There’s loads of task management apps around nowadays. Some are good for different things: some provide you with a highly advanced yet complicated way to manage your projects, some keep track of your time, and some are just so simple and effective that you find yourself spending more time working than worrying. TaskAnt is one of these.
TaskAnt, complete with a neat interface and simplified methods, allows you to manage your tasks in a way that is neither confusing nor advanced, but it works very well. Find out more after the fold.
Overview
TaskAnt is a task management app with a difference. It makes the process of assigning and managing tasks so much easier than some other apps and does so well, in a format that resembles a conventional email client. It claims to save time on project management and is easy to use, ensuring that less time is spent fiddling about with paperwork and more time spent on the project at hand.
Overview
With an upcoming iPad and iPhone app, it will soon be even simpler to use and the availability of the app increased, allowing you to take your work anywhere.
User-Interface
The sheer brilliance of the app is derived from its great user-interface. It takes several elements that really work in web-based email clients, this being really visible from the overall presentation app. The fact that it mimicks a format most of us are more than familiar with makes it all the easier to use and makes the transition to TaskAnt from other task management apps that extra bit easier. In terms of design, I really can’t complain.
User-Interface
The design suits the app well and nothing ever seems out of place. Almost all sections of the app are loaded asynchronously, which then leads to a seamless experience that doesn’t require additional page-loading – quickening the use of the app so that the user can spend less time waiting for the page to load.
Pricing
One of the great things about TaskAnt is that it’s completely free during beta, unlike most other apps that charge their users for access to their apps or limit the amount of certain items that the user can add in the app. Though this often works and gets a good amount of users signed up and using the app as a sort-of trial, there’s nothing like an app that gives you both freedom in price and freedom in usability.
Some app developers take the fact that they’re giving it away for free as a go-ahead to spend as little time concentrating on the overall quality of the app as possible, but I think that TaskAnt is a very good exception. Even though the app is free, it does not compromise on the benefits you would receive if they started charging for usage.
Getting Started
Creating an account for your team over on TaskAnt is simple, once you’ve grabbed yourself an invite. Because the app is currently in a private beta, you’ll need to get an account by retweeting their latest Twitter (@taskant) post and they’ll direct message you an invite. This may take a day or so but once you’ve got the invite, you’re ready to go.
Twitter (@taskant)
You’ll be asked for some basic contact details and you’ll then be able to enter some info about your team, your first TaskAnt project, and then asked to choose a login URL. When you’ve done this, you’ll be able to begin using the app.
Creating Tasks
Because the first project is already created during the registration process, once you login to the app, you can start taking advantage of the really cool features of the app straight away. To create your first task, simply click the button at the top of the sidebar and a really nice overlay appears.
Creating Tasks
From here, it’s possible to set due dates, assign the task to a specific project, choose a collaborator to assign it to if you’re working on a group project, and also rate a task based on the priority. Compared to other task management apps, the options provided with task are minimal but it works perfectly due to the nature and simplified form the app takes.
Managing Tasks
It’s pretty easy to keep on top of all tasks within TaskAnt. Tasks are sorted as if they were emails and it’s possible to filter these so that you only view tasks assigned specifically for you. You can “star” important tasks so that they are easily accessible when the time comes for you to find them quickly. This can be quite useful when you or someone else assigns a large number of tasks to you on a regular basis and you want to choose those that are the most important so that it is easy to access them when you need to.
Starred Tasks
There is also a really handy search feature that allows you to search tasks based on a set criteria and show only these. This is great for when you want to, for example, show only those that are completed. It’s merely a case of extending the search field and selecting the various elements of criteria that you require. Overall, it’s really plain to see that a lot of work has gone into this element and it works really well for the app.
Searching Tasks
Adding Collaborators
If you’d like to add more people to the project, it’s simply a case of accessing the “People” section of the settings and then adding certain people to your TaskAnt account, and then choosing the projects you wish for them to be assigned to. You can also add users as administrators so that they have control over the projects too.
Adding Collaborators
Final Thoughts
With so many task management apps available, it’s always hard to find the perfect one that fits either your business or your project. TaskAnt is really the perfect way to manage projects whilst building a good breakdown of the tasks and the assignees. The interface is one of the best I have come across and it works really well with the format.
It’s clear that the developers have pulled out the stops in terms of building an app that is unique yet highly functional, and one that has the potential of being highly successful.