It has been a while, well it’s around 4 years for me to find and try out to see what is the best to do list app for me. Finally, I’ve found Microsoft To-Do is the best one that fits my requirements.
You know what, finding out the best fit personal task management is a pretty difficult job; even there are a lot of task management applications and services on Internet.
When picking up a software for personal taste, I always try to define my requirements beforehand. And that’s where Microsoft To-Do takes a win for me.
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Features of a to do list app.
So, in this case here’re what I expect:
1. It should be an individual-focused task management style app.
So it’s like a personal tracking or task management app for individual.
In simple words, it should be called like a to do app.
- Minimal and clean user interface.
- Good UX, it should not be hard to use.
- Can create repeating tasks. Since it’s for personal use, that means there are a lot of repetitive tasks daily, weekly or monthly or any pattern.
- Can alert and remind me about due date. Well, it is pointless if this feature is not implemented. I can rather use a text file and Notepad to list up tasks.
If you take a look at Microsoft To-do, it does this job seriously well. I can say anything more.
2. It should allow to create repeating tasks.
Certainly, I have a lot of tasks that need to complete once; but there are more tasks being taken repetitively daily, weekly and monthly.
Some example for my repeating tasks:
- learn something new at every weekend.
- go to shopping mall every 5th and 20th day of the month. Curious why 5th and 20th? Well, in my local area, they provide discount 5% for membership.
- track my pages’ stats daily (including this page also)
- …etc
If you take a look at Microsoft To-Do to see how they implement this feature. It’s pretty good, clean and very easy-to-use.
3. It should run on many platforms.
It is pointless to use a to do app that only works on a single platform. It should work on both PC and mobile platforms.
Additionally, I’m a software developer, I work on many desktop platforms like Windows, Linux and Mac; so I prefer the to do list app should work on those.
However, at the moment, Microsoft To-Do only supports for Web, Windows, Android and iOS. So there is no native distribution for Linux and Mac.
But I can use Web version for now.
As I track on Microsoft To-Do feedback, they’ve been working on Mac implementation for a year and still no result yet.
I have absolutely no idea but a lot of users are waiting for it.
4. It should be free completely.
Yes, it should be free, and Microsoft To-Do is free for anyone.
Well, because it is given for free so I can’t ask for more if they decide not to work on Mac or Linux distribution. Fair enough!
Microsoft To-Do is the winner as the best to do list app for me!
I have tried some candidates like AnyDo, Todoist, TickTick… but they’re feature-over-killed for me and partially-free, unlike Microsoft To-Do.
What about some alternatives like Asana, Trello…?
Eh oh! It’s an absolutely no. They’re team-focus management services, don’t fit for personal task management.
Overall, I think I’m good with Microsoft To-Do at the moment. I’ve been trying it for months and feel pretty much happy using it.
It’s simple, it does the job well, very focus.
If you’re looking for a personal task management app, try Microsoft To-Do. It might be your winner!
