Todoist App for Apple Watch Will Bring To-Do Lists to Your Wrist

[Rogifan]

Sounds like the philosophy behind Android Wear / Google Now.

I agree. These things should be pro-actively helping us, not re-actively displaying the same old info.

I'm sure it'll come as Apple's APIs firm up.

Note too that most of what we've seen so far aren't real apps they're concepts from designers attempting to imagine what an app might look like on Watch. My guess is good developers are putting real thought into it and that Apple will reject apps that aren't lightweight interaction wise. Apple's HIG specifically says Watch interactions should be measured in seconds not minutes.

 

[pdaholic]

How did us poor humans ever manage with pens and paper.. Or even worst mobile phones!

Well I definitely grew up without a cell phone. I didn't have internet during my high school, college, or medical school training. Most of my reports during these times were typed on a traditional typewriter, using "white-out" to correct errors. I thought I was special when I had a Commodore 64 with a dot-matrix printer to make nicer reports. I'm absolutely a fan of how technology has made my life so much better since then!

 

[ksuyen]

Apple's last quarter performance has no bearing at all on the success of the Watch. I'd look at Pebble's sales. 400,000 watches last year, many (all?) priced well below Apple Watch. Even if Apple manages to sell 10x as many of their watch, that's still remarkably paltry. Once the fanboys and gadget freaks buy it, sales will fall off a cliff. You really want to answer your phone on your wrist and talk into your watch?

It's true, at this time, that non existent product can not convince everyone how it will succeed, until it's proven otherwise. What we have now is more speculations. It reminds me back on iPhone times, but one can argue phone is more useful than watch, however back then, the sentiment about phone was exactly the same as it is about watch right now. I hope you don't forget. The first year of Watch release would be always tainted with the current iPhone record breaking sales. Apple will be careful. They already are.

 

[afsnyder]

My eyes would be crying trying to read a list like that on a screen that small!! I'll stick to using my phone for the shopping list etc.

How do you know how small it is? Have you seen it in person? We don't really have a size reference yet. For all you know the status bar on the iPhone is smaller than the text on that screen.

 

[Tech198]

I'm wondering just how many Apple watch apps, will be available for the Apple Watch globally. I bet the amount be small enough not to even notice.

 

[kdarling]

Note too that most of what we've seen so far aren't real apps they're concepts from designers attempting to imagine what an app might look like on Watch. My guess is good developers are putting real thought into it and that Apple will reject apps that aren't lightweight interaction wise. Apple's HIG specifically says Watch interactions should be measured in seconds not minutes.

That would be nice, but if experience has taught us anything, it's that Apple will gladly accept almost any app for a new device at first, in order to be able to brag about "XXX number of apps already available!"

Kind of like the way they didn't mind tens of thousands of people signing up for developer accounts just to sell beta slots. Made for good PR about "all the new developer signups!"

It's only after they have a bunch, that they seem to retroactively crack down 🙂

 

[lowercaseperson]

A pen and any old scrap of paper works pretty good for a to do list. And you can access it even if your watch battery goes dead.

Just because you can make things more complicated to make things easier doesn't mean it is any better.

I can't tell if you are saying you don't like the idea of electronic to-do lists, or if you don't like technology (not trying to pick a fight here). I get the feeling that most people who scoff at these apps don't take advantage of all the features of the apps. The reminders app has changed my life, and the idea of having it on my wrist instead of pulling my phone out of my pocket 15 times in the grocery list is actually very appealing (and no I don't see any advantage to a piece of paper > phone because I still pocket the paper between items anyway).

My wife and I have a synced grocery list. We can both enter what we need at the store...wherever we are when we remember we need it. For example, with an iPad in the kitchen my wife can simply say, "Hey Siri, add coffee to my grocery list," when she's busy cooking breakfast and it shows up on my phone instantly. Or when I'm sitting on my computer at work and I randomly remember we are out of toothpaste. Both lists sync and no matter who goes to the store, we get what we need. That's literally one small example of how I use it. If you are much happier with a pen and paper that's fine...I'm just wondering if people who think these ideas are dumb, are using all the features of the apps.

