Microsoft To-Do App: Next Iteration of Wunderlist

[WAR]

I have settled in Todoist as my main list manager.

I have hopes that Microsoft will be the company that solves the email as tasks need. From their To-Do User Voice webpage, it appears that they want to integrate Outlook as much as possible into the app. This, combined with the addition of labels like Todoist, will make this a very nice product.

If this is completed, I can see rolling out Microsoft Planner (which will integrate with To-Do) to the key players in my Company and beginning to facilitate a GTD approach within our organization.

 

[apastuszak]

The one thing I do not like about Todo is way it handles tagging. If I tag a bunch of tasks, I'd like that tag to be in the sidebar, so I can click on it, without having to hunt down a task with the tag I need. I had the same issue with Wunderlist. I just want to tag things as #next_action and have a #next_action list appear on the side.

 

[Yodude120]

I have settled in Todoist as my main list manager.

I have hopes that Microsoft will be the company that solves the email as tasks need. From their To-Do User Voice webpage, it appears that they want to integrate Outlook as much as possible into the app. This, combined with the addition of labels like Todoist, will make this a very nice product.

If this is completed, I can see rolling out Microsoft Planner (which will integrate with To-Do) to the key players in my Company and beginning to facilitate a GTD approach within our organization.

This is the everlasting problem with the Wunderlist app: ever-stagnating requests on the uservoice page, while they spend their time implementing useless features (i.e. emojis) on the app instead of getting actual progress done, all this while other apps are outracing the app on many innovative areas.

The problem as I see it is this: many apps (namely 2Do, Toodledo or Omnifocus) already have just about every feature you can think of. Waiting until the new kid around the block re-invents the wheel (especially after such a horrible time-wasting decisino or re-coding an already very promising product form the ground up for no reason) doesn't make sense. Especially for business users: better just use the more advanced apps that have made better strategic & development decisions. Wunderlist was a very good app with a lot of potential, re-coding it into a Wunderlist-wannabe-but-cannot-be was a ridiculous decision, and only helped to set back Wunderlist even more behind while the competiton already implemented a lot of innovations. The only thing I regret in Wunderlist is the blazing fast sync, but that could no longer justify sticking to a dying platform. I recommend that you don't wait for the "greener lawn on the other side" and instead get the same lawn yourself already -> move your data if you can and start using an actually-up-to-date good product, with some potential for the future.

My 2 cents.

 

[apastuszak]

I think the reason for the rewrite is to create a product that can integrate into Office365 and hook into Outlook. Wunderlist can't do that.

A lot of ToDo lists are alwat stuck in this old paradigm of making lists and putting tasks in lists. Well, that doesn't work for me. I want to use tags. That way I can tag something as a next action AND the project it's associated with. And tags need to be either in a tag cloud or in a list on the sidebar. And I want TAGS, not hashtags. My task manager should not act like Twitter.

Of all the apps I used, I think the one with the best price point and feature set combination is Toodledo. Too bad their mobile apps are a complete train wreck. And apps that I do like, like Remember The Milk are too expensive.

 

[Yodude120]

I think the reason for the rewrite is to create a product that can integrate into Office365 and hook into Outlook. Wunderlist can't do that.

A lot of ToDo lists are alwat stuck in this old paradigm of making lists and putting tasks in lists. Well, that doesn't work for me. I want to use tags. That way I can tag something as a next action AND the project it's associated with. And tags need to be either in a tag cloud or in a list on the sidebar. And I want TAGS, not hashtags. My task manager should not act like Twitter.

Of all the apps I used, I think the one with the best price point and feature set combination is Toodledo. Too bad their mobile apps are a complete train wreck. And apps that I do like, like Remember The Milk are too expensive.

I'm not so sure -> Wunderlist had a gazillion integration apps, including for Outlook. Integrating it into Office without killing it would have been a possible, even the the best choice.

I completely agree for tags: the way the brain works corresponds very well to tags. However hashtags do have a certain kink to them even usefulness, since they can be integrated into the title of tasks. It was fun playing around with those on WL

May I recommend 2Do (if you're on iOS/Mac or Android) ? It corresponds very well to your expectations I think. Has exhaustive tagging and smart lists based on them and other stuff, as well as tag management. It can sync your Toodledo tasks too, actually it syncs with anything. Highly recommended (2doapp.com, I'll be getting that bonus soon --- just kidding )

 

[apastuszak]

I'm not so sure -> Wunderlist had a gazillion integration apps, including for Outlook. Integrating it into Office without killing it would have been a possible, even the the best choice.

Yes, Wunderlist had plugins that sort of made it work with Outlook and a bunch of other apps. But I think it's being rewritten to be a native part of Office365 now, using your Microsoft account for login. I'm sure it will soon have hooks into OneNote and Outlook email. And it needs to store it's data on the Office365 backend and not the Wunderlist backend. I'm sure there are quite a number of people that can't even look at Wunderlist because of IT Security policies put in place by their work, but can use Microsoft ToDo because their IT Security guys have signed off on the company using Office365. I really like the app doit.im. Great UI, web interface, nice mobile apps. But it's a Chinese company with servers located in China. If I used this app for my work todo lists, I'd be in a whole lot of trouble.

