8 Calendar and ToDo Apps That You Should Try

8 Calendar and ToDo Apps That You Should Try

As part of my drive to become better organised and productive, I have been looking at a range of calendar and ToDo apps. I would regard an effective calendar app and a ToDo app as being central to any planning, scheduling or productivity workflow. Consequently, it would be important to make good decisions when selecting which apps to use.

I am sure that many of you will be thinking that most devices come with a calendar app built in and some also have a form of todo app. So why would I need any additional apps, particularly if I have to pay for their use.

This is a fair question and it gives us the first criterion for evaluating the possible apps; do they offer additional functionality which could justify any cost?

Let me set out my situation. I work mainly on a Mac and an iPad for my own work. I also use an iPhone. I also, though, work in a MS Windows environment when working as a freelance trainer. Often I am required to work on a client’s infrastructure and that is usually a Windows culture. This gives rise to a second criterion; does the app work across different systems?

The third criterion would be the cost, where there is one, of the product or service. Is it a one-off purchase cost or is it a recurring subscription? I am not a great fan of the subscription model but we have to accept that it is pervasive in our society. I tend to prefer a one-off purchase or a free service (even if supported by ads). However, I am suspicious at times of even the purchase model; it often seems that you purchase a product from a company only for them to later release new versions and charge you to upgrade. Under the subscription model, you at least get updated versions as part of your subscription. However, you still have to be wary; I have noticed products with a subscription but for which there have been no or only minor developments in over a year. You, of course, may have your own views and preferences regarding paying for products or services.

The 8 applications I looked at were;

1. Things 3
2. Sorted 3
3. Twos
4. Good Task
5. Any.Do
6. MS ToDo
7. Fantastical
8. Tick Tick

In each case, I looked first at how they operated on the iPad, then on the Mac. I did have a look at each app on my iPhone but I did not put an emphasis on this because I would rarely use the iPhone as my primary productivity device. I also looked at whether each app had a Windows version or an online web app. Where this was the case, I considered how the different versions behaved with each other, particularly with regard to syncing.

1. Things 3

Things was the first application I tested. Things 3 is primarily a ToDo application but it does allow you the option to display calendar events on the ‘Today’ screen. This it does by displaying the events at the top of the screen and your todo items are displayed underneath.

Frustratingly in Things, you cannot remove any calendar event or mark it as complete. You can do this with each todo item, which is what you’d expect but it would be great if calendar events were also treated as todo items. Interestingly, in the MacOS version, you can click on each event and it will display the event details from the calendar; this functionality does not exist on the iOS version.

Things does its syncing via its own ‘things cloud’, which is an interesting alternative to the more common ‘iCloud’ syncing used in other apps. You can also send an email to the Things app via Things Cloud. This is great if you receive an email which needs acting on. You can add the email to your todo list by forwarding it to Things 3.

Things 3 has to be purchased for separately for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Which can seem to make it look pricey. In each case, it is a one-off purchase. If you purchased all 3 versions, it would cost about 80 USD.

Things won awards in 2017 and 2018. So it is a well-respected app. It received its latest app update just one week ago (at the time of writing). However, its blog and Facebook page do not seem to have been updated in the last five months, which may lead you to ask how much life is left in the product.

2. Sorted 3

Sorted 3 does not seem to draw as much attention as many other todo apps, which is a shame as it is worthy of consideration.

Sorted 3 links with your calendar and with the iOS reminders app. IT will show your reminders in its Inbox and it will show calendar events in it Schedule. On the iOS app, you can drag and drop a todo item and drop it onto a date in the calendar. By doing this, the todo item will appear on that day’s schedule. It’s just a shame, the app does not appear to do this automatically. Each item on the schedule (event or todo) can be selected and marked complete; this functionality is something I greatly like and it is a pity other apps don’t always allow this.

Unfortunately, Sorted does not, yet, have an option to forward an email to you todo list, neither does it pick up flagged emails as todo items (something very few apps seem to do).

Sorted is available on iOS and on Mac and it uses iCloud syncing across your devices. Note, though, that iCloud syncing is a premium option. Sorted 3 premium version can be purchased fro Mac and iOS for a one-off payment of about 40 USD

3. Twos

Twos is another app which seems to ‘fly under the radar’ when considering productivity applications. It is available for iPad and iPhone, there is not a native Mac app but there is a web app which might suit Mac or Windows users.

Initially, I took a great liking to Twos. It appears to be a user-friendly and a fun application to use, regular emails from the developer also help create a positive feeling about the app.

The app displays your calendar events and you can add your own todo items under the events. Frustratingly, the app only displays the first two or three events; you have to click on ‘show more’ to see all events for that day. It is also not easy to delete, move or mark events as completed. The app doesn’t seem to pull in items from Reminders as readily as do other apps.

Initially, Twos appeared to be a fun app to use. There is nothing wrong with making a todo app fun to use. However, being given ‘stars’ for performing various functions within the app soon loses its appeal. The purpose of the stars appears to be to assist onboarding users; which is a novel approach. These stars can then be used to unlock further functions offered by the app. These functions can also be purchased, the cost of which would be about 14 USD. Of course, if you could unlock the functions you need using just stars you’ve earned, then this makes the application a free one.

