TickTick is the ultimate task planner and note keeper

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you were looking for a convenient cross-platform task manager with wide functionality, try the TickTick app and service. In this review, we will list the TickTick features and show you how you can best use them.

Creating lists

TickTick allows you to create many to do lists. This is a basic feature that is available in all such applications. I have created three lists: work tasks, life tasks (everyday) and just notes. This is the simplest use case.

The second approach is a three-tier system:

• First level - lists are treated as a collection of projects. There can be an unlimited number of them, since archived projects do not count towards the limit of both the free and paid versions. Archives of tasks and lists are stored on the TickTick servers and can be reactivated as needed, and completed or irrelevant at the moment are archived.
• The second level - tasks in a list (central column). They are flexibly sorted by importance (priority), by date, by name, filtered by tags.
• The third level is checklists within the task. They might just be shopping lists, checklists, and so on. Or you can perceive them as two-minute tasks in the GTD ideology. Easy to remember to complete at a time.

The third approach is to treat each list as a goal. Until the tasks from the list are completed, the goal remains current. The achieved goals are removed from the general list to the archive. The lists (and tasks assigned to them) in TickTick are color-coded (the bar to the left of the task description), which, for example, is not very familiar to me after other to-do managers. But this is a matter of habit, and color coding can be used to memorize mnemonic associations. Or match the colors of the tags in Gmail or Inbox.

Synchronize tasks across all devices

Web version

TickTick syncs tasks with the web version, Android apps, iOS apps, Chrome extension - wherever I am, my tasks are at my fingertips.

There is even an application for wearable devices (watches, etc.):

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For more details, I will describe TickTick for Android below.

Use of widgets for quick access and a high level of usability

For me, as a user of Android devices, the key feature of TickTick is a convenient widget where you can see all your tasks, mark their progress, add new ones and switch lists. This is why I started using TickTick on Android.

In the application itself, you can swipe tasks left and right, and the functions performed depend on the length of the swipe. A short swipe to the right places the task into the archive, a long swipe brings up the priority setting window. A short swipe to the left brings up a window for setting reminders and dates, a long swipe to move the task between your lists. Swiping from the left edge opens your lists.

Alerts in the shutter are very convenient. Shows the total number of tasks for today, a button for adding a new task and a slider for flipping through current tasks (without going into the application).

In fact, the usability of both the application and the service is thought out to the smallest detail.

3 levels of priority

It is possible to set one of three priorities to the task: important (red), medium (yellow), low (blue). The tasks in the lists are sorted according to these priorities. The picture shows the priority setting with a gesture (long swipe from left to right on the task).

Time and location reminders

TickTick allows you to create a reminder for a task when I am, or arrive, or leave a place at a specific address. For example, I bind the store address to the task “Buy a loaf”. The minimum radius is 100 meters and can be increased by pulling the circle. This is a very useful feature, especially for small everyday tasks, which I have recently started to use all the time.

At a specified time (for example, at 10 am), you can schedule the appearance of a message with a list of all tasks for today.

Set up flexible repetitive tasks

My wife grows different plants. Sometimes, when she goes on a business trip, the task falls on me to water some of them every three days, and others every five days. It is clear that my wife became a habit and she always remembers when and what to water, but for me it became a problem. The solution was to create a recurring task in TickTick. An additional convenience of this function is that there is no strict binding of the task to the deadline. It can be completed a day earlier or later - there will be nothing to worry about. For example, flowers can be watered a day later, while from this moment the task repetition will be postponed three days in advance.

Share your to-do lists with your wife for collaboration

Sometimes it becomes necessary to hand over a task or to puzzle someone else, such as a wife. To do this, I installed the TickTick application for her and gave myself access to her task list. And now I can, for example, give my wife a task to buy a loaf, with a reminder and a high priority.

To share a sheet, you need to open it, go to the settings in the upper right corner and then click on "Sharing". Note that you can only share a single task sheet, not an All or Inbox sheet.

Unfortunately, the free version can only be shared with the wife (i.e. one person).

Dictate tasks with Google Now voice commands

In 2014, the quality of voice recognition in Russian on Android reached a level that it became really convenient to use. Now the phrase "OK Google" can be said on any home screen - both in the regular Google Launcher and in third-party ones like Nova Launcher.

I say, “Ok Google. Create a note “Buy a loaf”, and the note will be added to my TickTick tasks.

Integration with calendar apps

TickTick can both display tasks added to your Google Calendar and place them there.

To do this, you need to copy the unique ICS link from the settings of your TickTick account (click on your avatar in the upper right corner) to the Google Calendar settings (click on the gear in the upper right corner). In the Google Calendar settings, go to the calendars settings and click on the link "View interesting calendars". Then click on the link "Add calendar by URL" and paste your TickTick link into the opened form.

Click "Add Calendar", and TickTick tasks with an associated due date appear in your Google calendar.

Add tasks by email

I use email a lot, and TickTick allows you to quickly create a task from an email by simply sending it to the email associated with the service. You need to copy this email from the settings and add it to the address book in your mail client.

Classifying tasks using labels

You can enable the labeling function in the Labs preferences in the web version. They are disabled by default in the Android application, but after turning them on, you can insert hashtags such as #house, #label, and so on in the task text. Labels become links to lists of tasks that are flagged in this way.

Other TickTick features

• Various sorting options (by order, date, name, priority).
• Add notes or comments to tasks.
• Batch editing of tasks.
• Quick search for tasks.

All of the above functions are implemented in a convenient interface - it will take only a few minutes to get used to it, start using it, stop forgetting everything and work more productively.

Differences between free and Pro versions

The free version has a number of limitations:

• Up to 19 task sheets, 99 tasks per sheet, 19 checklists within tasks.
• You can only share a sheet with one person.
• You can attach only one file (photo, audio or other files) per day.
• Planning your agenda on the calendar.
• Change history.
• Experimental functions.

These restrictions do not interfere with everyday or simple business tasks.

More details on the differences between the free and Pro versions can be found at.

Conclusion

The iOS version is now less functional than the Android version, but the creators of the application are working on this and promise to complete it within a few months.

Thus, TickTick is the most functional solution at the moment, which can be used in everyday life and in business. Now you have all your tasks written down and scheduled, and you need to complete them. But that is another story.