Mac users for some time had to get a little creative when syncing information to and from their BlackBerrys. Today, we’ll have a look at how to get creative with your tasks and sync them with your BlackBerry.
Since the inclusion of “system-wide to-dos” within Mac OSX 10.5 (known as Leopard), developers of to-do applications received a new set of API’s to work with, and unknowingly simplified a BlackBerry user’s life. Developers of such apps include an iCal Sync feature which allows a sort of information highway between their task management application, iCal, Mail and other 3rd party apps that include that same feature.
Here is a little guide I’ve made, to get you started:
Choose a task management app that works for you. There are several out there for Mac including Things (available on a free trial), The Hit List (beta) and Anxiety (free). There are many others to choose from but these are the 3 I recommend you look into first. If you happen to choose an app other than the 3 mentioned here, be sure it has the “iCal sync” feature (most do but just in case).
Figure out a system that works for you. Things and The Hit List use a powerful tag system (@personal, @office, @urgent etc.) out of the box. Users are also able to customize their own tag system. This can be very useful particularly when using the BlackBerry’s native task manager application.
Below are videos I’ve made using my personal favorite to-do application: Things. The videos show how to go through the setup (it gives you a general idea) and how useful the tag system will be when using the native BlackBerry task application. If you have ti me to spare, run tests before embarking on this glorious journey and play around with the preferences. Remember to back up your BlackBerry.
Mac To Do Application “Things” Setup for Mac
Mac To Do Application “Things” Setup for BlackBerry
Note: If you happen to chose Things as your to-do application, have a free Dropbox account and use multiple Macs, take a look at this how-to guide for syncing Things between multiple Macs.
