Taskmator - TaskPaper Client

Not what I expected.

As other reviews have noted, excellent iOS file manager integration. But there are no “getting started” screens; help is buried in the settings menu. Adding Dropbox integration causes the app to crash... and erased all my taskpaper files. Used Dropbox to revert. Found a forum post suggesting a phone reset. After a few tries this did work and Dropbox sync seems fast and reliable(?) However discovering where the Dropbox files are (“on my phone” in the iCloud file browser) is not intuitive. I also turned on the swipe-for-calendar that broke most of the other gesture detectors. Disabling that seems to have restored many of them... but not all. I can’t get the full screen or Multiple selection to work. Potential but really needs some more testing and a lot of polish for the UI usability. Hope to see future updates and look forward to trying it again.

The iOS files and reminders integration work extremely well. But the core editing experience lacks a lot of polish. Drag-and-drop reordering and task completion are difficult to use and the menus look out-of-date. That being said, it gets the job done! I’m hoping for updates to make it a little more usable though.

... then it appears someone new took over development - or meds are failing - and app development went sidewise. The interface and file access became so messed up I had to delete it. I still wonder what the heck is going on, such a weird departure from the great vector it was on ...

Difficult to use. Overly complicated. Just let me edit a text file! Don’t force taskpaper formatting as I’m typing. Why do we need to double tap to edit tasks? Why is there anything other than a text file at all! App crashes frequently, resulting in loss of data because it doesn’t seem to autosave open documents.

This app was solid and at its core (the editing experience) it still works well. However the relatively recent addition of iCloud document integration turned Taskmator into a user interface and user experience train wreck in my opinion. The iCloud document management feels like it was duct taped on top of the existing app rather than smoothly integrated. I’ve emailed feedback to the developer. Sometimes you are in iCloud document UI, sometimes you are in the “old” Taskmator document UI. The hierarchy/navigation between these two completely different modes is unclear and for me it’s really hard to build mental models around this app now. I honestly dread having to work with TaskPaper docs on my phone now, it’s pretty sad. Having said all that, I haven’t found any better options. Hoping a future update will restore Taskmator to its former glory while maintaining iCloud document integration. I really worry about the usability of the latest versions of this app, for existing users and especially for new users.

Keep it simple! Also weird dark background colour bug after auto update. Not good. I loved this app, but I'm going to look for something else.

This app is not in the spirit of the original Taskpaper. You can’t even navigate up and down in your tasks using the keyboard! The point of Taskpaper is that it is just simple text. Taskmator is difficult to navigate. You have to double tap on a task to start editing it. A single tap selects the entire row There is no way to begin editing by using the keyboard. Also while writing this review, I switched back and forth to Taskmator. Each time I did, the tasks in my document disappeared until I left the document and went back in. And a couple times they disappeared while I was in the app. They just vanish! And then the document is empty... Undo does nothing. So it seems like there are syncing issues that make this app totally unusable.

I had this app for years, but never bothered to dig in and learn it. Now that I've spent a few minutes playing with it, I regret that a lot. Seriously awesome TaskPaper client! My hat's off to the developer. I just wish there was a dark theme to be used throughout the app. If there is, I haven't found it.

I have used Taskmator for years and have been very happy with both the software and the developer who works hard to enhance Taskmator which is the best TaskPaper iOS client available. I highly recommend it.