Conqu is a good, yet odd in places, looking GTD specific app for a host of platforms, including not so common ones such as Blackberry Playbook and Nook Color. With a decent feature set, clearly and simply laid out.

It’s a real mixed UI. It has an eclectic mix of controls that are just odd and look handmade ie not your standard set. Followed by the inspired zoomed in task view. It’s nice and clear, has a nice relevant paper note 3D effect, with a ribbon showing you where it’s located and nice big text for the project it’s in. Most apps task views are quite functional, Conqu’s take is refreshing.

How it Scored

This is how it scored against the criteria for a great GTD app.

Criteria Result
Quick add No
Projects/Sub-tasks Yes, projects
Contexts/tags Both context and tags
Order tasks Yes
Notes Yes
Highlight/star Yes, 3 coloured flags
Search Yes
Deadline Yes
Reminder Yes, scheduled date
Recurring tasks No
Sync with Google Calendar No
User Experience 3/5

Downsides

Limited keyboard navigation. Only move up/down main menu, contexts, projects and tab into add task/project.

It’s not a native Mac app (Adobe Air), so look and feels very different to anything else on the Mac. It even goes further than that, some of controls aren’t recognisable from any OS/device I’ve used. They’re not recognisable as to what they do (accordions that look like drop-downs) or controls that look similar but then behave differently (Flags vs Energy Level). Especially some of the dialogs for choosing things, they’re a cross between a large tooltip, checkbox list and cylinder.

It’s difficult to view your scheduled tasks, as you can only see a week at a time and you must select the day to view its tasks.

Puzzling

You can’t swipe/scroll up and down to flip between the tasks (when viewing a task).

Obscure task ordering mechanism. Requires starting bulk edit mode, then selecting tasks to move, then choosing a sort option (up, down, first etc) unselect, select another, repeat. Drag and drop? At least it has ordering though.

Useful Extras

How it Looks

Archives
Archives
Backburner
Backburner
Calendar/Future
Calendar/Future
Contexts
Contexts
Filter Tasks
Filter Tasks
Inbox
Inbox
Next Actions
Next Actions
Projects
Projects
Search
Search
Search Results
Search Results
Task (Zoomed in/edit)
Task (Zoomed in/edit)
Task ordering
Task ordering
Today
Today
Trash
Trash
Waiting
Waiting

Platforms

Web, Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, iPhone/iPad, Playbook and Nook Colour. All available to download here.

Support

They’re open about their roadmap and are active on their support forums where you can discuss bugs and suggest features.

Price

Free for all the apps. Optionally $53 per year for ConquSync which gives you backup to the cloud, syncing tasks across multiple devices and improved task sharing.