 

[robbyx]

It's true, at this time, that non existent product can not convince everyone how it will succeed, until it's proven otherwise. What we have now is more speculations. It reminds me back on iPhone times, but one can argue phone is more useful than watch, however back then, the sentiment about phone was exactly the same as it is about watch right now. I hope you don't forget. The first year of Watch release would be always tainted with the current iPhone record breaking sales. Apple will be careful. They already are.

I don't see the iPhone and Watch as remotely similar. The iPhone was a game changer. For the watch to be the same thing, you must also believe that *a* watch (any watch...) done right has the same potential as the iPhone. I don't believe that, even under the best of circumstances, a smart watch will ever be in the same category as a smart phone. The iPhone changed the world. There's no way the watch will have remotely the same effect. You cannot compare the added luxury of notifications and to-do's on your wrist to putting a computer/information appliance in your pocket. Again, I'm not saying there isn't a market for the watch. I'm just very skeptical about the size of the market and I think the cost of the watch is too high for it to have broad appeal.

 

[ksuyen]

The iPhone was a game changer. The iPhone changed the world.

I didn't see people say this before iPhone was out, let alone to claim iPhone would change the world. In fact, I saw mostly scepticism back in the days. Google it, and you will see. Give the watch time it needs, a couple years from now it would be interesting to bet that someone would say he have never doubted Watch would change the world.

There's no way the watch will have remotely the same effect. You cannot compare the added luxury of notifications and to-do's on your wrist to putting a computer/information appliance in your pocket.

As you said, you can't compare them, and yet people still comparing them. We don't know yet the full potential of what watch would impact people daily life. There is a market for watch, but is it big? is it the same market as iPhone users? Not necessary, time will tell.

 

[s1m]

My wife and I have a synced grocery list. We can both enter what we need at the store...wherever we are when we remember we need it. For example, with an iPad in the kitchen my wife can simply say, "Hey Siri, add coffee to my grocery list," when she's busy cooking breakfast and it shows up on my phone instantly. Or when I'm sitting on my computer at work and I randomly remember we are out of toothpaste. Both lists sync and no matter who goes to the store, we get what we need. That's literally one small example of how I use it. If you are much happier with a pen and paper that's fine...I'm just wondering if people who think these ideas are dumb, are using all the features of the apps.

Which app are you using for this? I use pages on the desktop to write out the list which syncs to my phone and iPad.

 

[apolloa]

How do you know how small it is? Have you seen it in person? We don't really have a size reference yet. For all you know the status bar on the iPhone is smaller than the text on that screen.

Because we have already seen the Apple Watch? Its not very hard to work out if the screen is too small for your eyes to read when you look at the device size, and the pictures of this apps screen.

 

[Abazigal]

A pen and any old scrap of paper works pretty good for a to do list. And you can access it even if your watch battery goes dead.

Just because you can make things more complicated to make things easier doesn't mean it is any better.

I can't apply filters to a scrap of paper to automatically sieve out all tasks that I need to complete within the next 7 days. An old scrap of paper can't sent me an email every morning to remind me of the tasks that are due for that particular day.

A digital to-do list is never going to go missing, since I can access it from any smartphone, tablet, PC and even through the browser.

Sure, a scrap of paper will suffice when all you need to do is jot down a quick grocery list, but when I am planning multiple events that are happening near-concurrently, Todoist has been invaluable in allowing me to retain my sanity. I really look forward to seeing how it works on the Apple watch.

 

[Rogifan]

That would be nice, but if experience has taught us anything, it's that Apple will gladly accept almost any app for a new device at first, in order to be able to brag about "XXX number of apps already available!"

Kind of like the way they didn't mind tens of thousands of people signing up for developer accounts just to sell beta slots. Made for good PR about "all the new developer signups!"

It's only after they have a bunch, that they seem to retroactively crack down 🙂

Well I hope that's not the case. User experience and first impressions with this device will be more important than ever. Certainly more important than being able to brag about how many apps are available for it. Still I hope it's developers that take the time to do more than squish their iPhone app onto the Watch. Below is a developer's example of working on a podcasts app and the different design stages he went through. An interesting read.

http://david-smith.org

 

[lowercaseperson]

Which app are you using for this? I use pages on the desktop to write out the list which syncs to my phone and iPad.

