Old 43 Actions blog: olb.tumblr.com | Portfolio: oskarlissheimboethius.com
43 Actions Web App: 43actions.com
43 Actions and WWDC
What a week. What a keynote! There’s tremendous excitement here on the floor of the Moscone Convention Center West in San Francisco. This is, no doubt, the epicenter of the mobile world this week.
And if all the emails about a native version of our little product are any indication, the interest for 43 Actions hasn’t waned, but indeed increased steadily over time. (We’re currently just shy of 25000 users.) We sincerely hope to be able to release the native app at the iPhone App Store in a not too distant future.
Notable features will be (optional) syncing with your 43actions.com account, regular backups of all data on the client (in case something got inadvertently deleted or changed), a very fast way to add a new action immediately on launch (called QuickAdd), some cool location features, a fluid and intuitive interface, and lots of other stuff. (Disclaimer: Feature list is subject to change.)
We’re trying hard to make this a great version 1.0. But it won’t be everything to everyone. We think a solid foundation is more important than immediately adding tons of features. Stay tuned!
3 weeks ago![43 Actions New Feature Tuesday: Project and Context Summaries.
Per request, you can now email not only Agenda Summaries, but also Context and Project Summaries. This lets you get a nice, quick overview of all the actions which comprise a specific project or context. (This is a donor exclusive [in EUR] feature.)
Bonus features: We have made the Badges look a bit more contrasty, making them easier on the eyes while still staying unobtrusive. In addition, the Context Badge won’t show when you’re browsing a Context, and vice versa.](http://media.tumblr.com/ywKYtpnOt8vhzblvcFbcNc6B_400.png)
43 Actions New Feature Tuesday: Project and Context Summaries.
Per request, you can now email not only Agenda Summaries, but also Context and Project Summaries. This lets you get a nice, quick overview of all the actions which comprise a specific project or context. (This is a donor exclusive [in EUR] feature.)
Bonus features: We have made the Badges look a bit more contrasty, making them easier on the eyes while still staying unobtrusive. In addition, the Context Badge won’t show when you’re browsing a Context, and vice versa.
1 month agoIn an effort to increase database performance and minimize storage requirements, we will, starting next Tuesday, remove accounts which are no longer used. We find unused accounts by looking at which accounts have not been confirmed yet. (You confirm your account by clicking the confirmation link in the email you got when you registered your 43 Actions account.)
So, for extra safety, we recommend everyone to look at their Settings, and see whether you find a link called “resend confirmation email” towards the bottom. If you don’t see this link, it means you have already activated your account, and your data is safe.
Important: it bears repeating; if your account is not confirmed, we will delete it completely by next tuesday.
Updated: Our seven day trial period is now over. We hope you enjoyed using the donor exclusive features, including Jott integration or Agenda Summaries. To continue using all these features, please donate here (in EUR).
Per heavy request, we have decided to run another trial period. So starting today, all donor exclusive features are available to everyone, for a full week. We think you’ll enjoy all the added benefits you get by donating.
2 months agoOne more for our power users. Now you can access Today’s and This Week’s Agenda Summaries via the curl command-line application, and get either a straight XML or an ATOM feed.
Note: This does not work with browsers. We only support curl at this moment.
43 Actions New Feature Tuesday: Color schemes.
You can now choose a different color scheme for the toolbar and buttons. (This is a donor exclusive feature.)
Bonus feature: The context and project for every item can now be visible as a badge underneath the action’s name when you view it in a list. This makes it much easier to see where an action belongs.
Also, archiving of checked (completed) actions is now turned off by default. If you want to turn on archiving, click the “turn archiving on” link in Settings.
3 months ago
Apple recently revealed their plans for the “native” iPhone SDK (Software Development Kit). This was the announcement we had been waiting for for a long time, in order to start planning the development of native applications—applications that live directly on the iPhone, like Apple’s own apps—with the ability to interconnect and sync both with 43 Actions on the web, as well as (eventually) with Mac OS X Leopard services like the iCal and Task stores.
Here at 43 Actions, we have always strived to stay open and keep a more intimate relation with our community—as a gesture of respect to our valued users—so today we decided to reveal some internal information about the future of our business; something most companies would not very often discuss in public.
We’re not afraid.
Our team had secretly wished and hoped for something very similar to what was revealed in Steve Jobs’ iPhone SDK Keynote. We were very, very impressed by what we saw, and felt a great relief regarding the future outlook of creating a native version of 43 Actions; one free from the “offline-access” problem and with a more fluid and responsive user interaction than is possible with a web application today.
But—and this is a big but—we will most certainly need extra resources to pull off this huge new task. This SDK represents an entirely fresh code base and platform for all of us—a huge new playing field with as yet very early development tools and user interaction conventions, requiring a significant new investment in time and resources. We would need to hire at least one additional developer, a support person, and probably a marketing/community position as well.
In his keynote, Steve Jobs revealed the iFund, a new Venture Capital fund founded by the esteemed VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, with the specific purpose of providing funding for brand new applications for the iPhone and iPod touch mobile platforms.
We believe strongly that 43 Actions—with its already large (and seemingly quite pleased :)) user base—in this exploding field of online and mobile-accessible to-do lists and organizers (thanks in part to the significant rise in popularity of such books as Getting Things Done, and the general interest in “life hacking”)—is in quite an opportune position to get attention from Venture Capital firms such as KPCB.
We are thankful for any help you as a user can give us in this regard. It could be as simple as sending us your feedback and encouragement, giving us more valuable input from actual users—instead of just relying on faceless statistics—for reporting our market prospects and current user satisfaction with our funding submission.
Would we to receive funding—from one source or another—we could hire the few extra people we need to come through with this new goal of building a native version of 43 Actions; a brand new type of mobile productivity applications, living in conjunction with the web application as well as the Leopard services on your main computer—always staying in sync.
We thank you all for your encouragement and valuable feedback on this important matter, as we venture (pun intended) into future territories unknown!
P.S.: If you have a specific and valuable suggestion on how to help 43 Actions move towards getting funding, please let us know as soon as possible! The sooner we have the manpower and financial and creative incentives necessary, the sooner this will all be done—and ready for download onto your very own iPhone or iPod touch. (For phone and other contact information, please send an email to 43actions+vc [at] gmail dot com.)
3 months ago