Things 3 Reviews

by Rockiesmith

This would have been a nearly perfect app for its purpose except for one colossally stupid design decision that users have been complaining about for over 4 years with no movement at all from the developers to correct the problem (and yet the geniuses at Apple made it an editors choice). For many of us our lives are filled with tasks that should be done not any further in the future than a certain number of days after the task has been completed. But most of the world tries to complete at least some of our tasks before that next date. We need tasks to repeat (for example) a certain number of days after we did the thing, not a certain number of days after the originally scheduled time. Things 3 has no way to mark such a task complete until the next time some stupid template regenerates at some future date that is no longer useful to you. And they have been told this for years with no attempt whatsoever to fix the problem. Things 3 is otherwise basically perfect but this brain dead refusal to fix the inability to handle one of the most common events in all of task management renders it completely and utterly useless in my life. But nobody has cared with regard to the numerous requests for this to be fixed that are scattered all over the Internet. What on earth were they thinking?

by Zeusman

I took the plunge and paid the $9.99 for Things3 and immediately regretted my purchase. Wanted a to-do app that would sit in my complication area of my Apple Watch that Uses Siri to enter to-do’s. Che k, it does that but.....and a big but...it sends the to-do to an “In Box” on Things3 on my iPhone. I did see that I change from In Box to Today but it’s not easy to switch between them on my phone as the lettering is tiny (smaller than other words and sitting just above the task-that’s too easy to tap). Then you have to go to your phone to move it to a day, and Things3 asks ‘are you sure you want to move this?’ Adding another few steps and time to a simple entry...that’s self defeating. Then I CANNOT see anything beyond the current day’s to-do’s on my phone....I find that very limiting. I need to be able to scroll down to at least a week’s worth of to-dos. So I can PLAN for those events before that day...not a far fetched idea. Things3 could be useful but at the moment( in my opinion) Things3 is better suited to the iPhone and NOT the Apple Watch. I wish I could get my money back on this one. Doesn’t do what I need or enough for the cost.

by KKorwal

Pretty good app - I'm looking for a better solution than Reminders for iPhone, as the Reminders app is buggy and sketchy performance. Things3, Things, is neat and well-arranged, with nice checkboxes to clear items from your to-do list, etc. which I appreciate. However, you have to go into Things3 to see what's next, with no alert pop-up anywhere that I can find. I need tasks to pop up and remind me to do this or that, sometimes at a specific time, and often more than once. Like a bill I need to pay, which I may remind myself a week before but need to wait to pay it until a few days later, so I need to have a second reminder so I don't forget.

Bills are just one example (still haven't found a good bill-pay app, either) - it could be a purchase I need to make but now I won't have time today after work, so I have to postpone until tomorrow after work. Or it may be a phone call I have to make at a specific time.

Overall, very good for keeping track of tasks, as long as you remember to look at it.

by JakkDiddly

This is a beautiful app and I love how it approaches tasks and projects which is why I give it 3 stars instead of less. But there isn’t enough functional integration with calendar to make this useful for me. I can see my calendar items but can’t open them or do anything with them which leaves me to have to jump to another app to work with meeting invites and other calendar items. This is a fatal flaw with Things3 for me, sadly.

I’ve been on Informant Pro for years since that app integrates calendar and tasks so well. But have been trying to find something else that is more elegant and simpler. I thought this was going to be it until I discovered how severely limited it is with respect to calendar. Oh well, the search continues, and another $10 down the drain.

Edit: I’ve come back again to Things 3 because it seems that I’ve become sort of hooked on how extraordinarily well it handles tasks. I’ve decided to try to live with using a separate calendar app along with Things and see how it goes. Hopefully in the future the authors will consider adding at least some ability to edit or even open calendar items in Things. Meanwhile I try this setup.

by Yungstud

I have to say that I love Things3 and don’t know how I’ve survived so long without it. I love the simple concept of typing up a thing you want to do, then assigning it to a day in the future so you don’t have to worry about it until then. Building out projects is a great way to keep track of things as well. I especially love the ability to integrate the Apple Calendar into Things3 so I can see everything at once.

I do have one small gripe though. I use Things3 to keep track of regular monthly bills and when they are coming due. My current system is that I pay forward all the bills that are due before my next paycheck. This ensures I’m always early. However, there’s no way to mark a recurring task as complete before they populate in the Today field. This means I have to keep track of which bills I’ve paid in my head until they come due and I can check them off. It’s very annoying. Other task apps I’ve used allowed me to check them off early, so why not this one?

