It might not have a Gmail gadget and an iPhone app, but reminder service Task.fm is a good alternative to popular productivity tool Remember The Milk.
If you don’t need all the other bells and whistles, Task.fm is a good choice. The user experience is clean and simple, and the reminders by email, phone or SMS work like a charm. This week it added contacts and groups, yet another strong basic feature integrated into its simple reminder service.
Twitter-like Tasks
Task.fm doesn’t have nearly as long a feature checklist as Remember The Milk, but it compares well to other vendors in this space. The newest addition to Task.fm is a simple yet important aspect: contacts and groups that can be CC’d to a reminder through email.
Its core user experience is well-designed, and has an input system that shows strong hints of Twitter. Though there’s an advanced version with other options, the default way to add a reminder is through a 140 character message typed out in natural language. Task.fm converts that automatically to a name, date, and other information.
Phone Reminders
The real strength of the service is in its reminder system. Adding email or mobile notifications means Task.fm beats a bare bones todo-list like Gmail Tasks hands down. Along with email and SMS reminders that come free, paid accounts get phone reminders as well.
So far as we can tell, the only thing really holding back Task.fm is that at $10/month, its price point is higher than RTM or some other services, which can go as low as $25/year. However, the fact that RTM doesn’t seem to have phone reminders as either a free or paid option may be what you’re paying extra for. Either way, anyone hunting for a new way to manage tasks should definitely take a peek at Task.fm.
