Need to-do app with some specific functionality

January 13, 2017 9:51 AM

I am looking for a to-do list app that omits some common functionality in favour of not-so-common functionality. It can be Android or PC, but I don't have an iWhatever so that's out. Ideally the task list could be shared between phones and/or PCs. I've checked out any.do, habitica, todoist and a few others and they don't do what I want as far as I can tell.

I've got a situation where a number of tasks need to be done at certain intervals, but it doesn't matter when they get done in those intervals. Every interval, the done status of the task needs to be reset to undone. So as an example a task might be "check Dad's post office box once a week" and when it gets done it disappears from the list, or at least gets marked as done. Then on Sunday morning(or whenever) the task gets marked as undone again.

I emphatically do not need or want the ability to schedule a task or to be told when a task needs to be done. In fact any kind of alert or reminder that something needs doing is a dealbreaker or at least will be immediately turned off. Ideally it wouldn't involve gamification or look cutesy, but if that's what it takes then so be it.

I've been hunting this down long enough that I'm thinking of trying to make it myself, but as a lazy person I am hoping someone else already did!

posted by Sternmeyer to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

I actually use iPhone reminders this way. If I have something that needs to happen weekly, like change the cat litter, I'll set a reminder for any time (Sunday morning, say) and it will keep popping up unless I clear it. It does require setting it for a time, but it sticks around after that.

You can definitely do something similar with Wonderlist, if that meets your need.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 9:59 AM on January 13, 2017

Remember the Milk does this, if you set up the task as "every Sunday". It will just linger on your list until you mark it done, then reappear on Sunday.
posted by Etrigan at 10:01 AM on January 13, 2017

Oh, on reread, you're looking for something that changes done/not done status, but not an alert. Sorry, I misunderstood.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 10:07 AM on January 13, 2017

Asana can do this. You can use it for free, and it's an excellent fully featured to do app. Disable alerts if you don't want em. I 😍 Asana.
posted by tracert at 10:17 AM on January 13, 2017

I use strides for this... It's a habit tracker, but I find it does this kind of thing ok
posted by Valancy Rachel at 10:28 AM on January 13, 2017

Google's Inbox has Reminders which are pretty close, and if you're already using Gmail the switch is easy (you use Inbox for all of your emails, it's just a new UI with extra features). Basically you tell Inbox to remind you once a week to "check dad's post box". It stays in your inbox until you mark it as done. Next week, say, Monday at 7AM or whatever you set, it shows back up again.
posted by AmandaA at 10:30 AM on January 13, 2017

2nd-ing Remember the Milk. It has two versions of recurring tasks. One is "repeat every week" where the task will show up every Tues., or whatever. And the second is "repeat after one week" where the task will repopulate for 7 days after it's completed.

Rereading your post, I'm not entirely sure what you're looking for, but regardless RTM is worth checking out and might fit your needs. It has phone, web, desktop versions, all in sync.
posted by Leontine at 10:49 AM on January 13, 2017

I don't have a specific app recommendation for Android, since I'm on iOS, but it might be worthwhile to look at habit tracking apps rather than todo list. They tend to me more optimized for this kind of workflow -- something you want to make sure gets done a some regular interval, but without a scheduled time.
posted by duien at 11:54 AM on January 13, 2017

Best answer: I'd recommend my own tool, Good Todo, for this. Just set up a recurring weekly task. You can click it done whenever you like, and then on the next Sunday (or whatever) it will appear again as an undone task.
posted by mark7570 at 12:08 PM on January 13, 2017 [3 favorites]

I've used a bunch of different to do apps, including just about everything listed here, and I detest notifications of any sort, so whenever I install ANYTHING I immediately disable all reminders and notifications. I've definitely been able to do that in every to do app I've tried.
posted by lollusc at 12:53 PM on January 13, 2017

Response by poster: Thanks folks and especially mark7570. Good Todo is so far exactly what I'm looking for and I'm going to trial it for the month. The daily rollover is great.
posted by Sternmeyer at 8:08 AM on January 14, 2017