Desktop or Web

[bscott]

I'm sure this has been asked, but when and if a desktop or Web app coming for Tasks.org

[abaker]

I would like to start working on one very soon! Unfortunately Tasks' is still lacking in the revenue department, but I'm hoping the new paid tasks.org sync service will start bringing in enough that I can justify focusing on a web or desktop app

[CaseOf]

Hello, Until a desktop version is available, what could we use on a computer to get a similar experience for synchronized tasks?

[am4c130d]

Rainlendar. https://www.rainlendar.net/cms/index.php

It works well for me - it runs on nearly any desktop (mac, Linux and Windows), supports multiple calendars/task lists in a unified view, CalDAV, subtasks and custom categories. The only "fails" for me are it doesn't support "hide until", and categories aren't synchronized - neither of which are deal breakers for me.

It's possible to drop the tasks list of Rainlendar on the desktop and have it function like an interactive widget, which is exactly what I wanted, so I've been able to mimic much of Tasks' capabilities. All the other calendaring features of Rainlendar I've disabled, but they're probably useful as well.

[oyren]

Not much as far as I know, that's the problem. Recently I discovered super-productivity, but I haven't tested it yet and I think it syncs via webdav instead of caldav. Also, there are two pull requests out there for Getting Things Gnome to support caldav sync (https://github.com/getting-things-gnome/gtg/pull/525 and https://github.com/getting-things-gnome/gtg/pull/419) They are looking for people to test it. I tested the one from @jaesivsm a little bit and it works quite well, only my password seems to be forgotten and i could not add it anymore, but I guess I am just missing a package.

[LecrisUT]

I have tried to use super-productivity, and although its features are interesting, the UI is not to my liking. There is also some performance issues on startup, but I suspect that is common for any electron app.

I am then wondering how will @abaker approach cross-platform. I see that the code is developed to be android native so a lot of code refactoring will be needed. So will the desktop/web version be developed from scratch, or which language will the whole project be restructured around?

One possible solution I am tinkering with is using xamarin.forums and the upcoming MAUI which should make apps compatible with desktop environments, while still giving close to native performance. The language is C#, and there seem to be a few open libraries for simpler development of UI and other stuff.

[CaseOf]

Mono is a nightmare on Linux 😨

[unite42]

I'm also searching for several days a tasks.org aquivalent desktop solution for windows with the possibility to sync with tasks.org. I didn't found yet. Maybe we don't have to reinvent the wheel. imho there are several options:

1. TaskCoach is also searching for an aquivalent android application. Maybe it's possible to add calDAV support for their desktop application for example by writing an bridge between there xml-based .tsk format and .ics so it could be synced with calDav/DAVX⁵ https://taskcoach.uservoice.com/forums/26480-other-task-coach-requests/suggestions/288896-support-for-accessing-task-coach-items-on-android https://sourceforge.net/p/taskcoach/discussion/users/thread/176a9f79/

2. KDE is currently working to bring Kontact to Windows. Maybe the KOrganizer could be an possible desktop client for tasks.org. They are searching for people who get involved! https://kontact.kde.org/download.html https://community.kde.org/Windows

3. Another cross-plattform PIM project within the KDE Community is Kube. They are also searching for people who get involved! https://phabricator.kde.org/T1478 https://kube-project.com/

4. Vikunja has an electron-based desktop-app for there backend, with an early alpha stage calDAV-Support. At the moment the desktop client is only usable after login on the Vikunja Backend. Eventually it would be possible to fork and adjust the desktop-app for using only with a calDAV-sync. https://vikunja.io/features/ https://vikunja.io/docs/caldav/

[am4c130d]

Not trying to be a fanboy, dismissive of @abaker 's work or anyone else's input, but Rainlendar does pretty much everything already. With a bit of config tuning it has met virtually all of the use cases I have for a desktop partner to Tasks.

It syncs with Tasks via CalDav, supports subtasks, custom categories/tags, multiple lists/calendars, priorities, due dates, start dates, recurring tasks, comments etc. I use all of these capabilities daily creating tasks on desktop or my phone - whichever is more convenient. The only thing I use in Tasks that's missing in Rainlendar is Hide Until - and even that concept is supported to some extent for recurring tasks.

I may be missing something, but this seems like a complete working solution for all modern desktops except Chrome already - and Tasks via Android on Chrome makes more sense.

However, syncing does require a (one-time 10 euro) license and that maybe an issue for some, and there is no web client.

[unite42]

@am4c130d I can only speak for myself. Is not that I'm unable to pay 10 euro, I would rather like to see a FOSS-Solution.

[c5c86a]

I would like to start working on one very soon! Unfortunately Tasks' is still lacking in the revenue department, but I'm hoping the new paid tasks.org sync service will start bringing in enough that I can justify focusing on a web or desktop app

I want to pay but I don't see how I can create a tasks.org account for syncing. I would expect a signup button in the top of the homepage visible even from mobile. Having to go through github sponsordhip is kind of geeky and I don't want to share my tasks with Microsoft.

[abaker]

Yeah unfortunately I haven't implemented my own sign up or payments yet. Currently you have to either sign-in with Google (if you have a Google Play subscription) or GitHub (if you're a GitHub sponsor). This is only for identity and payment verification, your data is stored on my VPS

[c5c86a]

Makes sense, thanks On Jan 20, 2021, 17:49 +0200, Alex Baker [email protected], wrote:

Yeah unfortunately I haven't implemented my own sign up or payments yet. Currently you have to either sign-in with Google (if you have a Google Play subscription) or GitHub (if you're a GitHub sponsor). This is only for identity and payment verification, your data is stored on my VPS — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.

