notes synced & organized. There is many other ways to do this but Evernote does a good job. I personally use it to up-keep a ToDo List, save important notes & having a own sections for Android, PC, Work, School, Shopping etc. The interface makes it better then having a .txt in Dropbox and the program really starts to shine when you have it with you on multiply devices and always have access to all your notes quickly and easily
Dropbox / SugarSync
For saving files online and getting them synced locally on all your PCs. A good way for backing up your files as well! These programs should be familiar to most people by now. I personally use Dropbox it seems a bit more stable and the download speeds are faster. But SugarSync gives more free space (5GB) and the android app has more functions. I would like to use SugarSync but I have read about people having so much problem with it so I have stuck with the Basic & Stable Dropbox. These services are the easiest way to move files between your Computer and Android - perfect for getting your photos moved from the phone to the PC! I also recommend putting some portable apps in the Dropbox folder, quite handy to have. Check portableapps.com/apps for some free software that have been made portable.
Also take a look at “15 Hacks Every Dropbox User Should Know” maximumpc.com/article/features/15_things_you_have_know_about_dropbox?page=0,0
Thunderbird & Google Calender
How To: Integrate Google Calendar Into Thunderbird
makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-integrate-google-calendar-into-thunderbird/
Thunderbird for keeping all my e-mail accounts in one place + Google Calendar setup into it. If you add something to the calender on the phone it gets updated in Thunderbird and vice versa. It feels more natural to use the calender in Thunderbird then doing it from the Google Calender homepage. And I really enjoy reading all my e-mails in one place!
Google Reader
Keep your RSS feeds in one place and “synced”. A really awesome way of making sure you don't have to read new items multiple times. I have really been enjoying the time saved after taking this in use. Going from Home PC-to-Latop-to-Phone and always being able to check if there is any new news-items is really handy and time saving. The android app is also quite clean and a simple icon on your homescreen keeps you up-to-date on new items.
Alternatives: NewsRob
Google Docs
An easy way to be able to work with documents from anywhere. Also nice not worrying about having Office installed everywhere. The collaboration and share functions are also good features.
Alternatives: Portable Open Office & documents in Dropbox
Spotify
Music, music, music. This will cost you some money but in my opinion this is money well spent. For 9,99€ per month you get access to all the music you need on all your devices and you can even save them locally with the payed subscription. After I started using spotify ~2years ago I have not looked back and I have added almost 2000 tracks to my playlist soon. To be able to have that library with me on the phone is priceless. The tracks that can not be found on spotify can be added manually and then synced over WI-FI to the phone easily + you are able to have offline music saved on the phone so you dont have to worry if you are in a place with bad 3G/4G coverage!
uTorrent 3.0 & uTorrent Remote
Not a sync app really, but a way to keep track of your torrents remotely. You can also add torrents to your homepc remotely, so when you get home everything is there ready and waiting for you. And with the android app you can download stuff to the phone from the uTorrent at home!
TeamViewer
Free commercial remote-desktop. Very light, very easy to setup and very easy to use. And the android app works really well, so you got access to your computers from everywhere. In my case this is a last way out, if I need to drop something into Dropbox or do something on my computers it’s nice to have this setup and ready to use. Just in case something pops up!
________
Thats about it. I also use a sBNC to stay connected to IRC from multiple device at the same time, but that does not really belong in this thread. I hope you found something useful & if you got any better alternatives or other programs that you use - then please do share!
Excellent post! bound to help new and old users alike, well done!
Cheers
Missing Google Music Beta.
Admitted it is a invite only beta atm but for people seeking just music syncing it works perfectly.
Music Beta sure looks nice, looking forward to try it. Too bad invites is currently only available in the United States. Although Spotify is also able to sync your Music locally for offline play on the phone (but it's not free)
Thank you for this good summary of useful apps.
I personally only use Dropbox and Google docs.
Gdocs is able to store all kind of file, I use it to share .zip, .tgz or any other souce files (i find it easier to share files than dropbox).
Useful list, thanks!
thanks for the list
If you use Dropbox then you'd like Dropsync. It's more like the real desktop sync. I don't know why Dropbox doesn't make their Android software work like Dropsync.
Thanks for Dropsync, will definitely check it out! Can also name DropSnap an App that automatically uploads pictures to Dropbox after they are taken. In the SugarSync andoird app both these features are present. I just don't feel comfortable using SugarSync. The latest version of my school/work file is more important any day of the week!
Midair said:
Music Beta sure looks nice, looking forward to try it. Too bad invites is currently only available in the United States. Although Spotify is also able to sync your Music locally for offline play on the phone (but it's not free)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have an account and I don't live in the Us. The magic weird is proxy. For me it's just the ability to have an online backup of my music library. It's free and it works, that's what does it for me.
For people looking for automatic picture uploading, the google+ app is able to automatically upload your pics to picasa.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
One thing is for sure, all the services that google provides are incredible. Just google alone will make your phone a sync-fest! Google Docs, Reader, Contacts, Gmail & Calendar you can get most your stuff done with these apps.