2Do on Android learns a new Trick with CalDAV
I’m thrilled to announce the availability of CalDAV sync on Android! With 2Do v2.10 (currently in beta) you can now sync with your CalDAV server of choice (iCloud Reminders, Fruux, Fastmail, OwnCloud and Synology to name a few). CalDAV is great because it’s open, widely supported, and best of all, you can share lists with other users and pseudo-collaborate on stuff. Neat.
The big deal about all this is the fact that this is a totally free addition for all existing pro users (remember, 2Do doesn’t charge you recurring subscription fees). There are no hidden upgrade charges, no bait and switch, no tricks. Since 2Do can be downloaded and used in all its glory for free (well, almost – you still need to pay once to be able to sync), you can still take this new feature for a test-run during the initial two-week free trial period.
So how do we milk money out of this new sync addition? We don’t. Frankly, supporting CalDAV is like learning to ______ (fill in the blank with anything super difficult that comes to mind) – it’s just hard, and adds to the overall support burden given the three-thousand-and-one flavours of clients and servers out there that we need to mix well with. Initially the plan was to charge a one-off upgrade fee for this, especially since a lot of effort and time went into its development, and will continue with ongoing improvements. Pro users would have paid around $2.99 once and sync endless times with endless devices and servers.
It turns out, 2Do doesn’t get much press on Android and I could count the number of active Pro users we have on a few thousand fingers. With an upgrade model like this, we may have gotten lucky and earned $192.98 extra the first month, and $74.40 the second (these are made-up estimates), whilst angry (and nasty) emails and reviews left by a small handful would have effectively put us out of business. It just wasn’t worth it.
On the bright side, it would genuinely make us a lot happier to see folks using 2Do, syncing it with their favourite CalDAV server and enjoying being a lot more productive.
If you’re on Android and haven’t given 2Do a chance, I guarantee you there’s no other CalDAV task manager that comes close. Try it out now.
You can join the open beta group by clicking here.
November 27, 2018