Announced alongside Gmail’s redesign this morning, Google Tasks is another new app from Mountain View, aimed at helping you keep track of ongoing tasks you may have. It was specifically announced with Gmail’s new look because Tasks is now integrated natively inside of Gmail, meaning you can access your tasks from within it.
However, the standalone Tasks app is so barebones and minimal that it borderlines useless and I don’t think it’s a massive stretch to assume it won’t see a lot of usage. I’d usually say, “Let’s break it down,” with regard to Tasks’ features, but honestly, there isn’t much to break down.
When you open the app, it asks you to start adding tasks. Once you’ve added a task, you can then choose to mark it as complete or make a new task. With each task, you can add subtasks. You can also add a desired completion date and additional details to the task. And that’s it. There are no collaboration options or anything else that would help break away from the many other, more comprehensive tasks apps on the market.
Unlike a full blown project management app like Trello, Tasks is designed specifically for individuals, not teams. This is totally fine and there is a place for something like this, but having an app that just lists tasks and provides notifications for them isn’t exactly revolutionary, considering you can do this same thing inside of Google Keep. With Keep, you can write down whatever you want and set reminders, but you can even add collaborators and send Keep notes to other people. You know, because sometimes tasks will require work from more than just one person.
If you want to check out Tasks for yourself, go grab it on Google Play. You might as well, since it’s already implemented into your new Gmail experience.
What’s your take on Tasks? Am I just not getting it?