Does this MyLifeOrganized fit my needs?

[Michelle]

I am considering purchasing this program, but am having trouble figuring out if it fits my needs.  I have a windows computer at work, an android phone, and a windows laptop.  I would like to easily use this program on all my devices.  Are updates done to all devices efficiently, easily, and automatically?  To use 2 windows devices, will I need to purchase 2 subscriptions?  Thanks.

[Steve Gledhill]

Hi Michelle,

I have exactly the same setup that you describe and it works very well. One licence covers all your computers. You need to buy an Android version as well.

I  also use the Cloud sync which works very well. If you don't plan to edit on your phone then you might get by with just Wi-Fi sync but I've never tried that.

Updates are automatic. You will get a popup on your computer and the installation is quick (a couple of minutes) and easy. Likewise, the phone updates automatically.

You will here talk about people saying an update is needed for the Android version but I find it works well - I don't spend a lot of time editing on it though but I love the reminders that popup automatically and being able to access all my todos wherever I am.

The only thing about syncing (even with the cloud) is that if you move from device to device a lot then you will need to remember to manually sync (click a button - not hard but you need to remember). Similarly on the phone:  the 'cloud' button is always visible and you click to sync. I don't know if other products manage this better with automatic / immediate syncing on changes being made but, if they do, then this comes with its own problems. 

I've tried many other managers:  Outlook, toodledo, rememberthemilk and others but this is by far the best.

Good luck

[Joel Azaria]

Hi Michelle,

As Steve points out the license will cover both machines and the Android license is separate.   Also if you have an iDevice that license is in addition too.

I want to point out the sync issues Steve glossed over because in my opinion you should be aware before buying.  Not that they're a show-stopper but I think being aware is better than not.

So with regards to syncing via cloud-sync, it's an add on service for about $3/mo and generally works pretty well.  It's billed as automatic but it has some weird quirkiness where it's not entirely automatic.  I'll often find a notification in my Android notification bar that says "MLO changes available" and I have to push it and manually click the cloudsync button in mlo to get the changes.  I find it odd that it can detect automatically that there are changes but it can't sync those changes automatically.

I also occasionally find that I must manually sync my desktop.  This is much less frequent than on Android - for the most part the desktop does well with being fully automatic - but it does happen.  For example just a half hour ago I noted that my desktop hadn't synced to the cloud in 5 days.  This may be related to me being on a laptop and moving in and out of having a network connection, I'm not sure.  Also to be fair the last time it happened was 5 or 6 months ago.

So now you know.  MLO is still a great tool with features I can't find anywhere else (can't find much that even comes close tbh), but it does have it's quirks and you will brush up against them at times so do be prepared for a bit of that.

hth.

[Dwight Arthur]

Hi, Michelle. I agree with pretty much everything Steve said, so I won't bother repeating it. Just let me chime in on sync: WiFi sync works great if you have two devices (windows and phone or two windows) to sync and they are on the same WiFi network. It's a little less convenient than cloud sync, and there's no additional fee beyond the basic MLO license. Once you have a third device to sync, or if any of your devices travel to other networks (eg home vs work) then cloud sync is the definite solution.