FCTasks by Franklin Covey FCmobilelife is another in a long list of task management apps that is likely to get attention by brand recognition alone. Using the popular ABC-123 method of prioritization, FCTasks allows users to employ various methods of tracking and organizing their to-do lists and includes the ability to track due dates, edit and sort tasks, and change task views, as well as assign customized categories and notes. As a huge fan of the old-style Franklin Covey planners, I had high expectations of FCTasks, especially since FCmobilelife, the sophisticated mobile software not yet supported by, but under development for, the iPhone is so detailed.
I am impressed with FCTasks visual presentation. The contrasting colors, black background, and easy-on-the-eyes text are visually pleasing. The ability to change views from the current day’s task list to an organized view of the week’s agenda supplies users with two ways to plan.
There is also a feature within FCTasks that allows you to appropriate different status levels — normal, delegate, in progress, complete, and forward are your options. The “forward” and “complete and forward” options are particularly useful for recurring tasks. From the organized view, you can vertically scroll through the days to come, all while viewing your tasks in their designated ABC-123 prioritization.
One glitch I ran into occurred when deleting tasks that were no longer applicable. While you can change the status of a task by tapping the box next to it and choosing the appropriate task status from the scroll wheel menu, choosing “delete” simply shuts down FCTasks and takes me back to my device’s main menu. I can choose the “sort” option, which provides a simpler way to delete tasks, but I found it odd that all the other choices in the status scroll wheel could be applied without shutting FCTasks down.
I did contact Franklin Covey’s support by email and they were prompt enough with a reply and demonstrated a willingness to help if I wanted to provide them with additional information. Since I don’t know if I explained the situation thoroughly enough, I’m not sure if this is a normal issue or not. Deleting and reinstalling FCTasks as support suggested didn’t change anything, but at least there is another option for deleting tasks.
FCTasks is an acceptable task management app that rivals, though is not necessarily better than, a few of the dozens of others. Again, I like the ABC-123 methodology for prioritizing my to-dos and the views are simple. The navigation is fairly intuitive, though I do think editing a task should be a bit simpler than creating it in the first place, but instead editing requires an equal number of steps.
One strong point in FCTasks is the voice feature that allows you to record your task instead of typing it, which earns FCTasks extra kudos in my book. You can record a message, phone number, or any other detailed piece of information instead of having to type it all out on that cumbersome onscreen keyboard.
One aspect I did find lacking was the inability to email your day’s tasks, or even one task. Since there is no such app to date that syncs and plays nicely with Outlook or iCal (at least to my knowledge), I expected an app carrying a leading name in organization and time management to have at least included email capability. Otherwise, what happens when you have to reboot your device and the data can’t be recovered?
I’d have to say FCTasks is sleeker than some though a bit pricey for what you get, but all in all more than acceptable. I could maybe see myself using it more successfully than others I’ve test driven, but less expensive task managers may suit you just as well as this one. If there was a way to email lists after creating them, I think I would solidly commit to FCTasks alone.
