Article about NirvanaHQ

wjlynch

Registered
As someone who is always wondering what is going on with NirvanaHQ, it's nice to come across any sign of life. Here is a link to a recent article - its like seeing a unicorn!

http://enfoquecarnot.com/2017/04/10...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

As a user of Mac at home, PC at work and iPhone on the road, it amazes me how little exists for true followers of GTD who have to work on mulitiple platforms. I so wish that NirvanaHQ would speed up their development.
 

Longstreet

Professor of microbiology and infectious diseases
As someone who is always wondering what is going on with NirvanaHQ, it's nice to come across any sign of life. Here is a link to a recent article - its like seeing a unicorn!

http://enfoquecarnot.com/2017/04/10...al&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

As a user of Mac at home, PC at work and iPhone on the road, it amazes me how little exists for true followers of GTD who have to work on mulitiple platforms. I so wish that NirvanaHQ would speed up their development.
Me too! I love Nirvanahq but they need to move. I hear they have engaged with another developer part-time to move development forward faster. Let's hope for the best!
 

CSicking

Registered
Me too! I love Nirvanahq but they need to move. I hear they have engaged with another developer part-time to move development forward faster. Let's hope for the best!

I'm coming off a bit of a hiatus from GTD as well as switching from Mac (OmniFocus) to PC and I'm trying to decide between Doit.im and Nirvana. What are your favorite parts of the app? In my brief trial I leaned a bit more toward Doit.im as it appears to be a bit more straightforward GTD (at least in terms of some of the terminology).

I've also tried about a dozen others that just didn't jive with me for one reason or another; zendone, todoist, nozbe, facilethings to name a few. I really like GTDNext but man, they need a mobile app. On the flip side I found GTDSimple on Android which I like, but it doesn't appear to have a web/native app option.
 

Longstreet

Professor of microbiology and infectious diseases
I like GTDNext too, but no iOS or Android apps....yet. Definitely planned for the future. Not sure when.
 

PeterW

Registered
I tried Nirvanahq a number of years ago. As the article implies, it started out as a hobby. Development is so slow that I'd describe it as almost stagnant. When they couldn't handle the volume of requests in their user forums, they simply shut them down. That says a lot about a developer.
 

Hammer

Registered
If you haven't already you should take a look at IQTell. It seems to wrap everything up in one nice package (unfortunately I can't take advantage of the great e-mail integration due to my line of work). They just re-did the interface to make it conform to modern standards and have been adding features at a fairly regular rate.

Scott
 

Longstreet

Professor of microbiology and infectious diseases
I tried Nirvanahq a number of years ago. As the article implies, it started out as a hobby. Development is so slow that I'd describe it as almost stagnant. When they couldn't handle the volume of requests in their user forums, they simply shut them down. That says a lot about a developer.
Yeah, their progress has indeed been slow. But their iOS app and web app are outstanding. It is built for GTD and works very well for me. And the sync works flawlessly and is virtually instantaneous. I am sticking with Nirvanahq.
 

Longstreet

Professor of microbiology and infectious diseases
Actually, I am now testing IQTell. All I can say at this point is WOW! This is very, very nice!
 

bcmyers2112

Registered
As a user of Mac at home, PC at work and iPhone on the road, it amazes me how little exists for true followers of GTD who have to work on mulitiple platforms. I so wish that NirvanaHQ would speed up their development.

Actually, if you're not averse to the cloud (and I assume you're not if you're using Nirvana) there are a lot of options for multiplatform GTD list management. There are many GTD-centric solutions, although some of them were designed without a good understanding of GTD principles. There are even more cloud solutions that are not GTD-centric by design but have all of the characteristics of a good GTD list manager. In fact I'd say the problem isn't that there aren't enough options, but so many options that it can be overwhelming to sift through them. Just do a Google search for the terms "GTD" and "cloud" and you'll see what I mean.

If the issues with Nirvana are truly impeding your GTD practice there is no shortage of options.
 

bcmyers2112

Registered
Me too! I love Nirvanahq but they need to move. I hear they have engaged with another developer part-time to move development forward faster. Let's hope for the best!

It's tough for smaller companies. As someone who sells software for a living I know a bit about what it takes to design, update and support it. It's very resource-intensive. It takes a lot of hours of hands-on work and if you don't have a lot of hands to throw at it, it's going to be a slow process.

There's a double-edged sword: on the one hand smaller companies often are the more innovative and more able to stay true to a vision, but on the other lack the resources to keep their product current and compatible with all of the browsers, PC/Mac operating systems and mobile devices out there. Wunderlist, prior to being acquired by Microsoft, undertook a redesign that took months to implement and during that time was broken on the latest version of IE which many people (like me) had to use because it was the only company-approved browser.

Larger companies have the resources for speedier development, but sometimes lack the customer-focus needed to deliver great products. Microsoft's acquisition and subsequent sunsetting of Sunrise Calendar is a good example. Microsoft's replacement is a shadow of what Sunrise was.
 

bcmyers2112

Registered
Actually, I am now testing IQTell. All I can say at this point is WOW! This is very, very nice!

I agree. I was an IQTell beta tester and used the product for a while before their redesign. It was extremely powerful and flexible, but at the cost of being grotesquely complicated. The UI was also quite ugly. They've since engaged a firm with UI expertise and overhauled it and the results have been impressive. They've streamlined the interface and made it much more intuitive and attractive, and struck a really nice balance between power and usability. In fact I'm considering going back to them due to quality issues with my current list manager.

The only thing I would caution people about is using IQTell's email integration. You can actually use IQTell as your email client for just about any major email service including Exchange and Gmail, which enables you to use macros to easily create links between emails and GTD list items like actions and projects. But they've had some issues in the past with lengthy server outages that caused significant hardship for users, and in one case the company's attempted fix caused people to find emails popping up in their inboxes that had been filed away and creating a real mess for everyone. IQTell uses Amazon Web Services for hosting, and it doesn't seem that they have any failover or other means of guaranteeing uptime. So if the potential for delay in getting your email is a problem you may want to avoid using that feature. Even without using the email integration, though, I think there is now a lot to recommend IQTell these days.
 
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Hammer

Registered
FYI - Unfortunately IQTell has decided to close the service as of the end of July :( Now the search is on for a replacement.... They came close to closing last year and many of us looked around and could not find anything quite like it. There is a google doc showing many apps and the features they have (once again IQTell is outstanding in features - nothing close).

I hate to go down the cloud route again due to just this type of situation but so far toodledo and nozbe look the best for me. I am also looking at MyLifeOrganized but with no file attachments it will be hard to fit the way I have setup my workflow.... Trying not to rush to pick something but we only have until the end of July to get our data out of IQTell..

This is depressing...

Scott
 

bcmyers2112

Registered
FYI - Unfortunately IQTell has decided to close the service as of the end of July :(

Well, that's unfortunate. They invested a lot of time and resources into overhauling the web interface. It's too bad they couldn't make a go of it.

Last time they announced they were shuttering the service they came up with funding and a new pricing plan at the last minute. I would guess it's really, really it this time.

My suggestion for a replacement would be a service that has demonstrated longevity. That way there will be less risk of the service being acquired and sunset, or biting the dust altogether. Toodledo and Nozbe certainly both fit the bill.
 
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