Creating an Android brain dump app
For the last week I have been working on a personal project. I am coding a native Android application.
The application is going to be able to quickly collect reminders, to-dos, things you think about. Those things that in the Getting Things Done terminology are labelled "Stuff". In the GTD way of thinking, it is very very important to move "Stuff" from your brain and on to some permanent storage: paper, an electronic document or whatever.
My app will be able to collect Stuff and when it is convenient for you it can save that data from the device and into your Lotus Notes todo-list as a very very simple Lotus Notes Task document.
What happens next, after your Stuff has been saved to Notes is going to be all-Notes client. I am using the eProductivity template, and when I open up my eP-enabled mail box it prompts me when it detects the kind of Stuff that my ToDoManager has saved to my mail database, asking me if I want to do something with them - get them organized in to proper GTD Actions for instance.
This is a personal journey at the moment. I am building up both Java and Android skills as I go.
At the moment my prototype looks like this:
I can add notes on the first Tab. You can see that I am writing one in the screen dump above.
On the second tab I can see what notes I have saved locally.
The notes are saved in a local SQlite database.
And that's it. No saving to the Lotus Notes mail database yet.
I am in the process of getting to the point where I can save to Notes using http POST. I have just successfully seen my app log on to a Domino server using the Multi Server Single Signon LtpaToken.
This is going to be so good
Lots of wins for me personally here:
- I am solving a real need that I have in my GTD implementation.
- I learn more Java.
- What I learn here can possibly be used at work. Convergens' standard Doc Management solution - now on Android!
- I have more cool stuff to show to my iPhone-using neighbours.
- My daughter Frederikke (aged 11) thinks I am cool (and she wants an Android too).
If you need to get your work life organized I can recommend having a look at eProductivity. They are represented at LotusPhere 2010 if you happen to be there. I know that Eric Mack is doing a presentation.