I've been building something similar to this as a side project. I think it's a great idea and hope these guys can build a better app than I've been able to.
Here are some of the benefits of this approach:
* It's more than just to-do lists. Lists can be used to keep track of everything in your life, not just the things you need to do tomorrow. Gift ideas, checklists, links to read later, restaurants to try out, data you've been collecting, pros and cons, brainstorming sessions, and life goals (to name a few) can all be represented as lists.
* Mix to-do items and random thoughts. Not everything on a list should be something you're going to follow through on. Sometimes it's good just to get your thoughts out of your head and onto a screen. You can evaluate your ideas later. Think of your lists as brainstorming devices, especially if your brainstorming session is spread out over many hours, days, or weeks.
* Every project needs a list (hashtag). If you're undertaking something you'd consider a 'project,' make a list for it. Start collecting thoughts, goals, links, notes, and of course to-do items.
One little (website) UX gripe: Once you've entered your username on the homepage to sign up, in the next form, the email field is already active, which is great - but since that form has no labels, there's no indication what that input field is actually for since the placeholder has already been replaced by the cursor (Firefox on OS X). One can guess, but to know for sure, you have to tab out of the field to reveal the placeholder text.
BTW it isn't very clear how to download the apps - took a couple minutes to figure out that you had to click those litte icons on the home page and when you are logged in you have no way of knowing.
The app works very nicely. It can feel a bit unresponsive, for example when you press "Done" on a note it takes some time to upload the note, but you don't see anything, which makes me want to press the button a gazillion more times. Maybe a nice spinner there would make things clearer.
Also, just out of curiosity, how are you planning to make money with this?
A nice, simple seeming app. Two issues I've noticed. First:
Note posted to (Android) phone -> gets to web immediately (manual refresh needed)
Note posted to web -> never gets to phone
Second: App info on the phone says "Click the Fetchnotes logo to refresh your notes." But that doesn't seem to do anything. It may be doing something (or trying?), but there's no feedback to let me know anything is happening.
The fetchnotes site with "JS off" is.. err.. nonexistent.
While I don't ask for an awesome experience, and I understand that the app behind can really need JS, it would be nice to have at least an okay-ish landing page, instead of just links to useless guides on how to enable javascript.
Here are some of the benefits of this approach:
* It's more than just to-do lists. Lists can be used to keep track of everything in your life, not just the things you need to do tomorrow. Gift ideas, checklists, links to read later, restaurants to try out, data you've been collecting, pros and cons, brainstorming sessions, and life goals (to name a few) can all be represented as lists.
* Mix to-do items and random thoughts. Not everything on a list should be something you're going to follow through on. Sometimes it's good just to get your thoughts out of your head and onto a screen. You can evaluate your ideas later. Think of your lists as brainstorming devices, especially if your brainstorming session is spread out over many hours, days, or weeks.
* Every project needs a list (hashtag). If you're undertaking something you'd consider a 'project,' make a list for it. Start collecting thoughts, goals, links, notes, and of course to-do items.
best of luck to you guys!