I live and die by the to-do list. I’ve used every “workaround” there is, including Word, Excel, and paper. I tried the one in Outlook, but never really liked it. I needed a dedicated to-do list app, one that would sync between my desktop and my Android phone. Since I tend to be cheap, I wanted it free.
This led me to Wunderlist version 1. It did everything required in the freeware version. It had a few other nifty features I’d not considered. One was the ability to categorize tasks. It was also easy to create recurring tasks on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. You could choose a wide variety of reminders, including email or phone alarms. The interface was customizable as well, so you could choose different backgrounds for your to-do list. It seemed a full-featured to-do list app that did what I want after I installed it on my phone and desktop.
Where Wunderlist version 1 started to fall down was syncing between my devices. It was wildly inconsistent, which made tracking tasks difficult. It also only synced on a schedule. You could force a manual sync, but I never quite got to where I trusted it. I did eventually get it working consistently. Then it stopped working again. Wunderlist suggested in their help site that I update the desktop to version 2. What they failed to tell me was that version 2 on the desktop wouldn’t sync with version 1 on the phone, and they hadn’t released an Android version 2 yet. Thus, the end of Wunderlist for me.
I started the search again. After hitting a couple tech review sites, I came to Todoist. I installed it on both desktop and phone, opened it, and discovered it looked and worked in nearly identical fashion to Wunderlist, but better. The interface is cleaner-looking. It lacks the background customization, but that doesn’t affect function. Not only can you categorize tasks, but it has some common categories already set up.
Recurring tasks are easier than Wunderlist, since you can use natural language to set them up. If you want a task to recur daily, you simply type “daily” into the due date area. You can also prioritize tasks at four levels, something not available in Wunderlist. Moving tasks between dates is a drag and drop, also unlike Wunderlist.
Overall, Todoist is Wunderlist on steroids. There are some features Wunderlist offers in the free version that you have to pay for in Todoist, but so far I’ve not found myself missing them enough to whip out my wallet. (Update 2019: I bought the premium version and have been paying for it for about 3 years now. It’s worth it.)
The great joy, however, is the seamless real-time sync. Todoist gets that if you are going to have an app that syncs, it has to do that first and foremost. The syncing has been flawless from moment one, and changes are synced in real time. I’ve found myself able to trust the app to up to date at all times, and that peace of mind makes all the difference.