Added countdown format displaying the days until due

[JamesL813]

ex: "18D", "3H", or "35M" rather than the due date and/or time.

I find this makes it easier to gauge the actual time you have to complete a task

[JamesL813]

Screenshots:

task list with option enabled:

widget with option enabled

menu toggle:

[abaker]

Thanks for the PR!

I haven't gotten a chance to test it yet, but the first few things that come to mind

• does this work OK when sorting/grouping by due date?
• when something is due e.g. in 5m, will it tick down to 4m, 3m, etc? this is an issue with other things in the app, like due dates turning red when they become overdue, and due/created/modified sort groups at midnight
• the actual strings probably need to be translated, and I'm not sure if it will just be %d%s for H, M, and D, or if there will need to be separate translations for each

[JamesL813]

Thanks for the reply!

I'll do some more testing tonight and I'll see what I can do about the strings. Hopefully I'll get back with an update!

[JamesL813]

does this work OK when sorting/grouping by due date?

Yes, changing sort order/grouping works fine

when something is due e.g. in 5m, will it tick down to 4m, 3m, etc?

Not quite, if the app is left open idling it won't update until the task (or any other task) is actually due. It updates when changing sorting and grouping, when fully close and reopen the app, and when holding down and selecting any task.
The widget doesn't update when left idling either. It updates with the same conditions as above.

Is there an update method that would need to be called more frequently for this to work better?

the actual strings probably need to be translated, and I'm not sure if it will just be %d%s for H, M, and D, or if there will need to be separate translations for each

I changed the return statement to return String.format(locale, "%d%s", num, unit); does that work?

[frknltrk]

exciting! i've been literaly longing for this feature because the current default format doesn't really give a feeling of urgency. i believe this way is way more intuitive and definitely the best for the sake of user experience. #1449

[frknltrk]

what is the situation about this pr? @abaker

[3ter]

Wherever I've looked so far (e.g. Google News) the relative dates (here called "countdown") use lower case letters (m, h, d). This is also in sync with the units usually used.

The change isn't too big so far. The update behaviour should be looked into though, so that whenever the view is opened or changed the relative date is updated in addition to an update every minute when the view is open.