DotNetIdeas' Blog mobile applications and more...

We just added the feature to allow users to add Chore Checklist widget to lock screen. It requires Android 4.2+.

Below is what it look like:

To add the widget to lock screen:

1. Go to the lock screen.
2. At the top of your screen, swipe from left to right. If the lock screen has no widgets yet, you'll see a new screen with a Plus icon. If the lock screen already has widget, you will need to swipe from top to bottom first and then left to right until you see a screen with a Plus icon. (You can long press current widget and drag to “X” to remove it)
3. Touch the Plus icon . ...
4. You'll see a list of widgets, including widgets for apps you've installed.
5. Touch the Chore Checklist widget. It will prompt you to choose a list.

The widget is view-only. But you can click on “+” to open “quick add one-time chore” view or touch the widget to open the “Due Date View”.

If you just purchased and installed the Cloud Connector/Sync Provider from Google Play(or Amazon Store), you need to kill and restart the full version app in order for the app to recognize the new add-on. To kill the app, you can go to device’s “Settings”->”Applications”. Find the app(e.g. Chore Checklist Full). Click it and click on “Force stop”. Or you can simply reboot your device.

There is no direct way to import a CSV file into Packing List, Chore Checklist, or Grocery Helper app. But you can use our online editor's "Quick Add" feature to add multiple items at once. Create/Open a packing list online in our online editor. Add a category and then click on "Add multiple items to the category" icon (it is between the "+" icon and "delete" icon on the right side of category name). Then you can copy/paste items from your TXT/CSV file.

Please watch the video below to see how to do it.

We uploaded some video tutorials to show how to use online editors and list catalog on our web site. The videos use Chore Checklist Editor and Chore Checklist – Full app(Android) as examples to demonstrate the steps in creating new lists, editing existing lists, syncing lists, sharing lists and using list catalog. The process also applys to Packing List Editor, Inventory List Editor and Shopping List Editor. Our iPhone/iPad or Windows 8 version of the apps offer the same features but with slightly different interface.

Create New Lists

This video shows you how to create a new list using Chore Checklist Editor

Edit Existing Lists

In this video, you will learn how to edit an existing list, re-order items and edit metadata.

Sync Lists

The following video shows you how to sync lists between Android device and cloud server. (Note: Chore Checklist Full app and Chore Checklist Cloud Connector are required on the Android device)

Share Lists

This video shows you how to share lists between two accounts. In this demo, user b@b.com shared one list with user c@c.com. You will see how user c@c.com download that list to his Android device.

Use List Catalog

This video shows you how to use list catalog. You can create list from list template in the catalog or add items from template to your existing list.

Cloud Connector/Sync Provider enables user to sync/share lists between our cloud server, devices and users. Since not every body needs this feature, we make it separate purchase. You only buy it when you want it and it is one time purchase. We try to keep our apps at reasonable price. This will give users more flexible purchase option.

The lite version has Ads.

The paid version doesn't have Ads and allow you to customize text size and text/background colors. It also allow you to send party info by email/message.

Depends on your device, the "Menu" button can be a physical button or a soft button. Here are a few examples:

If you have Android OS 4.0+, the "Menu" button is the 3 vertical dot on the screen. It can be either at the bottom or on the top right corner of the screen.

On some devices, the app switch button(the right most button with the two overlapping square) also acts as a menu button. You need to "Press and Hold" it in order to have the menu show up.

All of our lists are saved on SD card. If you have USB connected, the app will not be able to save the lists to SD card. So you need to disconnect USB storage when using our app.

You will also need to have enough free space on you SD card. How much free space it needs depends on how big your list is and how many lists you have. The pre-loaded packing master list needs about 10KB.

Occasionally you may get this error when you don't have USB connected. In that case, please make sure you don't have special characters in your file name. Characters such as ', /, \ are not allowed.

Another scenario is the saving of a list got interrupted somehow so an incomplete list was saved. Therefore the app could not open it again. In this case, please contact us so we can try to fix the file for you.

The lite version has Ads.

The paid version doesn't have Ads and has the following features:

• Mass change(edit multiple items at the same time)
• Customize text/background colors
• Sync/Share/Backup lists (separate purchase of Sync Provider is required)

This FAQ is about how to sync lists using the same account. If you want to know how to share lists between different accounts, please watch this video tutorial.

To sync lists between devices, you need to purchase and install full/paid version and Cloud Connector/Sync Provider on both devices. You don't have to purchase different copies if you use the same Google Play account. (If you still see the purchase prompt after installing the Cloud Connector/Sync Provider, kill and restart the app or reboot your phone.)

After making sure everything is installed, go to www.dotnetideas.com from your desktop. Click on “login/sign up” button on the top right corner. Then click on “Sign up now” link and follow the instruction to register.

You can also register from the app. Please following the steps below:

• Click on “Menu”->”Sync List”
• Click on “Login/Register”
• Click on “Register” button
• Follow the instruction to register

After the registration, you should be able to upload your list from one device by clicking on “Menu”->”Sync List”->”Sync/Upload List”. Then from the other device, click on “Menu”->”Sync List”->”Download List” to download that list. It will prompt you to enter your member id/password if you haven't login from the device.

There is a “Auto-Sync” feature which allows the app to automatically sync whenever you open/close the app. You can enable/disable it for lists by clicking on “Menu”->”Sync List”->”Enable Auto-Sync For Lists”.