Things 3 4+

Things+Fantastical much better for me than Reminders+Fantastical

I’ve been using Things now for a few months on my iMac, iPad, iPhone and Watch. Can’t say enough good about it. Greatly simplifies staying on top of our busy life. I would have never thought of this workflow these folks came up with, but once I got onto it Things fits like a glove into my daily routine and those times when routine goes out the window.

I had been trying for a long time to use Reminders with Fantastical to manage tasks across my Macs, iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. It worked, but not nearly as smoothly as I hoped. After studying Things 3 and thinking hard about the combined price (not cheap), I took the plunge and installed the apps on all my devices. It only took me an hour or two to get the concept.

I am not big on project management, but keeping separate lists for things like Shopping, Woodworking, Work, Club, etc *IS* minimalist project management, so I decided to do it right. Things 3 is Get It Done level of project management, which is what I need in my life. I don’t need heavy project management software.

The heirarchy is Areas/Projects/To-dos/Checklists. Tags cut across all of them for an added layer of control, if desired. Initially I was hung up on the fact that at setup Things imports reminders from Reminders and then deletes them in that app. But in the end it all made sense. I now run Things together with Fantastical: Things for reminders/project management and Fantastical for calendars. Neat that I can click on a task in Things and drag it to a date in Fantastical, where it copies as an event. I couldn’t drag reminders from Reminders into Things, but copy and paste into the Reminders list that I set to import to Things worked fine, then I simply stopped using the Reminders app. Adding a reminder using Siri puts it into the Reminders app, then Things asks if it can import the reminder, which is nice because it provides options.

Verdict: I am glad that I made the switch. Things 3 is far more intuitive and useful for managing tasks than Reminders or Fantastical. It really does make managing tasks a pleasure.

Disclosure: Just a very longtime computer user, from DOS to iOS. I have no affiliation with the developer except as a customer. I’ve tried all kinds of to-do/PIM software over many years.

Great app, Things Cloud syncs flawlessly

Unlike a previous reviewer, I’m quite grateful that Things didn’t use iCloud sync. Apple routinely does a terrible job of cloud syncing, as anyone who has had the frustrating experience of puzzling over why a document, photo, or contact won’t show up. From 3 weeks usage, Things sync has so far been fast and flawless, and I have no qualms about its security.

The interface is delightful to use, and its just powerful enough for a good GTD workflow, without exposing too many settings and information. I was using OmniFocus 2 up to now, and the switch to a simple interface has perceptibly reduced my stress level. Calming, without sacrificing anything. The progress indicator on projects is really nice to have. The “anytime” bucket is good for an overview of all my top tasks across projects.

Definitely recommed getting the companion "GTD & Things 3” on the iBooks store. This really helped me get things set up.

Overall, great work so far!

Do not purchase this app without some thought

Way overpriced. Look beyond the bells and whistles - it is nothing more than a confusing, poorly designed to-do list. There are lots you can get for free that do all this app can do. Sure, it’s nice to employ their many employees. But maybe it’s better to use your hard earned cash to purchase apps that are easy to use, worth the money, make your life better, hav eearned your respect. Before purchasing this app please - for your own sake - try the free or low cost ones. No doubt like many I regreted the cost within a week of paying for this app.

Réponse du développeur ,

Sorry to hear that you aren't enjoying Things! If you know within a week of purchasing an app that it's not right for you, you can request a refund from Apple. Hope you find something that suits your needs!