Things is the flawless task manager for iOS and OS X

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

Things are one of the most popular and expensive task managers for iOS and OS X. Its price is the only obstacle that stops many from buying. We decided to find out if Things are worth their money.

All iOS and Mac owners looking for a good task manager have come across Things. Someone was put off by the price, someone still decided to spend about $ 50 to buy the entire set of applications for iPhone, iPad and Mac. The recent action,, gave the opportunity to many to try it in business. Including me.

Things has 3 apps: for Mac, iPhone and iPad. And each of them costs quite a lot of money. For me, a prerequisite for a task manager is the presence of a client for a computer and a smartphone, as well as synchronization. Things have both, of course.

Working with Things is based on sorting tasks into different folders. There are 6 of them:

1. "Inbox" - new tasks not sent to other categories.
2. Today is a list of tasks for today.
3. "Next" - tasks for the near future.
4. "Plans" - tasks with a due date.
5. "Then" - tasks without a deadline.
6. “Projects” are large tasks with subtasks.

There are also "Workspaces". This feature allows you to create multiple areas for different tasks. For example, if you need to separate different marketing and sales tasks.

Each task can be tagged, due, and annotated. Using the extension, you can add a new task from any application, including the browser. And this is very convenient.

Things Cloud deserves special attention. It is a cloud that stores all tasks and also syncs across platforms. Why deserves special attention? Because this cloud is even faster than iCloud. I specifically decided to test by opening the client on Mac and iOS and doing a new task on the latter. It appeared on the Mac a second later.

Things lets you sync all tasks from the standard Reminders app. After enabling synchronization, you can add new tasks using Siri, which is not very relevant for us.

On a Mac, the application is made in the same corporate gray style. The client is updated for OS X Yosemite and has a widget in the notification center with the current tasks for the day. Here are the same folders, but sorting tasks is much more convenient. You just need to select the necessary tasks and drag them with the mouse to the desired folder. On the iPhone, it takes a longer procedure.

There are few settings for both the mobile and the computer version. Login to the cloud, sync with Siri and Reminders, and dock counter. But there is one little thing that might make you jump into Things right now. This is a Quick Entry extension.

Quick Entry is a small utility that is additionally installed from the developer's site. After installing it, you select a hotkey; when you click on it, a small window appears, which allows you to very quickly add a new task. Moreover, if you do this in a browser, then the link to the current page is pulled up automatically. Cool!

Things left a very pleasant impression. It is a simple task manager in which almost nothing can be changed. What is most interesting is that I don't want to change anything.

If you managed to download the version for iPhone and iPad for free, all you have to do is purchase the client for Mac, which is now on sale with a 30% discount.

Things have no downsides. If cost is the only bottleneck, then look at other task managers.

However, if you are in need of a really functional and fast task manager and are ready to spend a certain amount of money for convenience, then Things should definitely be preferred.