Offline-only Mac app

wpost

wpost

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I'm a long time lurker so let me begin by thanking everyone here for their participation over the years. Until today I was able to find answers to my every GTD question.

Can anyone recommend an offline-only Mac app? My employer's security policy limits me to applications that (with one exception noted below) only store data locally and do not sync or otherwise send data beyond my Mac. That means no sync to other devices and no built-in offsite backup, and I'm fine with that.

To clarify, by offline only I mean never online, excepting perhaps a one-time signup or authentication. Many apps boast offline support but what they mean is that they gracefully handle network loss so long as they can eventually catch up with the mothership later. For that reason, searching this forum and the web for variations on "mac app gtd offline" turns up a lot of interesting things but not what I need.

One tool that does not work for me is Reminders.app. Yes, it can be run local only without iCloud but since it was revamped for macOS 10.15 Catalina it has become unusably unstable for me. On the other hand, if I were allowed an online app I would go with Remember the Milk. It's what I happily use for personal use and I wish it were available in an offline-only version.

Aside from the offline requirement, the ideal app would also preferably have:

- Simplicity. I don't mind learning whatever I have to, but simple is better.
- Being available in the Apple App Store would make our security people happy.
- Data export would be nice should I eventually decide to move on.

So, any suggestions?
 
There are several apps that will work offline, including OmniFocus and Things. Of course, they can be taken online, and I don’t think that feature can be disabled within either program.

I am sure there are some todo list apps that don’t sync at all, but you can’t really expect them to be very good.
 
I would suggest Everdo. It is 100% offline solution which store data in a local SQLite database. There is a sync functionality but it is optional and you don’t have to use it. No internet connection needed at all. And on top of that Everdo is grounded in GTD. The UI is very similar to Nirvanahq.
Www.everdo.net
 
wpost said:
Many apps boast offline support but what they mean is that they gracefully handle network loss so long as they can eventually catch up with the mothership later.
Click to expand...
I use Omnifocus. It can run totally offline on a single mac. But as @mcogilvie said I don't believe you can permanently force the offline restriction if you are a clever user with admin privileges on your mac. OTOH if you are a user without admin access on the mac you can set up OF to be totally within that machine. I ran that way for years. Even nowWhile I do sync my OF system to my iPhone and iPad it only happens when I am at my home wifi network and I use my own Synology server to be the sync location so no data are ever exposed toan unsecured link to the outside world.
 
Thank you all for the excellent ideas. Everdo in particular seems so far to be a nearly perfect fit, though I will report back if anything changes my plan.
 
Of course there is the old standby - EMACS with OrgMode. Local plain text (can be exported into HTML,LaTex, icalendar, ODT) . Basic to detail project, search, tagging etc in one or more text files. Myself I leave in one file exporting completed as required to a yearly archive file.

Current work is little of 5MB that includes all notes, procedures, start/due/finish dates for 2019. Exported Procedures/Reference is just over 750 pages in a binder in case of 'hit by a bus' there is my book of knowledge.

Of course Freeplane/iMindMap is there for big picture (all local filestore linking to reference files, internal fileserver, websites etc)
 
When browsing this forum for something else long ago I came across a reference to emacs orgmode and I laughed -- not because it's a bad idea but because it is yet more proof that emacs can do (/me gestures wildly) everything! If I were an emacs user I'd certainly go that route. But I'm so lazy I just use nano.

Before I settled on Remember the Milk for personal use and Mac's Reminders.app at work, I gave Freeplane a try. I still use it in fact, but for brainstorming rather than tracking tasks.
 
nano with Alpine by chance?
Alpine email is my gold standard when testing IMAP (no local cache) mail server issues.

Sometimes small and fast rules.
 
After trying it for a few days I like Everdo even more than my trusty standby Remember the Milk. I've moved to it for work. Many thanks to Mateusz and everyone for the help.
 
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