Unfortunately, this one thing, while small, is so annoying that it affects my overall headspace, so until it’s fixed I can only give it 4 stars.

by R91240sx

Great app in terms of markdowns & note taking, ability to share. Customer always seems to respond in a day or so 👍🏼.

But my problem is that the Calendar view is so small. Why can’t we resize. This is not a complicated request. I also don’t understand why we can’t choose alternative alert tones. I mean the standard & only choice alert is so low. Again not a hard request respectfully. And prob the biggest issue which they state they are aware of which has been going on forever is the repeat to-do part. Every time you choose a date then request for it to repeat it changes the date. So un-productive. Also wish when snoozing a alert they would space out the options like other apps not sure why this hasn’t been fixed either idk. Kinda a sad that they don’t listen to others requests. Because I’m not asking for extras just adjusting to existing ones. I also wish they had a web version because you can’t rely on a app to work always. But other then that Things3 is nice to use always seems reliable.

by Izkatel

I first used Things years ago to GTD. After I discovered Wunderlist, I switched and loved the flexibility and the plethora of features it offered. Few years ago, a tragedy took place and Wunderlist fell victim to Microsoft who bought out and stopped updating Things3 . It then went off to attempt its own version of Wunderlist, only to release an underdeveloped, underperforming iteration that's probably doomed for the lack of user interest. To make a long story short, I was forced to find a replacement for my beloved Wunderlist (RIP). I searched high and low only to return to Things 3. I'm happy to acknowledge that it evolved into a prince, matching and at times surpassing Wunderlist. Things 3 is more elegant and user friendly then any other app I've tried. I'm happy to be home again. My dream is for Apple to recognize the value of Things 3 and purchase it. Only then can we be assured that this magnificent product will survive indefinitely. Apple, are you listening?!

by Nrohrer

I am smitten with Things3. I used to get by with a paper planner, then switched to Todoist last year, but I hated that there was really no way to see upcoming tasks beyond a week. Things has solved that problem for me (and then some!) — no more worrying about an annual subscription, waaaay better integration with Apple Watch and my calendar (thank goodness), and a simpler, cleaner interface that allows me to organize everything from daily tasks to vacation ideas and workout plans. The price seemed a little steep at first, especially since it wasn’t easy to try out Things3 before I bought it, but it was worth every penny.

Now, the only thing I’m missing is a way to track daily habits. I end up with a ton of to dos every day, which is a pain, because I just want a separate part of the platform that allows me to track that stuff. I’ve tried Streaks but would really like to have all these features in one place.

by Missgazz

I purchased this on my MacBook and on my iPhone. I was hesitant to purchase because I have bought countless things to help me get organized — planners, calendars, to-do lists, sticky notes, and utilized countless modalities — paper and pen, GoodNotes5, Google Keep, Google Tasks, YOU NAME IT! Nothing has really helped me, and I have probably wasted hundreds of dollars.

Let me start off by saying that I am a very type A person and extremely productive, but I am also obnoxiously busy every day and have ADHD. It is hard for me to focus on what is the most important thing to do to because there’s just so much of it. I am currently a teacher, planning my wedding, I own an apartment building, and have so many other things on my plate. So, when my to-do list gets too long (AKA at about noon everyday), I become completely overwhelmed. I don’t know where to start or how to prioritize.

Things3 is truly life changing for me. There’s no thrills and it only has what’s important. I can focus on what needs to be done without distractions. It helps me prioritize, I can schedule things out in advance, remind myself of things, organize projects, break difficult tasks into smaller steps, etc. I am SO beyond impressed with these apps and there features, and I am thrilled to have found them to start my year off right!

by Spellrider

Impressive user experience design! Use is intuitive and the number of taps to perform an action seems fewer than the other more expensive apps I tried. You can pretty much figure out how to use it on your own, but they include a very nice tutorial in the form of a project with a list of to do’s. Very easy way to get up and running fast.

It has all the features that I was looking for except for location alerts. My workaround is to create a tag for my locations and just search that tag. It would be nice to get a push notification. OTOH, it seemed like having that on for an app that I tried may have been sucking battery. I’m not sure.

