Things 3 Updated With Support for Dark Mode on iPhone and iPad

[MacRumors]

Popular to-do list iOS app Things today has been updated to version 3.8, which introduces full support for a new Dark Mode. Specifically, users will be able to chose between three appearances for Things 3 on iPhone and iPad: Light, Dark, and Black.

These appearances can be set manually in settings, or users can choose to automatically switch between them based on the brightness of their iOS display. Things 3.7 for macOS gained support for Dark Mode this past September.

Things allows users to organize their goals with task management features that include daily breakdowns of incoming tasks to finish, as well as projects like getting ready for a vacation. Things 3 integrates with Apple's Calendar, Siri, Reminders, and the Today Widget, and supports Handoff, Notifications, and Apple Watch.

Things 3 can be downloaded from the iOS App Store for $9.99 [Direct Link].

Article Link: Things 3 Updated With Support for Dark Mode on iPhone and iPad

 

[macduke]

Now if only Apple would add support for system-wide Dark mode. Many of my favorite apps, now including Things 3, already support it! I hope more developers continue to add this mode. There weren't many new features for developers to integrate this year, so they might as well work on this in the meantime as it seems likely that official support is coming at some point. Then they could just add a simple API call to deliver the UI based on the system preference, with perhaps an option in settings to override it.

Also I wish the Mac version would go on sale. Things, at least on iOS, is a great app—but I just don't think a Mac version is worth $50 for a glorified to-do list.

 

[UltimateSyn]

So I paid $10 (quite a bit for an iOS app IMO) for Things 2 back in the day, which seems to have very similar core functionality to this app, yet my purchase is no longer available since Things 2 has been removed from the App Store. And no discounted upgrade to 3? And if I spend $10 on 3, how long until they stop supporting 3, remove it from the store, and release 4?

Kind of soured my taste from them and goes against how I think the concept of an update should work with iOS apps.

Edit: just found out that in 2018 it’s still not a universal binary so you need to buy it separately for iPhone, iPad and Mac... all told $80

Edit2: whoops, my bad. Poster below is right. I had bought Things for iPad, not Things 2, and it is still available in my purchases

 

[rwilliams]

YES!!!! I've been waiting for this.

 

[adamjackson]

That looks good. Dark mode is not as easy as "paint it black"

 

[bhodinut]

Things 2 hasn't been removed from the App Store. It's not for sale but it's still in your list of purchases. At least I see it in mine.

 

[guzhogi]

So I paid $10 (quite a bit for an iOS app IMO) for Things 2 back in the day, which seems to have very similar core functionality to this app, yet my purchase is no longer available since Things 2 has been removed from the App Store. And no discounted upgrade to 3? And if I spend $10 on 3, how long until they stop supporting 3, remove it from the store, and release 4?

I wish Apple allowed upgrade pricing in the App Store. Maybe add the capability to buy an upgrade as an in-app purchase

 

[roncron]

I’ve heard great things about Things but am having trouble justifying the cost: $10 for iPhone, $20 for iPad, and $50 for Mac. I’m currently using Wunderlist for free on all three platforms.

 

[nutmac]

I’ve heard great things about Things but am having trouble justifying the cost: $10 for iPhone, $20 for iPad, and $50 for Mac. I’m currently using Wunderlist for free on all three platforms.

Assuming Things is on a 5 years release cycle, Things 3 will be 2 years old next summer. So Things still has a lot of value left. But I wonder about subscription vs. paid app model.

Even though Things 3 is now 30% into 5-year update cycle, we still have to pay the full retail price ($80 for all 3 platforms).

On the other hand, if Culture Code charges $4.99/year for the iOS versions, it works out to $24.95 over 5 years. Thanks to 15% subscription cut after 1-year, however, Culture Code's cut is $20.46 for subscription, as opposed to $20.99 for paid app model. So customers not only save $5 over 5 years AND have access to the latest version, Culture Code gets a reliable recurring revenue stream.

Culture Code would make roughly the same amount of revenue over 5 years with these subscription options:

• iPhone only: $1.49/year
• iPad only: $3.49/year
• macOS: $8.99/year

 

[max2]

Things 3 is awesome and well worth the purchase price!

I remember paying less for it.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Count me as a Things 3 advocate . Very nice app with great developer support and communication. Glad to see dark mode with the app.

 

[Architect4122]

I’ve heard great things about Things but am having trouble justifying the cost: $10 for iPhone, $20 for iPad, and $50 for Mac. I’m currently using Wunderlist for free on all three platforms.

I rarely invest in software across platforms unless I absolutely see a need to. I also think some of the price tags for iOS are a little steep. I've also found myself returning to paid software versus free software; be that for the extra aesthetic touch, UI, or general (albeit relative personal preference/opinion) higher quality.