I use the stock reminder's app which (I'm sure you know) syncs to phone and iPad - but you can also invite people to sync different lists (kind of like iCal). I actually have 10 different To-Do lists on Reminders. It's a life saver.

For groceries I just made a list called "Grocery List" and invited my wife. It took a little while to figure out Siri integration because if I said, "Hey Siri, put milk on my grocery list," she would give me directions to the nearest Publix. Finally realized I had to say, "Hey Siri, ADD milk to my grocery list." Now that the phrasing is ironed out - I'm really happy with the way it works.

 

[JAT]

Finally To-Do lists on my wrist! More solutions to problems I don't have.

It's every wife's dream.

 

[Gudi]

Since when does a product have to be a solution to a problem to be a valuable one?

Since 2012: Horace Dediu – Asymmetric Competition

Economists call it job-to-be-done theory, not problem-to-be-solved theory, but the idea is the same. You buy things to fill a need in your life. The Watch does not only compete with other smartwatches, it also competes with smartphones and even with a pencil and a sheet of paper. Everything that could remind you what you have to do, because thats the job of a To-Do list. Otherwise you might forget it and thats the problem which is solved. Since you need an iPhone to operate the Watch, all your To-Do list needs are already covered. And the iPhone even has GPS and location based reminders, it has wireless connectivity and is all in all a way better solution to not forget things.

 

[JAT]

Come on guys, why do we have to see the glass half full?

For one, the display is a derivative of the Retina display. Of course it can't be that bad.

Second, I've started to wear a watch because everyone around me does (I'm a 19 year old college student) and so I'm not late for things and can keep track of stuff. With the cold weather I can't always pull out my phone from 3 layers of coats. This would do the trick (though first gen. of things are shaky) as I can get notifications instantly and reminders without pulling it out. Of course it's not for everyone.

How do you pull your watch out from 3 layers of coats, plus a glove? I take it you weren't born in the north.

 

[Nausicaa]

You left out all of the Apple Defense Corps counterpoint...

"I can't wait for an Apple Watch."

"Just released record revenues & profits say you're wrong" (even though those have nothing to do with the watch)

"I'll be first in line" (to evolve into) "shut up and take my money"

...and then 100 odd or rare use cases where we conjure up some situation where it would be somewhat-to-tangibly easier to peek at a wristwatch screen rather than pull the iPhone out of our pockets (that must be in close proximity to the watch). I saw one the other day about a guy being "all bundled up for a big winter storm" so he was rationalizing the utility of being able to look at the watch so it could help him make the decision on if he needs to dig the phone out of the inner layers of clothing. 🙄 Might as well be: "if I was in space and the iPhone was inside the space suit but I had managed to strap the watch around the outside, it could be a LIFE SAVER if I needed to get a NASA notification right then (and all other communication systems of the space suit had failed)." At least in one like that we can spin how it can save a life instead of getting "what R U doin?" messages to us a few seconds faster than a vibrating iPhone->read the text process.

The "convenience" argument is hilarious as "we" were generally quick and passionate about pounding a concept like Google Glass though something like that could bring notifications & todo lists to our "can't dig out my iPhone" or "can't afford the valuable seconds lost to digging out my iPhone vs. checking a watch face" scenarios without having to even move our arms or head at all.

Personally, I'm still looking for something beyond "added convenience" and "time savings" vs. just using the bigger-screen, more functional device already on hand (and probably in your hand 100 times a day). These weird use cases "we" are offering in trying to rationalize it show the lengths even we (a very pro-Apple crowd in general) are having to stretch to try to make it make sense. If Google Glass had been Apple Glass, I wonder it we would be spinning: "suppose I was armless" or "suppose my arms were tied"... "but I needed to get my notifications or todos anyway." Now step that trying-to-rationalize-it challenge out to the much less "Apple is God" masses. Why are those masses going to pay at least $350 for it? (because they- not us- make brand new Apple products a "next big thing" hit... or miss).