One slick feature is that repeating to dos have a lot of flexibility. You can even schedule them to repeat based on when you complete the task. So instead of repeating every 7 weeks, for example, the next one comes due 7 weeks after you completed the previous one. Nice.

by MommyKun

I was looking for an app that would help me stay on task with ease. I downloaded so many task apps before but I couldn’t stay on task, I’d enter my list and just didn’t complete them. Why did I took the risk of getting this expensive app?? Was I gullible ? I guess so. But something was different, I got stuff done !! everyday every week so far. What you do is type any idea that comes up. Then you move it around to whenever you want to compete it, that’s it! But why is it so expensive for such a simple task ? I gave it 5 stars because I competed every task that I’ve been listing for 1 month now. My only suggestion is how about sharing the task with other people in household?

I just discovered that I can share the list by scrolling down so that it opens up a move task bar and clicking on the “. . .” . I’m very happy with Things3 and of course there’s always room for improvement.

by Angie2345ghb

I have ADHD and I procrastinate a lot. I tried every single app out there to help me get things done and non of them worked, most have so much going on that I end up overwhelmed and eventually stop using them. Things 3 is so simple to use yet so effective, it has the right amount of tools to organize my tasks, projects and plan my week, I actually enjoy going through the list of things I need to do. Turning tasks that require several steps into projects and working on each sub task independently it’s a game changer for me. I can also set up reminders so I stop missing bills deadlines or flights. Being able to add things into my inbox on my Apple Watch when I randomly remember something while in the shower is a big plus 🤣 I recently been using the desktop version and I love it. They also have the best customer service which is so important IMO.

by CourtC85

I have tried numerous apps to try to stay on top of what I need to do, reoccurring tasks, upcoming events, and my accomplishments each day. I’ve used free apps, one-time fee apps, and subscription based apps. I end up either deleting them immediately, or I eventually stop using them due to how inefficient they are, or I end up with several apps to cover all my needs. I tried just using a regular physical journal, which I do recommend and I still use; but it doesn’t help me with reoccurring tasks or my incredibly long list of things I need to do for a specific category. An example would be, I have a special needs child who needs specialized schooling and assistance with every day tasks. Getting him the help he needs is covered by various government services but requires numerous steps on my part to get each need of his covered. It would require me to have a large desk planner to have something like this (which is basically a project but a one person, non paid project) planned out on a physical planner; but Things3 eliminates that necessity. I’m still new to Things3, and I’m certain that I’m not using it to its extent, but as of now, it has been the best to-do app I’ve come across; paid or free! I have my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to delete some of my other apps and replace them with this app!

by Enrapture137

Let me start this by saying I’m one of those people that never leave written reviews. I had to give praise where praise is due though.

First of all, I am a very visual person so even if I found an app with perfect functionality, I wouldn’t use it if I didn’t like how it looked. However, Things3 combines functionality with a nice sleek design that’s not only easy to look at but, easy to use. I’m SUPER picky about to-Do apps and I have been on a search for “the one” for literally years. I think I’ve found it though. They allow you to customize And organize your to-do’s in a myriad of ways. For instance, my favorite thing so far is the Ability to set “Projects” and in those projects, you can not only add notes and headings to keep the todos organized but, on the main screen of Things3 , there’s a small circle to show your progress on the todo’s inside. I absolutely love Things3 and had to let y’all know you did an amazing job.

by Impressed With Free Version

As an adult mom with ADHD I struggle to stay organized, keep track of tasks, and easily record important to-dos in an accessible location. The integration Things3 manages (between watch and phone) is seamless, and gives me a convenient and powerful way to keep track of many ongoing lists, routine tasks, and one-off tasks. I initially balked at the price but Things3 but its the best money I’ve ever spent on an organizational tool (that’s saying something considering the many bullet journals, planners, tracking systems, etc. that I’ve had false starts with). The tips and hints w/in Things3 are great, and Things3 itself does everything I could hope for. If you’re looking for motivational sayings and cute cartoons, this isn’t Things3 for you. If you’re looking for a way to stay on track and record things as they come to mind- and in a place that you won’t forget about- then I can’t recommend a better tool.