That being said, Things 3 is one the absolute best pieces of software/apps I've invested in recently. It's quick, minimal, beautiful, and can be as easy or in-depth as you want it to be. I would highly recommend Things 3 - I've relied heavily on it professionally, and I'm starting to bring it into my personal needs.

However, I will say, depending on work flow I would assume most people only need two instances of it: I have it on all three platforms; MacOS, iPhone and iPad. Was it worth the combined purchase? Definitely. Upon using it more and more, I've realized I favor two of the three platforms - in this case MacOS and iPhone. I don't regret the iPad purchase, and I do use it. Just not as frequently as I thought (but that could be my current work flow).

In other words, Things 3 is worth the investment - but look closely at your workflow, I think most people will find they only need it in two instances, and not across all three platforms!

TLDR; Highly recommend Things 3 (I rarely invest in software), but would recommend on two most-used platforms.

Assuming Things is on a 5 years release cycle, Things 3 will be 2 years old next summer. So Things still has a lot of value left. But I wonder about subscription vs. paid app model.

Even though Things 3 is now 30% into 5-year update cycle, we still have to pay the full retail price ($80 for all 3 platforms).

On the other hand, if Culture Code charges $4.99/year for the iOS versions, it works out to $24.95 over 5 years. Thanks to 15% subscription cut after 1-year, however, Culture Code's cut is $20.46 for subscription, as opposed to $20.99 for paid app model. So customers not only save $5 over 5 years AND have access to the latest version, Culture Code gets a reliable recurring revenue stream.

Culture Code would make roughly the same amount of revenue over 5 years with these subscription options:

• iPhone only: $1.49/year
• iPad only: $3.49/year
• macOS: $8.99/year

I'm holding on to Adobe CS6 for dear life. I'm not a huge fan of subscription based software. After a while you get locked into your workflow and don't need all the new bells and whistles (nor do you always have the time to learn). Paying a monthly (or yearly) fee for the newest and greatest isn't always necessary to me.

That being said, I'd rather plop down an upfront investment into a license purchase and use to my heart's content, versus paying a monthly/yearly fee.

Things 3 is worth the price!

 

[archer75]

Would things 3 be good for making shopping lists broken down by aisle? For items that I check off can they be unchecked to add back to the list? This is something that I find a lot of list apps don't do. And for the next shopping list I have to type everything in again. In google keep I can see the list below that I checked off and can simple uncheck to move it back to the list. Quick and easy.

I use the ios reminders app for some other things. But things 3 looks like it may be able to replace both of those apps for me.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Would things 3 be good for making shopping lists broken down by aisle? For items that I check off can they be unchecked to add back to the list?
I'm using google keep for that now. And I use the ios reminders app for some other things. But things looks like it may be able to replace both of those apps for me.

I don’t think it would be great for shopping lists. It’s made to be a simple and/or powerful to do list app.

However, you can make reoccuring events and once checked off you can go back into the log and uncheck them. It’s would be a bit of a pain to manage I would think.

AnyList is my go to shopping list app. It’s made for it and fantastic. Has categories, sort by store, etc. it’s seriously the best one out there.

 

[Big Bad D]

Would things 3 be good for making shopping lists broken down by aisle? For items that I check off can they be unchecked to add back to the list? This is something that I find a lot of list apps don't do. And for the next shopping list I have to type everything in again. In google keep I can see the list below that I checked off and can simple uncheck to move it back to the list. Quick and easy.

I use the ios reminders app for some other things. But things 3 looks like it may be able to replace both of those apps for me.

Things is perhaps an expensive solution just for shopping lists. But yes it does do what you ask - I use it, amongst other usages, for shopping lists exactly in this way. Regular shopping items can be ticked off and unticked as later needed again.

 

[archer75]

Things is perhaps an expensive solution just for shopping lists. But yes it does do what you ask - I use it, amongst other usages, for shopping lists exactly in this way. Regular shopping items can be ticked off and unticked as later needed again.

I have other things I can use it for as well so it won't just be shopping lists. And I have a lot in giftcards so it seemed like perhaps a good time for that.
[doublepost=1544643228][/doublepost]

I don’t think it would be great for shopping lists. It’s made to be a simple and/or powerful to do list app.

However, you can make reoccuring events and once checked off you can go back into the log and uncheck them. It’s would be a bit of a pain to manage I would think.

AnyList is my go to shopping list app. It’s made for it and fantastic. Has categories, sort by store, etc. it’s seriously the best one out there.

