Announced alongside Gmail’s redesign this morning, Google Tasks is another new app from Mountain View, aimed at helping you keep track of ongoing tasks you may have. It was specifically announced with Gmail’s new look because Tasks is now integrated natively inside of Gmail, meaning you can access your tasks from within it.
However, the standalone Tasks app is so barebones and minimal that it borderlines useless and I don’t think it’s a massive stretch to assume it won’t see a lot of usage. I’d usually say, “Let’s break it down,” with regard to Tasks’ features, but honestly, there isn’t much to break down.
When you open the app, it asks you to start adding tasks. Once you’ve added a task, you can then choose to mark it as complete or make a new task. With each task, you can add subtasks. You can also add a desired completion date and additional details to the task. And that’s it. There are no collaboration options or anything else that would help break away from the many other, more comprehensive tasks apps on the market.
Unlike a full blown project management app like Trello, Tasks is designed specifically for individuals, not teams. This is totally fine and there is a place for something like this, but having an app that just lists tasks and provides notifications for them isn’t exactly revolutionary, considering you can do this same thing inside of Google Keep. With Keep, you can write down whatever you want and set reminders, but you can even add collaborators and send Keep notes to other people. You know, because sometimes tasks will require work from more than just one person.
If you want to check out Tasks for yourself, go grab it on Google Play. You might as well, since it’s already implemented into your new Gmail experience.
What’s your take on Tasks? Am I just not getting it?
Mine was automatically populated with duplicates.
We should put together a list of all the redundant Google apps.
Google Keep has a fantastic list setup… Try that!
I’m glad to see an article that isn’t just gushing how great this “new” app is. No recurring tasks or ability to set reminder times? 🙁 I use Business Calendar and its built in task management. They work great!
why not just add a reminder option to todo’s in keep?
This is meant to be used with the new Gmail on the web. Calendar, Keep and Task are integrated with Gmail inbox for better productivity. For me, it is the “Add to Task” feature in Gmail that makes it valuable. I can easily turn an email into a task and assign a due date while having the task referenced to the email.
I think the worst part of it is that its so barebones it should be a beta. The fact that keep is also integrated into the new gmail leaves little reason to use. gotta believe it will grow from here . a beta tag will at least give people a more wait and see attitude (still with the confusion of “wait, cant we do all of this on keep already?”
Google simply can’t catch a break. Something has broken in development department. Everything Google does now is awful and buggy and stupid. This frightens me. I don’t want to switch to Apple. Google, get you crap together!
I like it. I have the used the “Tasks” list within Gmail for years. I have been using an app on my phone that is ancient – but does work with Google Tasks. A simple list of “to dos” is great. Google Keep is good for more involved things, like shopping lists, etc. But just a simple list of tasks I want to accomplish is very useful. For those of us reared on Franklin Planners, and the to do lists that you carried over from day to day (by rewriting them) or marking them as complete with a checkmark, this approach is very intuitive.
Franklin ftw. I miss those at times.
This just In – Google will kill Google Keep and Rename it YouTube Tasks. But it will slowly be removed and you will be forced to use this app. Which will later be renamed Play Tasks only to itself be killed later.
Tasks seems to emphasize simplicity. Having less options is, to some (especially the iOS crowd and their ilk), an asset rather than a liability. I wouldn’t use it myself because I strongly value options, but I can imagine how 65yo Grandma (or even 21yo college student keeping up with assignments) who just wants to have an electronic to-do list might appreciate having this preinstalled on their new phone.
I think there are some seriously overblown expectations here. I don’t know why everybody expected some sort of fully featured, overly comprehensive collaboration task app to replace the likes of Trello or whomever. This is a sidenote feature to the new Gmail. It’s a simple to-do list “app” that’s cleanly integrated into your Gmail. Someone below said it well – it’s like sticky notes on your desk.
Thank you for being one of the few on the www to point out that this app is useless….the larry asslicking is seriously bad out there today
As someone who recently came over from iOS, I like it. Now, I want Google Assistant to save a reminder there.
This will likely be another Google project that never gets traction and ultimately lands in the dumpster.
Sometimes I feel like Google has absolutely no idea what they’re doing lol
I think Google is becoming fragmented into dozens of development teams, each given a mandate to improve the “Google experience” but never given access to other teams’ efforts. So everyone creates multiple versions of the essentially same app/project, but with slightly different tweaks/styles/features. Then despite months of development, none of them get it right, and they all get abandoned.
Kinda sounds like what LG does!
Honestly I am getting so burned out by Google stuff, I used to see them as the top tech company, but they are working *very* hard to destroy that perception.
really needs a side swipe to go from list to list. dark theme would be nice. I’m sticking with Tasks from the former team tasks (now part of google), which I don’t believe you can get anymore.
I actually like it. It’s simple, and I don’t want a bunch of features.
It’s kind of like a simple list, like a post-it note on my desk.
I think that’s all it’s meant to be. I’m with you on this as well. I don’t need features for my task list. I just need small reminders to get things done. I already know how I’m going to do those things.
Looks like iOS’s reminders app
to-do apps are google’s new messaging
I don’t really see the problem. A lot of individuals don’t need team collaboration.
Tons of my friends download apps for this exact purpose, if not to have just a blank widget with a task list on it.
Personally I haven’t found a good alternative to Astrid since it sold out. Keep is horrible IMO.
Switched from Wunderlist (after MS destroyed it) to Todoist, and really like it. Tasks has a long way to go to make me switch from that service.
Hot take: this will not be around in three years .
Dang, you give it 3 whole years? That is a hot take!
Google in 2019: We’re pausing investment in Tasks as we move the team over to focus on improving the Google Keep experience for users.
Id just wish theyd pause development on google express, move assistant shopping lists back into keep and expand it to be able to manage named list.
Ive got a workaround using todoist, IFTTT and my Google homes but it was better when it was Keep.
Google in 2010: We’re pausing investment in Keep as we move the team over to focus on our new app, Google Do.
Go register ‘Google do’ now. There’s money in that one
I’ve been accused of being an optimist once or twice before ????
That’s being extremely generous. I predict that, in one years time, it will be shut down and abandoned by Google.
2 max
Yes it will. And so will Goole Play Tasks and YouTube Tasks Remix and Google Keep and Android Tasks and something just called “Tasks” that’s just Google attempting to get everyone to agree on a standard for tasks that carriers can charge you a per-task fee to use.
They probably should’ve just integrated it directly into Keep. I downloaded it, opened it and closed it. I’ll try it out more this evening but it didn’t whelm me but who knows, they always tend to release stuff, then feature it up later.
or stop developing it, cough, Allo, cough
allo was DOA with out proper sms support.. so i never invested
lol, very true. Just added it’s features directly into Keep or Calendar or whatever.
oh you mean google keep?
Exactly.
Keep is a good note app. NOT a task app. you can try very hard to make it a task app then get pissed when the widgets arent going to happen like you want. you could try to task on one note then get pissed when you cant set a date or reminder for each check box… i could go on
Thank you for saying this. I know there is some overlap, but Keep is not meant to be a task app.
Speaking of Keep… are y’all having any issues with loading Keep in the sidebar? I have two google accounts. In one, it loads up fine, but in my main Google account where I have a lot of Keep history, it simply won’t load in the new sidebar…
So far so good. No issues here