RealMac has created a desktop and iOS to-do list app called Clear that is simple and easy to use. I have tried just about every to-do app I can find and this one seems simple and not too annoying. I have had a couple to-do apps I had to delete because I couldn’t get them to stop yelling at me.This app never seems to yell or alert so you’ll have to open the app to see your list.
I downloaded the iOS version and it works really well. The quick tutorial makes most of the gestures intuitive before you know it. The only difficulty I had was squeezing a list closed to reveal the group list view if a list only had two items in it. If you intend to just use one big laundry list, then there should be no issues. Its very quick and easy to add, move, delete or check-off items. If you need timed alerts or repeating alerts you’ll need to use a different app.
The NORAD color view is nice: things at the top of the list are marked in red and then they fade to orange and yellow but it doesn’t seem to ever fade to green or blue. I guess its always at a state of alert.
It appears that by using iCloud you can sync lists between the desktop Clear app and your iOS device. At $9.99 for the desktop app though, I am a bit hesitant.
Currently, I use SimpleNote on my iOS devices with Notational Velocity on my laptop which is a free list/text solution but slightly limited. A full “premium” version of SimpleNote is $19.99/year. SimpleNote and Notational Velocity act as more of a text receptacle than a list-maker and I would say the same thing about Evernote as well. Clear is definitely a DO THIS task list-maker rather than a great big catch-all.
The iOS version of Clear is $1.99 and the desktop app is $9.99.
… but the desktop version only works on Mountain Lion
Oh, yes, there’s that issue as well. I’m running 10.6 at work so no Clear for the desktop for me either.
Clear is a superb app for multiple, simple to-do lists. The functionality is indeed very intuitive. The only drawback I have found — and a feature that I have requested from the generally very-responsive developers — is the lack of being able to tag at least one list as recurring.
I, too, use the SimpleNote-Notational Velocity combo, but for long-text or more unstructured entries. It’s great for just remembering things.
If you have a daily list that is always the same (but still editable) and that you want to re-populate every morning (at a time you can even specify!), try Today To-Do from Spielhaus.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/today-to-do-clever-task-management/id330551758?mt=8