Regarding 43 Actions vs. the iPhone SDK
A lot of people, including ourselves, are salivating at the possibilities that will (hopefully) be unleashed by the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) that Apple is about to release. We are of course already investigating how this could fit into our own strategy going forward, with the intent of eventually releasing something that can live locally on your iPhone, and connect to 43 Actions whenever internet access is obtained. However, we wanted to talk a bit about our take on this matter already today.
Our reasoning behind why 43 Actions is—and after the release of the SDK will still be—best suited as an internet based application (eventually with strong tie-in’s to applications living locally on your iPhone or laptop), can be condensed into the following:
Internet applications—or, Web Apps—are accessible from everywhere, whether you’re using a computer, a phone or an internet kiosk. New updates happens seamlessly for the user, without most of them ever knowing it, making sure that everyone is always using the latest and (hopefully) most secure version. Of course, there are some obvious downsides to this approach.
The most critical complaint we have against web applications are that we can’t always access them. When we are in a tunnel, in an airplane or any other situation you can imagine where neither EDGE nor WiFi coverage is available, it is frustrating not being able to instantly jot down your thoughts into a new action—we have very quickly become adapted to the always-on nature of the iPhone. (A genius move by Apple, in our opinion.)
We think that 43 Actions—with features already available, or upcoming major features like Agenda Summaries—can most of the time alleviate or sometimes even totally negate this huge obstacle to our mental well-being. (How’s that for aggrandizement?)
With your newaction email, you can quickly scribble down a new action inside Mail on your iPhone—even while in Airplane Mode—and have it delivered to your 43 Actions Inbox the moment you land and again receive an internet connection!
With a future release of Jott integration, you will be able to simply pick up your phone, say “Fortythree Actions”, say a few words and hang up. Jott will automatically pass the transcribed text on to 43 Actions, and we create a new action for you in your Inbox!
And with the likewise forthcoming Agenda Summaries you will be able to email yourself Today’s or This Week’s tasks. Do this in the morning, while on your home WiFi network, and have instant access to them from Mail on your iPhone wherever you go. This works because Mail always tries to store a local copy of your latest received emails, in case you would happen to go offline.
Note to iPod touch owners: Since the January software update for iPod touch added Mail to its range of applications, now a whole new group of users can enjoy 43 Actions on the go, without having to scour the town for an open WiFi hotspot!
Psst. We would love to hear how you use 43 Actions yourself. How do you work around its limitations (they’re there, we know) in your own clever ways? Thanks in advance for your feedback!
4 years ago