The most frustrating thing about the iPhone isn’t its clear limitations; it’s what is just so obviously within the device’s grasp but doesn’t work. Those things which are obviously useful, make complete sense, but aren’t there because Apple just hasn’t gotten around to implementing them. One example is that the mobile Calendar.app doesn’t subscribe to CalDAV accounts, despite Apple promoting CalDAV for Leopard Server, and also despite being able to sync over the air with an Exchange calendar. Perhaps the most frustrating deficiency is that Notes.app does not in any way whatsoever sync with Mac OS X, even though in the weeks leading up to the iPhone’s release, it was clearly advertised as a feature, then removed from all published copy.

I have been using Notes for awhile as a universal scratchpad. Financial stuff (bills to pay, balance payoffs), long and short term shopping lists, and other general to-do reminders. For this, Notes is great, because there’s almost no features whatsoever. You can create new notes, edit existing notes, and delete notes. Notes are named according to the first line in them, and sorted by most recently edited. There is nothing else there to occupy you. This would be great, if a little bare, if there was any way at all to get this information on your computer. Even better would be syncing with the ‘Notes’ or ‘To Dos’ in Mail.app. But there’s nothing. In the meantime, Apple suggests creating and editing notes in Mail.app, and then connecting to your mail account with the iPhone. For IMAP accounts, this is fine except there is absolutely no way to create or edit those notes (which are really just email messages) on the iPhone. This is unacceptable, because the whole benefit of the iPhone is being able to create and update that information anytime, anywhere, with or without connectivity. And even with connectivity, you can’t do it.

So if you want read/write ability for your notes on both your Mac and your iPhone, unfortunately, for now you have to rely on third party software. Or maybe, fortunately. Because Things from Cultured Code is by far the best “Get Things Done” type app I’ve ever used. It’s almost a pleasure to use, and that almost is exactly why it’s the best.

Nerds have a huge problem when it comes to task management, scheduling, and informational organization in general. They overthink, overplan, and in general overdo everything to the point that the management system itself becomes another distracting toy keeping them from accomplishing the things the system should be helping them accomplish. This is why I don’t use iCal as much as I should, why it’s dangerously unproductive for me to carry a physical planner or datebook, and when nerds try to use a sophisticated computer program to simplify and order their lives, there’s huge potential for a productivity backfire.

Things realizes that, like my approach to using Notes.app, there are different types of things that go on your list. There are little tasks you want to do now or very soon. There are things upcoming, just around the corner, there are normally recurring things that you still need reminders for, and there are long term things that don’t have a definite due date, that you need to be able to think about and remember, but not have in your face all the time yelling “Accomplish me! Tick this box!” Things treats these items as completely different items, instead of the same type of item distinguished by mere due dates.

The five focus groups in Things are Today, Next, Scheduled, Someday, and Projects. While Today comes first in the list, Next and Someday are where I create most of my tasks. Anything with a definite due date I create in Next, and on the appropriate day it’s moved to Today. Anything without a due date goes into Someday. Scheduled is a list of repeating, recurring events (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.) that gives you incredible granularity over the recurrence period. Have certain bills due on a certain day, or weekly appointments that you can’t seem to remember? Those are for Scheduled. And, like those upcoming items in Next, on the appropriate day, a task will be added to Today.

Projects is great for those tasks with subtasks. For example, you may have a Project called “Remodel Kitchen,” and it has one global check box, but under it are subtasks such as “Pick out new linoleum,” “Measure for cabinets,” and “Install wiring for electric oven.” You can check off the boxes of each subtask separately, and checking the global parent box with any unchecked subtasks will prompt you to cancel or check those remaining subtasks. This allows you to record and manage those projects with a depth of tasks, but without littering up your entire to-do list with information related to a single specific project.

Things also features tagging (creating new tags as they are used), and a view of “Areas of Responsibility.” You can add any task to an Area of Responsibility and quickly get an overview of those unchecked items in each Area. In case you suspect you’re spending too much time doing things in one area while neglecting others. I also like that any task, regardless of section or due date, can be Starred and it will appear in Today. This is a great way to get ahead on your Next items, and whittle down those items in Someday. And once you do finally check an item, it will be archived in the Logbook.

What I love most about Things is there’s no requirement to name, tag, schedule, or organize anything at all. Tasks can have tags, due dates, notes, and belong to an Area of Responsibility, but none of them have to. Every action in Things steers you toward actually accomplishing what’s in those tasks, instead of playing around with the app itself and trying to make it a task. There’s plenty of features, but they are hidden in the elegant design and workflow of the app. There’s no room for fun, and the joy in using the app is how much it helps you stay focused on your tasks.

And as of now, Things Touch 1.2 is available on the iTunes App Store, and 1.3 is in the review queue. It lets you view all the information about your tasks, create a new task from anywhere in the app, and perform most of the management functions. It’s also one of the few apps that sync with their Mac OS X counterparts.

Things might just be the first GTD style app that I actually use.