The settings options for apps are very important, yet are often overlooked. The goal of this Todo Essentials—General Settings series is to explore the options available in the General Settings of the basic Todo app as well as Todo Cloud.

Application Icon Section

Let’s take a quick look at the first section of the General Settings screen and get a sense of which options might be best for you to set on your device(s). The Show options within the Application Icon section allow you to choose the information reflected by the Todo badge (that little red circle that appears in the right corner of the app icon on the Home Screen). In general, this option can be helpful for those that have memory issues; however, the wrong setting choice could cause users to get overwhelmed. I’ll review the options below and share my thoughts on the pros and cons of each option.

• No Badge — Does not display a badge associated with the Todo Cloud app. I don’t recommend this setting because the badge serves as a nice reminder that you have things that need to be worked on. It serves as a visual cue every time you see the Todo icon on your Home screen that you have some type of tasks to be completed.
• Due and Overdue Tasks — Shows the number of tasks due on that day and any overdue tasks. This is a good option, but may be a bit overwhelming if you get behind on your tasks. I would only use this option if you consistently complete tasks from your list so they don’t pile up, increasing the number displayed in the badge and potentially causing stress.
• Overdue Tasks — Shows the number of overdue tasks. This option may narrow down the number, but it might also be overwhelming to see the number of tasks you haven’t gotten to yet. I don’t recommend this option because it can be very discouraging to see the number of tasks you haven’t accomplished.
• “All” List Tasks — Shows the number of total tasks in the Todo Cloud app. I wouldn’t recommend this because it will show the total number of tasks you have entered into Todo Cloud regardless of due date, etc.–definitely the makings of being overwhelmed.
• “Focus” List Tasks — Shows the total number of tasks in your Focus list. This may be a good option if you have your Focus list set appropriately (see Todo Essentials–Focus List Settings). In essence you can set your Focus list to just display those tasks that need to be completed within the next day or two–effectively allowing you to “focus” on what is important. In this case, it is helpful to see the number of tasks that must be taken care of in the assigned timeframe.

Of the options presented above, I would recommend either the Due and Overdue Tasks or the Focus List Task options. You have some control over the information that would appear and, as mentioned above, it is nice to see a badge to help you recall that you have tasks to work on.