Google’s stewardship of task management apps reminds me of its approach to chat / messaging apps; it just can’t seem to settle on a consistent approach, and so instead, it has 38 different approaches. Google had a stand-alone tasks service, which it then ditched, then integrated into Inbox, Keep and Assistant, and then again separated out into a standalone Tasks app.
Tasks has long integrated with Gmail on the web, but the integration didn’t extend to the place where we use apps the most – our mobile devices. Well, from today, that changes.
With the latest update to Gmail, you can add tasks to Tasks easily. To add an email to Tasks, tap on the overflow (3 dots) menu, and select “Add to Tasks”. Once added, you’ll be prompted to view the task in Tasks if you wish. If you don’t have Tasks installed when you tap the add to Tasks menu, you’ll be prompted to install it.
The functionality isn’t quite the same as what Inbox’s tasks management interface offered. You can’t manage Tasks within your Inbox view (web or mobile app), instead you have to switch to Tasks to complete most tasks … tasks?
The new update is coming down via the Play Store at the moment, so check it out, or the fine folks at Android Police have got the update APK for you to try out too.
Why can’t they integrate tasks with the calendar app already!? It works well with calendar on the web. Useless to me until I can see my tasks on my calendar.