Cultured Code Announces 'Things 3' Task Manager for Mac, iOS, and Apple Watch

[philosopherdog]

The trouble is everyone is used to free. But free is an illusion. You will pay with your privacy. Or you will pay after that product sells and the new owner wants their subscription or wants to bundle it into some bloatware subscription junk. Just look at Wunderlist and M$. Paying once for software is a bargain. If it's well engineered and you use it every day it is reasonable to pay some decent amount for that. If devs can't charge a living wage, guess what, they will not build great stuff. So stop complaining about paying for software. You don't know what you're talking about.

 

[macintoshmac]

Somehow, in the services sector, people feel so "entitled" to cheap and free. They don't get it. Just don't get it. Why should their employer pay them a salary? He is providing them an AC environment to work in, a computer, all facilities, furniture, even free coffee. With giving them all that, isn't he "entitled" to their 8 hours, just as these jokers are entitled to free forever just because they think so, or, gulp, they paid once?

Here, nobody provided CC any furniture, nobody gave them any free coffee, nobody gave them anything, and they produced a great piece of software. Why should we expect them to give it away for free? Why? Paying $50, or roughly $80 (for all apps) once every few years is a fine bargain, considering everything. The software is very refined in its own right and might. I really don't understand why the price bashing. Not as if they are charging an obscene, completely disproportionate figure. $10 for iPhone + Watch is fair, for a productivity app. If you use iPad, and want it on it, pay. They have made proper apps. They aren't web wrappers, like Todoist sometimes feels. Of course it will be cheaper. Plus, they charge per year, these CC guys are charging for something you can use for as long as you want. I really, really don't understand the issue people are having here with price.

I am in the content writing industry and suffer the same mindset of people wanting to pay the lowest price they can, $0.01 per word. Why? Because they think that even they can write, and write well, and so paying a person whose job is to produce quality content, is just a waste of money. They don't consider the time taken to deliver a well-researched, quality piece, but just see the "piece" as something they could also have done, and bingo, suddenly, it isn't worth paying what it is truly, reasonably worth.

 

[ScottNWDW]

Somehow, in the services sector, people feel so "entitled" to cheap and free. They don't get it. Just don't get it. Why should their employer pay them a salary? He is providing them an AC environment to work in, a computer, all facilities, furniture, even free coffee. With giving them all that, isn't he "entitled" to their 8 hours, just as these jokers are entitled to free forever just because they think so, or, gulp, they paid once?

Here, nobody provided CC any furniture, nobody gave them any free coffee, nobody gave them anything, and they produced a great piece of software. Why should we expect them to give it away for free? Why? Paying $50, or roughly $80 (for all apps) once every few years is a fine bargain, considering everything. The software is very refined in its own right and might. I really don't understand why the price bashing. Not as if they are charging an obscene, completely disproportionate figure. $10 for iPhone + Watch is fair, for a productivity app. If you use iPad, and want it on it, pay. They have made proper apps. They aren't web wrappers, like Todoist sometimes feels. Of course it will be cheaper. Plus, they charge per year, these CC guys are charging for something you can use for as long as you want. I really, really don't understand the issue people are having here with price.

I am in the content writing industry and suffer the same mindset of people wanting to pay the lowest price they can, $0.01 per word. Why? Because they think that even they can write, and write well, and so paying a person whose job is to produce quality content, is just a waste of money. They don't consider the time taken to deliver a well-researched, quality piece, but just see the "piece" as something they could also have done, and bingo, suddenly, it isn't worth paying what it is truly, reasonably worth.

Very Well Said

 

[windowpain]

If you can't afford it. 1. Make more money 2. Find something cheaper 3. Go to windows. But for god sake stop complaining. Turns out developers need to eat too. Who knew.

If devs can't charge a living wage, guess what, they will not build great stuff. So stop complaining about paying for software. You don't know what you're talking about.

Somehow, in the services sector, people feel so "entitled" to cheap and free. They don't get it. Just don't get it. Why should their employer pay them a salary? He is providing them an AC environment to work in, a computer, all facilities, furniture, even free coffee. With giving them all that, isn't he "entitled" to their 8 hours, just as these jokers are entitled to free forever just because they think so, or, gulp, they paid once?

I am in the content writing industry and suffer the same mindset of people wanting to pay the lowest price they can, $0.01 per word. Why? Because they think that even they can write, and write well, and so paying a person whose job is to produce quality content, is just a waste of money. They don't consider the time taken to deliver a well-researched, quality piece, but just see the "piece" as something they could also have done, and bingo, suddenly, it isn't worth paying what it is truly, reasonably worth.

Can we please stop with the ridiculous hyperbolic strawmen arguments that are trotted out everytime someone has the audacity to question the pricing.

I was reading a book by Salman Rushdie the other day (hey! I support authors..who knew..)
And do you know the price I paid for his book..it was ten dollars. Ten dollars for a work of clear genius that he spent a year or so writing with his decades of experience. It's worth ten dollars as that's the price the market dictates it is. If your work is not able to command more then $0.01 a word then I would suggest it is not worth the price you think it is.

You lot seem to be the entitled ones, seemingly think that the world owes you a living just because you are educated and spent time on something or you 'had' to buy expensive office equipment. Well it doesn't. I guarantee that there is a Chinese person willing to work twice as hard for a third of the money.. And that's the market price. Whether that is $0.01 a word or $3.