Thanks, i'll take a look.
Edit - I see why I passed over this one before, it's subscription based which I hate. But the app itself seems like it could work well. If I share lists with my wife she would need a subscription too? Or would we both just use the same account with one subscription? I see they have a family subscription option but I wonder if we can get by with just sharing an account.

 

[ignatius345]

I’ve heard great things about Things but am having trouble justifying the cost: $10 for iPhone, $20 for iPad, and $50 for Mac. I’m currently using Wunderlist for free on all three platforms.

I really think it all depends on how much use you get out of an app. OmniFocus basically runs my life, and costs a bit more than Things. But I also trust it with basically every aspect of my personal and professional planning and tracking so it's very much worth it to me. It has features way beyond "to do list" functionality and the company actively develops and improves it all the time. So I'm cool with paying for it instead of just reflexively chasing the cheapest possible thing I can use.
[doublepost=1544648532][/doublepost]

Would things 3 be good for making shopping lists broken down by aisle? For items that I check off can they be unchecked to add back to the list? This is something that I find a lot of list apps don't do. And for the next shopping list I have to type everything in again.

Take a look at Paprika. It's a recipe organizer, but also has some great pantry inventory and shopping list features. Not sure if it has reusable lists, but it can put everything you need for a given recipe onto a list and break it down by aisle. It will also keep track of which spices you have, for when you're wondering whether you have cumin or not.

 

[silvetti]

Would things 3 be good for making shopping lists broken down by aisle? For items that I check off can they be unchecked to add back to the list? This is something that I find a lot of list apps don't do. And for the next shopping list I have to type everything in again. In google keep I can see the list below that I checked off and can simple uncheck to move it back to the list. Quick and easy.

I use the ios reminders app for some other things. But things 3 looks like it may be able to replace both of those apps for me.

For shopping lists I would have a look at Bring (which is free) and is amazing for that! Also, their Apple Watch app is very good.
Really nice developer as well. (I do not know him or am related to him/her)

 

[jphall]

I remember paying less for it.

As I recall, Culture Code did offer a reduced price for a limited time on all the App Stores in lieu of upgrade pricing based on your license serial number through their web site. You probably bought it in that window of time.

Culture Code did send me an email about this, but I couldn't decide if i needed it enough to pay for an update before it went to current prices.

 

[LogicalApex]

Things is a great application that fits very well into my workflow. I own it on MacOS and iOS, but I skipped the iPad as I feel that would be redundant in my workflow. The price is on the higher end, but the application is rock solid and extremely well done. For a tool that I use extensively it is a great value.

However, it is missing one feature I think any To Do app with sync support should have. End to End encryption. It should either use iCloud to offload that responsibility to Apple or implement it natively. My only gripe is that my To Do information is the reality that Things could look at my To Do data if they wanted to.

I am sure a bigger engineering challenge for them is key sharing between devices (for instance, you have a year's worth of To Do items and you install on your iPad which now needs to decrypt those items). But they could overcome this with key sharing occurring over continuity or some similar near field method. The feature could even be Opt In similar to multiple factor authentication allowing us technical users to help iron it out.

This was the major reason I held off buying the apps for so long...

Assuming Things is on a 5 years release cycle, Things 3 will be 2 years old next summer. So Things still has a lot of value left. But I wonder about subscription vs. paid app model.

Even though Things 3 is now 30% into 5-year update cycle, we still have to pay the full retail price ($80 for all 3 platforms).

On the other hand, if Culture Code charges $4.99/year for the iOS versions, it works out to $24.95 over 5 years. Thanks to 15% subscription cut after 1-year, however, Culture Code's cut is $20.46 for subscription, as opposed to $20.99 for paid app model. So customers not only save $5 over 5 years AND have access to the latest version, Culture Code gets a reliable recurring revenue stream.

Culture Code would make roughly the same amount of revenue over 5 years with these subscription options:

• iPhone only: $1.49/year
• iPad only: $3.49/year
• macOS: $8.99/year

I'd prefer them not to go to a subscription model. If they do, I'll jump ship when I consider upgrading to something else.

Subscriptions have so many problems I could go on for days about why I am not a fan of that model. I'll just add a few here:

• Why should I lose access to the application if I decide to trim spending (after all $2 here and $3 there for every application ends up quickly turning into $300/m in application subscriptions weighing you down).
• Why should I be held hostage by developers? If I don't like future changes I either have to swallow it down and pay up or lose access to the application and all the data I've added to it. I can't keep my current version I like and skip the new version.
• I lose Family Sharing which I use a lot to share applications I purchase with my wife. It helps to soften the blow of expensive apps like Things and was a major reason I moved from Android to iOS.

