2Do 4+

After spending many, many years using a different, well known, application for my [intensive] task management, I finally got fed up with some of its problems and limitations and, before following its upgrade path, decided to take the plunge and give 2Do a try. Gosh, I sure wish I’d started using 2Do years ago.

It’s always extremely difficult (and the cause for great apprehension) whenever considering a move from something that you’ve been using for YEARS and, in this case, that happens to control your daily life. You never realize how much you do completely automatically without even looking (especially if you’re a keyboard user and not a mouse user) until you’re trying to use something else. Much to my surprise and delight, making this change was a relative breeze. I’ve found 2Do to be more powerful, have more useful features, be better looking and has the ability to be substantially more customized by the user than the previous app I’d been using. During the trial period I experienced what seemed to be a glitch and I contacted the developer. I found the support to be absolultely GREAT. “Jerry" replied immediately (and was even actually willing to speak on the telephone from another country in order to get to the root of the problem).

I’m thrilled to now be using 2Do as my main task management application and even more pleased with the amazing support I've received during the first few weeks of using it.

I have relied on this app for a long, long time. Every time I try another app, I come crawling back to this one. It’s got every function for tasks, and it makes you wonder why other task managers are so weak on the features. Some don’t even have due dates! Most others will charge you money for a search feature, start dates, recurring features, etc. Most lately will insist on a subscription in order to unlock what ought to be the most basic of features. I really appreciate the pay-once-and-use-it model. I also like that it synchronizes between my devices, and in using iCloud sync, I can use Siri to add tasks into 2do (although the built-in reminders app is utterly useless). My major complaint is that I can’t get these tasks anywhere on a windows machine. I use mac at home, but windows at work, and I feel forced to find another, lesser app, in order to get stuff done at work, and that’s where I most need this app! I wish there were a solution, whether a windows app, a web-browser version with the familiar interface, or something! It wouldn’t have to store my data, which I’d happily continue to store in iCloud. It would just need to read the data, and present it in a browser. I won’t mark-down the rating because this app truly deserves all 5 stars, but this one shortcoming is quite substantial and might drive an enthusiastic user into the clutches of another app instead.

A lot of task managers look pretty, and some have more features, but none combine elegance with flexibility in a way that meets my needs … except for 2Do! This is the only app capable of managing my busy life. I am a teacher and have to prepare for class each week. I can set a due date for each week’s lesson, as well as a “duration” which tells the app exactly how many days before class I want to start preparing. That means that I only see what I need to work on this week, but also know that when next week comes around I won’t be caught unprepared. I can also set up weekly tasks that repeat every week but which I can “pause” over the summer months when I don’t need to worry about them. And I can set up reminders that go off when I’m at school so I dont forget to do them when needed.

UPDATE: I wrote this review a long time ago, and continue to depend on 2Do as my main task manager. Since I wrote the review 2Do has gotten much better at sync with large databases via Dropbox, which makes it work even better for me. I still am not happy with the current implementation of capturing emails, I still wish that worked better. And I also find that I wish it was easier to move between views. If you find an item via a search or smart folder and click “target project view” the search filters are still applied which can be annoying as they might hide items in the project unless you remember to clear the search.