ForumsQuestionsCreating a location based context for commute


Creating a location based context for commute
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russky77

Posted: Oct 21, 2010
Score: 0 Reference
I ride the bus to and from work each day and my commute is about an hour each way. I've figured out how to make contexts link to a specific location, but wondering I'd there's a way to set a bus route (or roads) as the location. Somehow for TD to recognize that I'm on the bus and to show me tasks that I have assigned to the bus ride.

This would be just awesome.
Technocrap

Posted: Oct 21, 2010
Score: 0 Reference
Congratulation, You've made the most far fetch feature request ever.

You're funny, You have one hours of doing nothing and want your GPS to tell you automatically that you're on the bus.

Posted by russky77:
to recognize that I'm on the bus and to show me tasks that I have assigned to the bus ride.

Out of curiosity what kind of task you want to do on the bus that you can't do elsewhere ?:


This message was edited Oct 21, 2010.
PeterW 

Posted: Oct 21, 2010
Score: 0 Reference
@Technocrap: LMAO! That was possibly one of the funniest responses I have ever seen in these forums.

I'm still laughing. :D
piyush_soni

Posted: Oct 21, 2010
Score: 0 Reference
Russky77,
I think for near future you might have to settle for manually adding a Context called 'Commute' to these tasks you can finish in your bus. Or may be tags if that suits you.

Posted by Technocrap:
Out of curiosity what kind of task you want to do on the bus that you can't do elsewhere ?:

I think it's more about utilizing that one hour which would otherwise go wasted in the bus than 'not being able to do them elsewhere'. I used to have a long commute too in the past, and I always used to think of ways of making better use of it. Making pending phone calls, writing down some ideas about next project ... etc. Of course, Russky77 would have better plans :)


This message was edited Oct 21, 2010.
russky77

Posted: Oct 21, 2010
Score: 0 Reference
Technocrap, it just sounds funny to you, because you're not very creative. Your last question in your reply proves that. There are lots of things I try to do while on a bus, since I'm just sitting there. Your commute to-do list might only include "Drool and stare for one whole hour," but mine doesn't.

Not sure if you've ever commuted on a bus before, but it won't exactly pull off into the parking lot so you can run inside Home Depot. So, what if I could assign a location to my Home Depot shopping list, but also not have Toodledo show me that list when it recognizes that I'm just on my commute (i.e., I'm following a specific route at an approximate time during the day).

Instead, what if Toodledo recognized I was on my hour-long bus route. It could pop up a box asking if I was on my commute. When I click yes, it would filter my to-do list by the Commute context, and hides all other to-do's (e.g., my Home Depot location to-dos). My bus to-do's might be a reminder that I wanted to watch a documentary on Netflix (which I wouldn't do at home, because I have 3 young children and a spouse that want some time). It might be phone calls I want to make. It might be a reminder to research something (via my mobile browser), or whatever.

It could be useful on a trip too. Say next time I'm on a trip across state to visit my family. Once it sees I'm on that route, maybe it would pull up a list of little things we wanted to try to do next time we made the trip.

Lastly, I'm a new user, and I don't really have experience yet with the location feature, so I'm asking a question without knowing exactly what it can and can't do. Just trying to find out. Probably most of this is easier to do just by manually selecting a context. But, what would make it more useful is the location sensitive reminder to look at the list and work on it. Otherwise, I can just ignore it.
Jake

Toodledo Founder
Posted: Oct 21, 2010
Score: 0 Reference
This is a good suggestion, but something that is not possible for us to do at this time for technical reasons. My suggestion is to use our existing context filter to manually switch into "commute" context when you get on the bus.
mark

Posted: Oct 21, 2010
Score: 0 Reference
Posted by russky77:
But, what would make it more useful is the location sensitive reminder


But your location is constantly changing (because the bus is moving) so I can't see how this would work in any way.
Not saying you're wrong in asking but just stating that a location is a static point but you're asking for it to be dynamic (constantly changing), which is beyond pretty much any location aware app that I'm aware of.

Anyway, I agree with the others just use a "commute" context.
PeterW 

Posted: Oct 21, 2010
Score: 1 Reference
Posted by mark:
Anyway, I agree with the others just use a "commute" context.

Yes, fully agree.

Technocrap was making a very good point - you don't need a GPS to tell you that you're on the bus or any place that you're purposely at. GPS is useful when you don't know where you are or where you're going.

We've had similar discussions about the Location feature in other threads. I still feel that it's trying to automate something that just doesn't need to be automated. When you're in a specific context, set that on your device and review what can be done.


This message was edited Oct 21, 2010.
Salgud

Posted: Oct 22, 2010
Score: 0 Reference
Widely varying opinions on the Location feature. Some disparage it entirely, others say they "need" it. Seems to me there would be good uses for it. Every weekend, I go to the grocery store. I often forget that the hardware store is right next door and I need something there too. So an actual alarm going off as I pull into the parking lot would be nice. But as I recall, the Location feature doesn't actually remind you you're near the hardware store, it's just available and will pop up with the appropriate list when you open TD. (I don't currently have a smartphone, so I haven't actually used this feature.) So it wouldn't do what I need anyway.

As far as the bus trip goes, that does seem a bit ridiculous. How often do you forget you're on the bus? Still, I imagine the you could use the location feature, at least theoretically. While the bus may move from location to location, if you're catching the same bus each day, you're probably catching it from the same location, and you could use that location in TD. So you wouldn't have to "remember" you're on the bus.

In practice, another issue comes into play. the issue is that TD's contexts are unique to a task - only one per task. There have been a lot of requests to change this, and it's on TD's task list. But from the OPs list, I'd say that virtually all "bus" tasks could be done elsewhere, making a "bus" context a poor solution. What if he finds himself at home or at the office, alone, with some time left before the family comes back or he leaves? Could make one of those phone calls or even watch a short YouTube video. Seems to me this is better done with a tag. Tag all tasks that could be done on the bus with a "Bus" tag, and do a search for that tag when you get on. (If the mobile version of TD had Saved Searches, you could use one of those, but, to my understanding, it doesn't.) Which means he still has to do it himself, and the Location feature, as it is now, doesn't come into play.

I guess he's just going to have to remember he's on the bus!
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