I really dig my iPhone, but one thing that I was missing was a way for me to sync and use my lists. I follow my own version of Getting Things Done (to do project management at work and home) so not having my lists available was a bit of a let down. Now that I have my lists on the phone, I don’t need to carry around my laptop at all – unless I need to do some coding or document stuff.

The basic flow is: you type your lists in plain text, and then the iPhone shows them to you hierarchically where you can check off tasks as they are done. You can watch the movie about it on the GlueyNotes home page (it will work on your iPhone), or here is a youtube version (if you don’t see the youtube version, check back later. They seem to take a really really long time to convert video, and I am impatient and tired at the moment.)

If you don’t want to watch the movie…

Currently, you can type your list using any browser, and the format is:

* Item 1
* Item 2
** Sub Item of 2
** Sub Item of 2 as well
* Item 3

etc. If you use a text file for your own lists, you likely do something similar already. If a task is complete, you can change the first * to an X and it wont show up in the iPhone UI. For example:

* Item 1
X Item 2
** Sub Item of 2
X* Sub Item of 2 as well
* Item 3

Item 2 and Sub Item of 2 as well will not display in the iPhone UI. Likewise, if you tick the box on the iPhone for an item, your text list item will get and X in front of it.

If you want to add more detail about an item, you can add it after an item on a new line. If you add phone numbers, emails, or URLs they become links on the phone and allow you to click them to make a call, send an email, or open a new browser windows. For example:

* Item 1
Call bob about the forecast 415-555-1212 and tell him about http://robrohan.com or email bob@bob.com
X Item 2
** Sub Item of 2
X* Sub Item of 2 as well
* Item 3

You can also add comments to the list (for lack of a better term) by starting the line with a #. This is useful to draw lines or separate sections.

* Item 1
Call bob about the forecast 415-555-1212 and tell him about http://robrohan.com or email bob@bob.com
X Item 2
** Sub Item of 2
X* Sub Item of 2 as well
* Item 3
######### HOME STUFF ##########
* Item 5
* Item 6

And lastly, you can add contexts to items which you can then search for on the phone. Contexts are denoted by putting @[context] anywhere on the line. So for example:

* Item 1 @phone
Call bob about the forecast 415-555-1212 and tell him about http://robrohan.com or email bob@bob.com
X Item 2
** Sub Item of 2 @phone
X* Sub Item of 2 as well @computer
* Item 3
######### HOME STUFF ##########
* Item 5
* Item 6

Then on the iPhone, you can list all items in a context.

Ok, so that was a bit of a brain dump. I’ve been playing with it for a few days, and while it’s still beta it’s useable. If you have an iphone, like lists, and are adventurous, you might want to check out GlueyNotes.com.

Feedback welcome.

(I’ve been meaning to write the application for a while (even before the iphone), but last weekend I decided to just bang it out. I didn’t get as far as I wanted because I had to go to a Beach Boys concert, but I just cleaned up a few odds and ends, and it’s now useable – albeit beta.)