by Paulis 101

I’m giving it 5 stars because it’s so functional, simple to use, and helpful. I would have liked to be able to choose a color for each category (as in todoist) because it would help me visualize my task areas more quickly. But that’s my only quibble. After experimenting with this app and todoist I chose this app because you can easily rearrange items within each category according to priority and identify what items in each category to make part of your today list. I use Things3 on my phone and find it very helpful to add items anytime they occur to me and then, over morning coffee, review the whole list (select anytime) and highlight the ones I want to do that day. I’m also very glad to have purchased this item once and for all. Todoist requires a yearly fee and I have enough of those already. I feel less overwhelmed since I bought Things3. Putting tasks down in an organizable list (rather than trying to remember them) and organizing them daily really lessens stress.

by R33d79

I have used a lot of task management apps and I still think that many of them are great. Swipes was one of my favorites because I can snooze tasks for later, but Things has a unique approach to that same need that is actually simpler and much more effective. I’ve had to adjust some of my own habits to adapt to how Things is organized, but wow is it well thought out. It is deceptively simple at first glance, but it is so well designed that I’m constantly finding new uses and applications. My wife loves it too and she’s very picky and often doesn’t take to the things that I recommend. So the fact that both of us find it useful is a testament to the quality of the product. I’m hesitant to buy the desktop app because I think it’s fairly overpriced, I did do the free trial though and it is well-made. I was a little hesitant about the price of the mobile app as well, but after using it, I think that it is well worth the money and I wouldn’t say that about a lot of $10 apps.

by Johnnyappleseed001

GREAT APP. I’ve been using it for many years on my iPhone and Mac. It just keeps getting better and better.

The thing that I like the most about Things3 is that you can SEARCH the entire app for key words, making it very easy to find tasks that you tucked away in projects or folders. The search function is really fast and really great!

I also love that it has a LOGBOOK of all your completed tasks. This is great if you want to look back and see when you called someone or mailed something. You can also search the logbook for key words. I love it and it comes in super handy. Guys, I just looked and I have tasks going back to 2010 in my logbook. Wow, just wow. Thank you Things 3! (And by the way, it was just called Things when I created those tasks!).

There is a NOTE section that you can use for every task and this is great for detailed information. This is also searchable making it easy to find that information from task that you may have completed years ago.

Also, Things3 opens FAST, pretty much instantaneously making it easy to quickly add a task. This may seem like a no-brainer feature but sadly some apps just don’t do that! The whole app is very snappy, very quick.

It’s relatively INEXPENSIVE for the iPhone and I recommend you start there to see if you like it. The Mac app is more expensive, and for my needs I don’t really need it, but it is convenient.

I highly RECOMMEND Things3!

by Bkgadam

I am one of those who seldom spare time to write reviews. By the way in the 7+ years I have been an Apple products consumer, this is probably the third time at most I am writing a review for an App.
I have dreamed for an app like this one many years before. I used to scan Things3 Store to download top rated apps, but I could never find the type of app I was looking for. They just weren’t practical. For instance sometimes you want to write down something that just popped in your head. You don’t want to worry about figuring out then if it’s a reminder or a To-do or just a note. You don’t want to worry about setting it for a specific day and a specific time. You just want to quickly jot it down in your To-dos/ reminder/ notes and be able to easily access it and take care of details later.
I had given up on my hope of finding an app that would solve this type issue. So for the past few years, I had just been relying on the iOS default note app.
I have been using Things3 now for a few months and it has everything I have ever dreamed of in a To-do/ reminder app. Honestly I am beyond satisfied. I have now found “the piece of resistance of my existence”!!

by North Idaho Niel

I am always hesitant about paying for something without really knowing everything about it beforehand, however I am pleased with my purchase and thrilled with Things3. It has all the bells and whistles without being cumbersome or overwhelming. The tutorial walked me through learning everything and if I ever need a refresher I can take the tutorial again. I have been using the free version of another to do list but it fell short. Even the paid version didn’t have the ability to make things easy to sort, manage and use. This THINGS App has well organized screen views, the ability to change a task to a project easily and I’m not quite sure how to describe it, but it just flows well and visually makes sense. I have difficulty sorting things out in my head, on paper and with other lists Apps, but the Things drag and drop feature helps to sort, manage and organize easily. The only drawback is the lack of PC usage. Sometimes it is nice to brain dump by typing with all ten digits. Hope the developers decide to add that functionality someday. Other than that, I say Bravo! I LOVE Things3 and it has already made me more productive.

