Weekly updates to SwiftoDo came to an end in early April, but work on SwiftoDo has continued apace.

What’s next?

I am working on an update, version 2.12.0, that includes a couple minor, but long-requested features: (1) a setting to preserve priority on completed tasks and (2) a default priority setting for new tasks. Implementing these features required lots of behind-the-scenes effort. Consequently, neither could be completed in less than a week.

I am currently working on improving the Dropbox code that (1) checks whether SwiftoDo is authorized to access Dropbox, and (2) reports this to the user in a clear and actionable way. This is necessary because Dropbox can de-authorize SwiftoDo for various reasons, including when I upgrade the Dropbox library I am using, which is exactly what the version I am working on does. When this happens, SwiftoDo will alert the user after an upload or a download fails. Based on user reports, however, this notification doesn’t always happen, which can lead to data loss if the user does not realize you are working offline.

Once I finish my work on the Dropbox-related code, I can release this version.

What’s after that?

After I complete version 2.12.0, I plan to focus my efforts on implementing iOS 11 Files integration. Everything else, other than fixing critical bugs, will be put on hold.

The basic mechanics of Files integration are not hard, but they are not really meant for a to-do app—especially one that manages two files. I am unsure if it would require uses to re-open their todo.txt and archive files periodically, after the app is killed, or every time you wish to archive, which may be annoying to users. I am not yet sure how it will affect archiving, manual sync mode, and whether offline access would be possible.

In a best-case scenario, Files integration will eventually allow me to get rid of the Dropbox-related code within SwiftoDo, and rely on Apple’s and Dropbox’s native integration.

In a worst-case scenario, I won’t be able to get Files integration working without giving up too many features or conveniences of the current app.

So, after version 2.12.0 is released, you may not hear from me for some time about development, but I will be hard at work nonetheless.