My favorite was a dude who was really excited about personalized communication with his girlfriend. Really excited to send ****** little doodles, share heartbeats, and make custom emojis. It's gonna make them so much closer bro. Excellent functionality for $350.

 

[Dekema2]

How do you pull your watch out from 3 layers of coats, plus a glove? I take it you weren't born in the north.

No I was born up here actually. In fact as I walk I'm checking my watch. You just peel the jacket back a little and the glove isn't in the way.

 

[s1m]

The Watch does not only compete with other smartwatches, it also competes with smartphones and even with a pencil and a sheet of paper. Everything that could remind you what you have to do, because thats the job of a To-Do list. Otherwise you might forget it and thats the problem which is solved. Since you need an iPhone to operate the Watch, all your To-Do list needs are already covered. And the iPhone even has GPS and location based reminders, it has wireless connectivity and is all in all a way better solution to not forget things.

My Apple Watch wont be competing with my iPhone - it will be complementing my iPhone. I really don't get why this is hard for so many people to understand.

For example I have got a bluetooth headset for calls in the office. I also have a regular handset which does the job of the bluetooth headset equally well. However using the bluetooth means I can type notes whilst on a call and do other stuff.

The Apple Watch will equally complement my iPhone and let me do things differently. Getting notifications on the Apple Watch will be more noticeable for me than when my phone is in my pocket. $500 is not that much money for a lot of people.

 

[fallenjt]

Does it include the reminder to charge the watch at the end of the day by default? LOL.

 

[s1m]

Does it include the reminder to charge the watch at the end of the day by default? LOL.

Probably not necessary given I have to charge my phone every day - it wont be hard to remember to charge my watch. Or were you trying to make some insipid point about the Apple Watch not having as good a battery as a digital watch?

 

[Gudi]

My Apple Watch wont be competing with my iPhone - it will be complementing my iPhone. I really don't get why this is hard for so many people to understand.

Because it's not true. The job of your Watch most likely will be a fancy new gadget to play with for a while. It is basically entertainment and fashion. But if the job to be done is to actually manage a To-Do list, there are better alternatives. Nothing beats paper and pencil.

 

[Gameboy70]

If Google Glass had been Apple Glass, I wonder it we would be spinning: "suppose I was armless" or "suppose my arms were tied"... "but I needed to get my notifications or todos anyway."

Notifications had zero to do with the contempt lavished on Glass. Glass was DOA because:

1. People who don't need to wear glasses don't find wearing them appealing ("Men don't make passes ..."). There's a reason contact lenses and Lasik are so popular.
2. Wearing a head-mounted camera in social situations is disarming, invasive, or even offensive to those on the other side of the lens.

Sorry, even Apple's street cred couldn't have saved Glass.

 

[Gameboy70]

Whether Pebble is around or not isn't the issue. The issue is, Pebble only sold 400,000 watches last year. I'm personally not convinced that wearables will ever be a significant market. As a longtime customer and shareholder, I want Apple to put its energies in the right direction. Nothing I've seen has convinced me that the watch can or will be anything more than a niche market iPhone accessory. Of course that might be enough. If it can add a few billion to the bottom line, I'll never complain. But if Pebble can only sell 400,000 cheaper watches, I'd be shocked if Apple can sell more than a few million in the first year.

Considering Pebble's vastly more limited brand cachet and retail distribution network, I'd draw the opposite conclusion—I'd say at least 10M aWatches by the end of 2015. As for Pebble, 400,000 watches for a Kickstarter-launched product only known to consumers who read gadget blogs is quite an achievement. The Diamond Rio, the predecessor to the iPod, only sold 200,000 units.

I couldn't find unit sales for Samsung and Motorola, but I seriously doubt that Pebble's sales hold a candle to the Gear or the 360. Those would be much more relevant benchmarks than Pebble, given those companies' considerably greater retail penetration. According to an NPD from last June, "sales of the Samsung Gear account for 78 percent of total revenue in the market while Pebble holds an 18 percent revenue share."