Things 3 vs. Todoist

I consider Things to be a personal tool. In case you need a cross-platform or team solution, Todoist is the way to go. Otherwise, I would go with Things.

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Federico was on Omnifocus about a month ago. Now he is on Todoist.
Next month, Reminders, then Google Tasks :slight_smile:

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Okay, I just bought Things for the iPhone, that’s not too expensive and if I decide to keep it I can pay for the other platforms. So far I like it, but one thing already disappoints me: I can’t seem to create a task that repeats on specific weekdays. Only “daily” or weekly etc.

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Create a task - option (…) - repeat - regularly - pick a day in a week/month/year

Ah, strange, it seems like I didn’t get into the „regularly“ pane the first time I tried (even though I intended to tap on that option). I was still in „after checking off“.
Now I’m happy, thanks.

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Another thing I can’t seem to find: saved searches/smart lists/filtered views or whatever. Do I have to manually search everytime?

You do. If you press CMD+F (or pull down on iOS) to search it lists the last 3-4 searches you’ve performed so if you search for the same things a lot they’ll show up in there.

On iOS you can make widgets for specific searches so you could have one that is for deadlines or tomorrow or anytime filtered by a tag.

I generally work out of about 3 views: Today, Anytime, and Upcoming.

I tag all my Areas so I can filter the Anytime list down when I’m looking for specific areas of focus.

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Interesting that the widgets give you an option you don’t have in the app!
I‘m used to such lists from 2Do but I guess I‘ll get used to it. I think I will try to keep my tagging very simple anyway (I tagged all over the place in 2Do but didn’t need 90% of it). So I‘ll probably end up searching only a few of them anyway.

Since each search has its own URL, you can also set up a project with links to each search. :smile:

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:joy: True! That would work too. :wink:

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I tag areas as well. It makes filtering lists very fast.

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Things is oh so :heartpulse: lovely! My only problem is that I forget to use it as it’s intended to be or rather how I initially wanted it to work. I’ve used it for quite a while. But I forget to check it.

At any rate, it organizes for me near perfectly.

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Things has by far the nicest UI and frictionless interaction design, but I’m more and more turned off by it. :confused:

  • no end-to-end encryption or iCloud sync option
  • location based reminders are a must (it sucks to use a different tool just for that)
  • any kind of timeblock/calendar view would be desirable (see Notion or TickTick)
  • there still is no way to save searches/views that logically combine areas, tags and other conditions (similar to Omnifocus’ perspectives, no widgets do not suffice)
  • generally I would love to have toggleble states for a todo following the GTD methodology, such as active/waiting/delegated

and while we are at it:

  • allow Markdown formatting in the notes area, especially to abbreviate links for example of those long url-scheme ones from a Bear note or Airmail mail.
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If they switch to a subscription with an upcoming version I will look for alternatives.

Maybe I’ll go entirely text based. Obsidian with the new calenar plugin + daily notes actually looks promising. I’m pretty sure that there will be a basic mobile version soonish given the hype and demand.

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I have just in the last few days decided to move back to Todoist from Things.

A vital feature of any todo app is task entry. If it is a straight forward task with a simple date and even a deadline, it is pretty straightforward. Even throw in a few tags and a project, the task creation is still manageable.

Now, try adding a repeating task from scratch. Say a yearly subscription to an app.

The workflow for this is beyond belief.

Todoist;
Add task1 every year on 6 dec @tag #project

BOOM!!

Things 3;
I can’t, or don’t want to try describing this process. Here is a video for those interested.

https://bit.ly/3eyoaO1
(please excuse the amateur screencast)

I only realised the utter pain in the a** this process is when transferring my subscriptions.
Anyway, that’s my two cents worth on the matter :man_technologist:

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The conscious decision between Things and TickTick (or Todoist, if you prefer fewer options) for personal use is not in the main features, but in one hidden but utterly important point:
Things allows you to schedule start dates only in addition to deadlines. This has the advantage of not having to decide on an ultimate deadline and you can simply decide on when to start your tasks with an open end. The downside is if you are by habit postponing stuff or are sidetracked easily. Then stuff like time-blocking and preparing definite schedules are real helpers.
I am personally alternating between the two. Switching between them has become a moment to consciously review my whole system. Things is hands down the best task manager on all Apple platforms, while TickTick is offering to include everything into the view that is time-relevant: a view of tasks in the context of the calendar within TickTick, all your habits, and a time-tracking option with either a stopwatch or a customizable Pomodoro system. And heck, sometimes I really enjoy seeing everything in one interface, it gives me peace of mind while freeing my homescreen of 3-4 superfluous apps.

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I havent really experimented with many To Do apps, but I have been using Todoist for about 5 years and I agree that the natural language task addition is a super feature — its best feature in my opinion.

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Wellwell, it really depends on what type of tools you’re at home. If you’d learn the shortcuts for Things you’d equally fly through the options and enter the details - such as date, project, and repeat cycle - with one shortcut each and have everything set up in no time.
While I have adapted to the Todoist-style entry in Ticktick, I really am missing the fluidity of Things in terms of having shortcuts for all these details.

I personally made really bad experience with having one app do everything. The moment you find that app it is so damn complicated that planning becomes something you either procrastinate in or develop resistance against. Also, it might do all the different tricks, but will not excel at any of it.
Specialist apps might not integrate well with other specialist apps, but they provide the best job for the task at hand (quite literally). Choose your vice.
And to your point: of course you can do project planning in Obsidian and Roam - but you will spend a lot of time thinking up solutions for problems that the makers of Things and TickTick have already solved for you…

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I have to use a PC at work, and I still think Things is faster on my iPad than Todoist. I have used both extensively… Things is just so nice to use. Though, if Todoist ever offered start dates I’d probably switch. I don’t see them ever doing this though…

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