And those are just a some of the annoyances I have as a user. I'm sure for a developer working on quality applications who care about user satisfaction it only adds stress. If Things was a subscription people would be forced to constantly stack it up against competitors on a monthly basis and decide if it is offering value compared to the next. So you have to find a way to make as many "big" updates as possible and rollout features as "quickly" as possible. The current pricing model allows Cultured Code to focus on making Things great. If they come out with 1 big update every 3 months or whenever users are already invested so they aren't as "antsy".

That's my $0.02 anyway....

 

[redgreenski]

Amazing app. I love it. Well worth money spent. I agree with above poster, if they go subscription based I will get rid of them. I don’t mind paying for updates every now and then thou.

 

[nutmac]

Subscriptions have so many problems I could go on for days about why I am not a fan of that model. I'll just add a few here:

• Why should I lose access to the application if I decide to trim spending (after all $2 here and $3 there for every application ends up quickly turning into $300/m in application subscriptions weighing you down).
• Why should I be held hostage by developers? If I don't like future changes I either have to swallow it down and pay up or lose access to the application and all the data I've added to it. I can't keep my current version I like and skip the new version.
• I lose Family Sharing which I use a lot to share applications I purchase with my wife. It helps to soften the blow of expensive apps like Things and was a major reason I moved from Android to iOS.

Responding to your last bullet point, if you use single Apple ID for the App Store, you can share in-app purchases (non consumables) and subscription between family members.

I understand the psychological barrier of subscription model:

• Rewarding developer with recurring revenue, whether they make meaningful improvements in the future or not.
• Possibility of losing access to your data the moment you cancel the subscription.
• Perpetual license offers the freedom of skipping major version upgrade.

I certainly would not want subscription pricing for every types of app. For instance, apps that I use once in awhile (e.g., NetSpot Wi-Fi analysis tool), apps that are rarely updated in a meaningful way (e.g., Parallels Desktop), and apps that provide very simple functionalities.

But I seriously consider subscription option for apps that I use regularly, provided (1) it is updated frequently in a meaningful way or includes valued cloud services and (2) subscription pricing is cheaper overall than equivalent perpetual license.

The best implementation of subscription pricing I've seen is IntelliJ developer tool. It costs $499/year, but decreases to $399 in its 2nd year, then to $299/year thereafter. Best of all, if you cancel the subscription, it converts to perpetual license to the current major version.

Going back to Things, ideally Apple would offer developers an option of upgrade pricing on the App Store. But I just don't see that becoming an option (some developers are offering it in a creative way, however). Some apps, such as Infuse, offer a choice of perpetual license and subscription pricing:

• Subscription: $0.99/month or $9.99/year
• Perpetual: $14.99 for the major version, $49.99 for lifetime

(In this particular example, subscription is worse as Infuse is typically on a 2-year or more major version upgrade cycle. But if I were to make a purchase today, I would feel more comfortable with subscription. Paying $14.99 now only to see a major new paid version in few months feels wrong.)

 

[jimthing]

1password offers BOTH methods.

Why Things sticks with this 'per device' one only, doesn't make sense to users, when they don't know if soon a new version is coming, and they'll have to (maybe perhaps?) pay again.
Just offer both subs AND outright full versions options, and be done with this dichotomy users feel.

 

[KarimLeVallois]

Count me as a Things 3 advocate . Very nice app with great developer support and communication. Glad to see dark mode with the app.

I agree their developer support is much better than it used to be during Things 2. They went through a stagnant period of not really updating the app and not being very forthcoming with communication, but have really stepped up their game since Things 3.

 

[Hustler1337]

I recently switched over to TickTick after hearing that Microsoft are discontinuing with Wunderlist which I've been using for years. For the last 3 months I've been using TickTick, I've been impressed. Before that I tried all the other major to-do apps but they didn't suit my needs (esp. folders, subtasks, notes, clean design, cross-platform support etc).

TickTick is eerily very similar in UI design to Things and supports dark mode. They also support MacOS which was essential for my needs and as I'll be moving over to Android soon after being with iOS for many years, Android support was essential.

The only downside to TickTick so far for me is that they have a subscription model unlike Things. Usually I despise the use of subscriptions but it's an app I genuinely get good utility out of that it makes it worth it. Would definitely recommend others to give it a try.
[doublepost=1544710139][/doublepost]

I’ve heard great things about Things but am having trouble justifying the cost: $10 for iPhone, $20 for iPad, and $50 for Mac. I’m currently using Wunderlist for free on all three platforms.

I'd recommend giving TickTick a try. Similar structure to Wunderlist and supports all three platforms. It's free, but has a paid option for certain features.

Alternatively, try Microsoft To-Do which will eventually replace Wunderlist. Only problem with that though is they don't officially suport MacOS.