I completely agree for tags: the way the brain works corresponds very well to tags. However hashtags do have a certain kink to them even usefulness, since they can be integrated into the title of tasks. It was fun playing around with those on WL

I can see the usefulness of tags in the title. How about showing me a list of my tags somewhere or a tag cloud. Then tags suddenly become useful dynamic lists. I can't tell you how many feedback requests I gave for this.

May I recommend 2Do (if you're on iOS/Mac or Android) ? It corresponds very well to your expectations I think. Has exhaustive tagging and smart lists based on them and other stuff, as well as tag management. It can sync your Toodledo tasks too, actually it syncs with anything. Highly recommended (2doapp.com, I'll be getting that bonus soon --- just kidding )

I've used 2Do in the past. The Android app was significantly behind the iOS app, but I think they've caught up. Might be worth another look.

 

[Oogiem]

I completely agree for tags: the way the brain works corresponds very well to tags.

Just an aside, not all people think that way. I personally hate tags, they never make sense to me, I can't ever keep them consistent and I don't like managing them at all. So I've never used tags on files, or in any other sort of function especially not my to do lists. It's a real struggle to use tags in LightRoom for pictures but that is the only way to keyword items. Even then the tagging is a royal PITA to keep current and consistent.

 

[Stefany Hart]

I am using a Wunderlist extension Wunderlist:Quick Capture . It's a small app that helps me create task very quickly.

Unfortunately, I cannot find the equivalent on todoist nor To-Do so I stick with Wunderlist until I can find a replacement.

 

[AnneMKE]

Unfortunately, I cannot find the equivalent on todoist nor To-Do so I stick with Wunderlist until I can find a replacement.

I have my various Todoist apps all set to open to the Inbox, so all I need to do to capture something is to open the app. This is working well -- can't tell how similarly it would work to that Wunderlist extension.

 

[TesTeq]

I am using a Wunderlist extension Wunderlist:Quick Capture . It's a small app that helps me create task very quickly.

Unfortunately, I cannot find the equivalent on todoist nor To-Do so I stick with Wunderlist until I can find a replacement.

Did you try Nozbe Siri integration and Apple Watch inbox input?

 

[DonGTF]

Hi all,

due to my job I am bound to the MS platform. Did someone try in the mean time if there is a nice integration with Outlook and Microsoft ToDo?

Best regards
Oliver

 

[kelstarrising]

I haven’t researched this to see if this has changed in the last few months or so, but last I heard, To-Do was not working with Outlook on Exchange yet.

 

[Yodude120]

Hi all,

due to my job I am bound to the MS platform. Did someone try in the mean time if there is a nice integration with Outlook and Microsoft ToDo?

Best regards
Oliver

Hi Don,

That's the only advantage with MS To-Do: it syncs with outlook. If you log in via outlook.com or the desktop outlook using the same M/S account as the one you use for To-Do: Outlook will sync your tasks. Actually, even some metadata that you don't see on To-Do will appear.

You can then save the whole reminder system from Outlook using the export function.

Best,
Youssef

 

[rmjb]

To-Do has added sub-tasks some time ago. Does anyone use these to manage Projects? If so, how do you keep Project actions in context?

 

[rmjb]

To-Do recently added a much requested feature: List Groups! This could be used to keep reference, someday/maybe lists, or even projects by areas of focus.
I'm really liking the pace of development over there, the grass is definitely looking greener.

 

[joan]

wow. I think constantly trying and switching between different apps are just exhausting... until i found Zenkit. I've used it for almost 2 years since then. It's a great alternative to Wunderlist. For those who are disappointed about Microsoft's decision... I can really recommend Zenkit to you. Note: I love the product and am now working for them.

 

[Mateusz]

Any time I look at a cloud based app, the first thing I check for is an export feature. If it doesn't have one, I am not interested. That's why I haven't found the perfect recipe manager yet.

Nirvanahq has that feature

 

[TesTeq]

Nirvanahq has that feature

They write that you can export your data as csv, xml, or json "if you feel better having a local backup". I cannot find any information about restoring data from this backup (import from csv, xml, or json file).

 

[Mateusz]

They write that you can export your data as csv, xml, or json "if you feel better having a local backup". I cannot find any information about restoring data from this backup (import from csv, xml, or json file).

Yes you are right

 

[TesTeq]

Yes you are right

That's why I am currently falling in love with TaskPaper. Just a text file with a great application for Mac (one time purchase, no subscriptions) where you can create Horizons of Focus hierarchies (in an indented outline format), tag each line with tags and dates and use a powerful search syntax to see just the lines you want to see. And - since everything is stored in text file - you can copy your data anywhere you want and you can have multiple files for different purposes (work, personal etc.). @mcogilvie @Longstreet @Gardener