For the past few years, I’ve used the native BlackBerry Tasks app to ensure I stay on top of things. At any given time I usually have anywhere between 90 and 110 pending tasks. Even though the native BlackBerry Tasks app is tried and true, it hasn’t been updated in several years and leaves a lot to be desired.

I’ve seen several 3rd party task apps over time, but I’ve usually shy’d away from them. Most of the apps either had too many unnecessary options or the UI’s appeared to be poorly thought out. BHive Tasks 2.1 caught a decent buzz last week so I decided to take a look.

The first thing I had to verify is that BHive Tasks integrates with the native BlackBerry Tasks. Once I saw that it does, I took a look at the rest of the options and some screenshots and decided to give it a whirl. The homescreen gives a nice overview of your categories, priorities and timeframes. I was happy to see that you can create custom categories beyond the standard ‘business’ and ‘personal’. Instead of having to individually add tasks to the categories, you can select all of the ones you want and mass update them, which is a huge timesaver. You can also change the due date, delete or email tasks with a mass selection. As nice as it is to be able to email one or more tasks from BHive, I find it to be more of a plus that you can import BlackBerry messages directly into BHive.

For me, the icing on the cake was BHive’s shortcuts. Anyone who reads a lot of my articles knows I’m big on using shortcut keys and saving time. BHive Tasks 2.1′s shortcut keys are as follows>>

• New - N
• Complete - Space
• Delete - D
• Select - Enter
• Select All - A
• Unselect All - U
• Collapse All - C
• Expand All - E
• Search - S
• Top - T
• Bottom - B

In my opinion, BHive Tasks 2.1 is a simple, clean app that holds the essentials desired in a tasks app. It’s really what the native BlackBerry Tasks app should have evolved to but hasn’t. I didnt touch on every aspect so take a look at the full list of top features>>

Top Features:

• Recurring Tasks
• Integrates with BlackBerrys® native task database and thus syncs with Microsoft Outlook, Entourage, ICal etc.
• Import/Export Tasks This feature allows you to share tasks between phones via email, backup your tasks, turn emails or text messages into tasks directly from your email application.
• Mass Create Tasks Have a long lists of todos in your head that you just want to quickly write down? This is the feature for you!
• Mass Update Tasks Do you ever need to reorganize your tasks? Hate doing it one-by-one? This allows you to grab a bunch of tasks and collectively move them into a category, set a common due date, or send them to email.
• Shortcuts For the advanced user, BHive offers a broad range of keyboard shortcuts to make you even more productive.
• Torch Support BHive has specific features to optimize the experience for touch screen users. Tap the checkbox to quickly complete a task, swipe your finger across the calendar to flip through the months etc.
• Universal Search Just start typing and BHive will perform a search instantly.

And for many more great features, checkout: http://www.bhivetasks.com

Download BHive Tasks 2.1 in BlackBerry App World