Although the app initially appeared fun and friendly, the novelty soon wears off and it seems the user is treated like a child being given ‘stars’. This quickly lost its appeal for me. The app also allows users to purchase merchandise, which makes me wonder about their marketing model. A final word of caution, the web app is blocked by the malware security on my windows devices. All of which gives me an uncertain feeling about this app.

6. Good Task

Good Task is principally a todo app but which also pulls in information from your calendars. It also syncs with the Reminders app. I could not find a windows or a web version of this app, which might limit its usefulness for someone, like myself, who works cross-platform.

Good Task will take your reminders and your calendar events and it will display them in what it calls Smart Lists. Calendar events can be selected and their details displayed and edited through the app. The app, though, does not present todo items alongside calendar events, which is something I would like. To do items are displayed in separate lists.

Good task using iCloud sync to sync across iOS devices and also with Good Task on a Mac. The pro version of Good Tasks costs around 10 USD on iOS and 40 USD on Mac. The App won awards in 2018 but its Facebook page doesn’t appear to have been updated since then

5. Any.Do
   

When I first started using Any.do, I thought this would certainly be the app I’d end up using. This was with good reason, Any.do has lots of useful features and it seems easy to use.

Any.do is available for all platforms; iOS, MacOS, Windows and has a web app. On my iPad, it will sync with my iCloud calendar. It will also take dated todos from Reminders and display them alongside calendar events. Other items from Rem binders it would just display in a daily tasks list. So far, so good.

Imagine my frustration, then, when I discovered that the Mac app would not sync with my calendar. For some reason, the Mac app, the Windows app and the web app will each only sync with Google calendar. There appears to be no way of getting my calendar events to display on any of the other versions of Any.do unless I get them to first sync with Google calendar. This goes beyond frustration as I do not use or want to use Google calendar.

Any.do has an integration with WhatsApp. This is almost unique among the todo apps I’ve tested. However, it is not a free integration and is only available as part of a premium subscription. Any.do also claims to integrate with over 2000 other apps; this it does via Zapier. I daresay, though that the kind of integrations I’d need, I would not be able to use Zapier’s free plan.

In the end, Any.do which had initially looked very promising, ended up being abandoned through frustration, which is a shame. Any.do has a premium service of about 36 USD a year as an annual subscription.

6. MS To Do

Microsoft’s To Do app stands out in this group but not necessarily in a good way. It is a slick and polished application that acts as part of the Office suite. As far as I can tell, you do need to have an office subscription in order to be able to use it. It would appear to have taken over from the ‘tasks’ pane we used to see in Outlook.

It has one distinct advantage over other applications in this list, that is that flagged emails can be called up as todo items. I like this as it is a way of working I am used to. I only wish other apps would allow this. A few other apps will allow you to forward an email to a special address in order to have it appear as an item on your todo list but, to be honest, simply flagging them is far easier.

Microsoft ToDo is a pure and simple (very simple) todo list application. It does not link with your calendar and does not display calendar events alongside todo list items. It is available for iOS, MacOS, Windows and as a web application, which is an advantage but, of course, you do need a subscription to Office to take advantage of it.

7. Fantastical

Fantastical is a well known calendar application which has won awards in 2016 and in 2020. It is available on Mac, iPhone and iPad but not, sadly, on Windows. There also does not yet appear to be a web app.

Fantastical syncs with your calendars and also with Reminders. It can also sync tasks from Google and MS Exchange, if you use those. Tasks which have been dated and timed, will be displayed alongside calendar events each day. Otherwise, unprioritised todo items are displayed on task lists.

Sadly, there is no facility to forward emails to Fantastical and have them turned into todo items. Many of the app’s features are only available on subscription. This subscription costs unto 60USD each year but that does also include a contact manager application for you to use.

Fantastical is undoubtedly a powerful app to use. Had there been a Windows version or a web app, then it would be ahead of the pack. As it is, if you do use Windows a lot, then Fantastical may not be right for you.

8. Tick Tick

Tick Tick is firstly a todo application but it will also sync with your calendar. It has apps for iOS, MacOS, Windows and a web app. One caveat is that the Calendar functionality appears to be only available via a premium subscription.

Your calendar events and your todo items can be displayed together under the Today list. From here, each item or event can be marked as complete or deleted. By default, I have my todo items appearing in my Inbox in TickTick, but I can easily drag them onto Today or Tomorrow, they can also be dragged onto a todo list if necessary.

As well as providing Calendar and todo list functionality, TickTick also encourages you to build ‘habits’ (personal actions or routines) which you can track daily, weekly and monthly. This is a novel feature I had not seen in other apps. Additionally, TickTick offers you the facility to manage tasks according to the Eisenhower Matrix, and also to utilise the pomodoro method to focus on your tasks.

Although TickTick does not have the ability to turn flagged emails into todo item, it does provide an email address by which a user can add an email to their task list. It also provides adding for both Outlook and Gmail.

TickTick has a premium offering which costs around 28 USD per annum. Remember, you may need the premium version to successfully use your calendar.

There, we are. These are the 8 calendar and todo apps I have been testing as part of my personal scheduling and productivity project. I will not claim the testing has been exhaustive, though at times it has certainly been exhausting. Of the 8 apps, I feel I have come close to making my decision. Whichever you choose, will depend upon your personal preferences regarding technology platforms and workflow. I would say that each is worth your time trying out.