Now that To-Do is available in O365...what do we do with it?

[Matt Coats]

This question might be more about what device To-Do is actually intended for, but now that I have To-Do available as a web app, I'm left wondering what I'm to do with it, particularly with the absence of reminders/notifications. I don't see a Flow trigger, and I didn't see a way to add reminders in the web app itself--is To-Do intended to be so closely tied to a mobile device, or will we see a way to handle notifications in the web-app at some future time?

*Edit* Found my reminders! Didn't realize double-clicking a task led to different options than right-clicking it.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and questions! I'll begin by saying we do not envision an 'ideal device' for To-Do. We aim to provide a solid and familiar (i.e. equal) experience regardless of the platform, sometimes offering some platform-specific features users of those devices come to expect.

On that note, we do offer reminders and notifications in the web app in the same way we do so in our other apps. Can you expand on the issue you're encountering?

Finally, we are working with Flow to provide a flow/trigger specific to To-Do in the near future. In the meantime, the flow/triggers for Outlook Tasks do work, as we share the same backend as Outlook Tasks in Exchange. Thanks for your patience as we work :)

Best wishes,

Timo

[#3]

Thanks for sharing more information and vision, Timo! I'll have to admit to not noticing that double-clicking a task would've shown me the "Remind Me" feature I was looking for until just now; right-clicking a task gave me so many options that I didn't even think to double-click it.

[#4]

@Timo Yates, thought a bit more about the double-click situation for "opening" a To-Do task--it'd be great if users had some visual hint that the task can be opened, like a pointer change.

[#5]

Hi Matt, great idea. I'm passing it on to our design team as I shared your original feedback with them as well.

Cheers,

Timo

[#6]

@Timo Yates

Are the reminders on mobile (in particular on iPhone) triggered only by todos in My Day, or also by todos in To-Do (i.e. in Outlook Tasks, give that the To-Do list is synced with Outlook Tasks) ?

[#7]

The reminders should be entirely list-agnostic. In fact, the to-dos in My Day actually only live in other lists--it is a view, not its own list. Is this a pattern you're noticing?

[#8]

Thanks, @Timo Yates.

I have a couple of questions:

1. So, My Day is a view, not an actual list. But, if my understanding is correct, it is a view which is populated by hand, i.e. choosing one by one the todos from the other lists, correct? (That is, My Day cannot be populated specifying a condition.)
2. The reminders that I set in Outlooks Tasks should then be synced to the To-Do list on the iPhone app and hence should be notified on the iPhone, also if My Day is completely empty, correct?

[#9]

Hi Salvatore, 1 and 2 are both correct statements. Getting reminded at a time you specify should happen no matter what, whether the to-do is in My Day or not, and even if you made the reminder in Outlook. I can't speak to which app delivers the reminder by default, though, or if it's even just one doing so.

[#10]

Hi @Timo Yates.

Thanks for your answer.

As a long time user of Outlook Tasks, I find My Day not so useful.

In fact, to put tasks by hand in My Day seems to be a manual, and redundant, activity.

I would like instead to see automatically included in My Day all the overdue tasks in To-Do (i.e. in Outlook Tasks).

Does it make sense?

[#11]

Hi Salvatore,

You're certainly not the first person to share that request and we totally understand the sentiment. While our product vision calls for an entirely blank My Day so that you never "carry the burden" of what you didn't get done yesterday and are in control of your day versus having it be dictated by sometimes arbitrary dates, we are nonetheless weighing a setting to include those to-dos by default.

Are you using the Suggestions view to add things to My Day, or are you going through list by list?

Best,

Timo

[#12]

Hi @Timo Yates

Thanks for your very quick answer!

Unfortunately, I don't use at all My Day, since, as told before, I don't find it useful.

In fact, choosing manually tasks to put in My Day is an extra step that I don't need.

For me, the tasks to get done in a given day are (exactly) the tasks in Outlook Tasks that I have previously marked with that due date, plus the overdue tasks which I could not have completed in the previous day(s).

Hence, all I need is to have such tasks automatically carried over to My Day from To-Do (i.e. from Outlook Tasks).

I hope you will implement such a setting in the future.

In the meanwhile, I will ignore My Day and peruse directly the To-Do list...

Thanks.