by MilkdotWhole

This is an amazing app! If you take the time to use this, it’s worth the money and I use it for groceries, wish lists, and college assignments. It’s awesome for college assignments because I have an assignments list with headers for each course.
My main issue that keeps this from being 5 stars is Siri shortcuts and Siri integration in general. Compared to something like my weather app that shows weather within the Siri lockscreen, things forces itself to open in order to add a todo or to show a list of you decide to use Siri shortcuts. The only way to access things info through the Siri display is by saying something like “hey Siri, show my list in things” which is super finicky compared to a Siri shortcut that says “hey Siri, show my list”. One gives you a Siri result and the other asks you to unlock your face to open Things3 . This should be addressed as it breaks the flow of what Siri shortcuts and integration should be.
Otherwise, Things3 actually does what it’s supposed to and that’s to keep your head forward at what’s important, and as an undergrad student with 18 hours worth of nonsense and programming languages, I can confirm Things3 does its job well. 10/10 would throw money at again.

by Dejasmiles

I have used a lot of productivity apps and trust me when I say this is the absolute best! I remember paying a lot of money for the iPhone and Mac app a couple of years ago but that’s how determined I was to organize my life. It took a lot of trial and error to learn the best way for me to use the features but the practice paid off! I accomplished 80% of my New Years resolutions, planned for trips and debt payoffs, accomplished big personal projects and I can’t forget about the ever important inbox. Things3 is so simple and intuitive but far reaching in its capabilities.

As a disclaimer I will say it took me about a year with Things3 to reach the point where I can use it easily and successfully. A lot of it was learning to use Things3 , and a lot of it was practicing weekly planning period (even if I chose to use a different method). I kept searching for other apps that would make me want to use it more but once I realized this one was best for me I really dove into using it. My favorite feature is the whole reminder system - it keeps me on track with everything so I don’t have to remember so much!

by Zap B.

Things3 has a lot of great functionality for managing tasks and projects. The interface is super clean and efficient. The flow for bringing a task or project through inception to completion is very intuitive and works well.

The only thing I would raise is the way Things3 assumes you are a go-getter who will knock out tasks in a proactive manner. For slackers, procrastinators, and anxiety sufferers like myself it is not very good at nagging and popping up. You have to actively pay attention to the stuff in Things3 . I would like to see a slider that lets you set the level of app awareness of your ability to complete tasks. So you can make it nag you more if you want it to. That way you can decide if Things3 is more proactive in bringing tasks in front of your eyes to make sure you don’t just set them and forget them.

But I would still recommend Things3 all the way.

by -jon-

I used ToDo on the iPhone with Toodledo on the web for years, and I was quite happy with it. However when I tried to update ToDo, as it was increasingly buggy, to ToDo Cloud, the install failed and I started looking around. And I am glad I did. I looked at many reviews and decided to give Things 3 a try.

The tutorial is well done, and in 15 minutes I was fully up to speed. I then reentered about 100 tasks, although I could have imported them. I have to state that the interface is a joy to work with, and the final result was amazing.

Read the reviews for product details, but Things3 defines what is great about iOS. Clean, intuitive and fun. The integration with the calendar, in particular, is brilliant.

After getting it set up on the iPhone, I purchased the iPad app. Perfect integration and interface!

My only quibbles... When I set an Inbox item to Today, and then I do not complete the task and clear the date, the task ends up in the Anytime folder. I think it should go back to the Inbox. This is by design, and I have a workaround, but it is mildly annoying. Also, I would like to not display the Anytime folder, as I do not need it, but this is not customizable. I could use the real estate for another area or project. But these are minor details. This is one of the best apps for iOS. Period.

by Yapishkahilt

Very much enjoying Things3 . One design issue has repeatedly caused issues for me, though: when setting a reminder, after selecting the time, you’d think the way to save it is to hit the huge button immediately below where the time is set. Instead, that big button is to *clear* the reminder, while keeping the reminder requires you to click on a small “Done” button in the top right of the entire to-do. You’d think they’d make it quicker to save the reminder by clicking immediately below it on a big button, and make it more difficult to clear a reminder you just set with a small button at the top. Obviously a nit pick, but given how often i have to redo reminders bc of following the instinct to click on the big button just below the time setting area, it’s getting a little old.