[BeatLink]

It would be so cool to have a web based version of tasks.org. You could combine it with the sync service for a revenue stream while keeping it open source by allowing others to self host. You could even wrap it up in a cross platform electron wrapper. I would literally pay to help see that happen!

[abaker]

That's the dream 🤞

I just need to double Tasks current monthly revenue in order to make that happen. NBD, right?

[oyren]

I would prefer a native client, with good keyboard navigation. There are already some self-hostable tasks, e.g. EteSync Web. What doesn't exist (at least I haven't found one) is a native client.

Anyway, thanks for the great work @abaker.

[ccoenen]

Yes, and that native client will of course need to run on Windows, Mac OSX (intel and arm), Linux (as deb, aur, rpm, flatpack, appimage and snap), FreeBSD, android (oh wait, we already have that covered!), iOS (seperately for smartphone and tablet size), and I'd really really like to sync up my palm m105 and blackberry.

Well-made browser software can be navigated entirely with the keyboard. You don't need a native application for that. I don't think "native" is a good benefit-per-cost ratio.

[abaker]

Yeah unfortunately I wouldn't have the bandwidth to write native apps myself. I'm going to offer an option to sync Tasks' non-standard fields as x-properties. If there were any highly motivated individuals out there they could write their own Tasks.org-compatible native CalDAV app

[oyren]

@ccoenen I am well aware of the advantages of browser software, yet i and many others prefer a native client. And as i said i would prefer it, i don't require it. I had a little hope in this regard since Tasks is a pure android client, so for me only a desktop client is missing and there it is quite possible to make it run on Windows, Mac and Linux, both on x86 and Arm. In addition, Tasks.org would have a standalone feature. But since even large companies now almost always decide against it, it was quite clear to me that the probability is low ;).

[dpriskorn]

With GTK there is a possibility to add a backend that produce byte code that runs well on say Android or iOS. We have the same issues with the WikidataApp and despite Flutter seeming attractive at a first glance it's support for desktop is dependent on snap which is pretty crappy. So it seems that these walled gardens are making it hard to write something well once and run it everywhere. If we all just switched to GNU/Linux phones the problem would be solved and as a bonus we would not have Google and Apply and tons of proprietary apps spying on us all the time. See https://www.privacyinternational.org/long-read/3196/no-bodys-business-mine-how-menstruations-apps-are-sharing-your-data

[BeatLink]

Okay so what I'm suggesting is a 3 stage plan to get tasks to desktop

1. Generate a list of existing desktop and or web based software that can sync with tasks using caldav. These apps would ideally include as many similar features of tasks as possible. Some key ones i can think of are granular recurrence, subtasks and tags

2. Working together to build a web/electron based desktop client. Going the web based route will allow the same codebase to be accessible to all major platforms, namely windows, mac and linux.

3. In the distant future if @abaker would be up for it, we could start working on native clients for linux, and maybe windows and mac.

But i think the web/electron based desktop app is the route to go. Especially if the web based version can be incorporated into the tasks.org sync service to generate revenue, or into self hostable instances for people who would like to host their own software

[dpriskorn]

I just bought a pinephone. I'm curious to see what apps I can find to have my need for tasks handling met on GNU/Linux.

[kolaente]

Vikunja has an electron-based desktop-app for there backend, with an early alpha stage calDAV-Support. At the moment the desktop client is only usable after login on the Vikunja Backend. Eventually it would be possible to fork and adjust the desktop-app for using only with a calDAV-sync.

@unite42 Just chiming in to say that you can use the tasks.org app with tasks from Vikunja :slightly_smiling_face:

Forking the frontend is possible but you would need to essentially rebuild the api part or change the connection there. Doable, but would be a lot of work. Maybe an easier way would be to get the tasks into Vikunja to then use the apps?

[Bugsbane]

I just bought a pinephone. I'm curious to see what apps I can find to have my need for tasks handling met on GNU/Linux.

Same here. My guess is that I'll likely be Using Dav5X to sync Tasks to Nextcloud and then I'm just going to use the Nextcloud tasks webapp on the Pinephone.

[BeatLink]

I'd be willing to work on a linux native tasks.org app, if i could be given some guidance and such. I can code in GTK and Python

[abaker]

If you want to join #tasks on freenode we can discuss it

[jforseth210]

For anyone still looking for a potential workaround for this, I would highly recommend Anbox if you're on Linux. If you're on Windows, Bluestacks is alright too.

[Philipp0205]

@oyren Can you explain a bit how the jaesivsm:caldav branch of getting-things-gnome works? I cloned the branch and was able to run it but I see no caldav plugin/support.

Thanks!

[oyren]

@oyren Can you explain a bit how the jaesivsm:caldav branch of getting-things-gnome works? I cloned the branch and was able to run it but I see no caldav plugin/support.

Thanks!

Sure, I also looked under Plugins first at the time. You can set up the CalDav Synchronization, under the menu item Synchronization. There click on the plus icon and select CalDav Tasks as the sync service.

Next time your question is probably better placed in the Pull Request (https://github.com/getting-things-gnome/gtg/pull/525), since Tasks actually has nothing to do with GTG.

[oyren]

By the way, there is also Zanshin, which was one of the better applications I tried.

[Philipp0205]

Thank you very much @oyren ! Both suggestions helped. I will try out Zanshin as well, I saw they picked up the development of it again.