The only thing I am 'entitled' to do is not to buy a $400 bag squeezing juicer or an app suite I think is overpriced.

I support the developer (I bought things 1) and continue to buy and support other apps that I think offer me value for money. If you get $80 bucks worth of value and utility out of this app suite than I am happy for you, but why is it that you have a hard time understanding that not everyone does.
Others get value out of a overpriced juicer...I bet you would be willing to criticize them even though they worked hard to bring it to market.

It is perfectly possible to be willing and able to purchase apps and simultaneously think they are overpriced.
I am sure it is a great app...but 80 bucks for a task manager is in my opinion overpriced.

 

[Luba]

Anybody know if Things Cloud sync is more secure than OmniFocus cloud sync, or about the same? I've looked around their websites and no specific info is provided. They both say their cloud sync is secure, but no details as to what level of encryption etc.

 

[macintoshmac]

If your work is not able to command more then $0.01 a word then I would suggest it is not worth the price you think it is.

You lot seem to be the entitled ones, seemingly think that the world owes you a living just because you are educated and spent time on something or you 'had' to buy expensive office equipment. Well it doesn't. I guarantee that there is a Chinese person willing to work twice as hard for a third of the money.. And that's the market price. Whether that is $0.01 a word or $3.

It is perfectly possible to be willing and able to purchase apps and simultaneously think they are overpriced.
I am sure it is a great app...but 80 bucks for a task manager is in my opinion overpriced.

Your last statement speaks it all about you. Don't go on talking about "if your work is not able to command" when you say "80 bucks for a task manager". This is the mentality I am talking about all along. Hey, it is just a task manager! Hey, it's just pizza! If you cannot differentiate between task managers and are unable to understand why one cost more than others, it is this what I was referring to squarely, all along.

"Ten dollars for a work of clear genius that he spent a year or so writing with his decades of experience." Rushdie is not clear genius. It is all perception, right? And again, $10 for 1 year of work with decades of experience. $50 for 5 years of work with decades of experience too much for you?

$80 for Todoist is overpriced. $80 for properly coded apps for entire Apple ecosystem with a very clear function and goal, is not. It seems overpriced because, again, you don't know or can't understand what went through in making it. Ultimately, your last statement was exactly the kind of gentry I was alluding to. What do you think of Omni price points, then?

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

CC is quality dev, they can charge what they feel the app are worth.

 

[windowpain]

CC is quality dev, they can charge what they feel the app are worth.

Agreed. And I as a consumer can buy what I feel is worth it.

What do you think of Omni price points, then?

I neither know nor care.

Things are worth what people are willing to pay for.
If that's a $100m painting, a $10 dollar book or a $0.01 written word.
If people are paying you that, then it's probably what your work is worth.
People are not magically obliged to pay you more just because you think you are entitled to it.

If people think this app is worth it, they will by it. If not they won't.
I am of the latter group.

 

[macintoshmac]

People are not magically obliged to pay you more just because you think you are entitled to it.

If people think this app is worth it, they will by it. If not they won't.
I am of the latter group.

The point was that people call $80 for "a task manager" ridiculous ONLY because cheaper options exist that do those jobs they want just fine. If there was a consortium of task manager developers, who decide that task managers will cost $80 flat, no matter who does what, then we will never have the issue, right? Then we will pay the price and select whichever works better for us. However, the real problem here is this: those who know why a $80 software is $80, will appreciate and take it. The ones who do not, need not call the developers out on pricing it "too high".

They like the product, they love the product. They must understand that someone has gone all out to make it so good for them to like it. And offering it at the same price as 5 years ago. Who is paying the same price as 5 years ago for anything else than in the service sector as I mentioned? Apps... content writing.. designers... coders... etc.

What do they think? inflation occurs to them alone? Not app developers? When they expect bonuses and salary increases in a period of 5 years, what kind of men are they to criticise CC for charging the same price as 5 years ago? When they expect salary increases, are they correspondingly doing more work and putting in more hours? No, right? CC guys didn't even increase the price. You think the cost of development remained same for them as it did before they released Things 2 at the same price?

Same thing had happened with Rapidweaver and it's increased price. The developers had to walk a thin line, almost sheepish line, to try and explain people why they are increasing prices. Seriously? They aren't begging for money and giving nothing in return. People don't increase prices keeping margins in mind like those large corporations - people increase prices when something begins to cost them more. Rapidweaver 7 is blazing fast. Far better than 6. That alone is justification. But, they have a lot more to it. And yet, they had to explain themselves to people.

End point: a salaried person needs to be evolved enough to understand the mechanics and dynamics of a business. Without which, mindless bashing should be avoided. We are all people here, and I do believe that the morale of developers would get hurt, seeing as how people think their hard work is worth when it comes to paying for it. When it comes to spending on food, people can pay crazy amounts for junk. It's just taste buds, and the pleasure is momentary, gonna show itself out the next morning. But they shy from paying a reasonable amount to someone who is using their skillset to produce something that helps people manage their days and lives in a better fashion, day in and day out, for years. They shy to pay a ONE-TIME price that is reasonable and hasn't changed for 5 years.

The discussion was all about this. People are not magically obliged to pay me anything, as you said. However, they aren't magically entitled to criticise my product pricing either. No?

 

[windowpain]

The discussion was all about this. People are not magically obliged to pay me anything. However, they aren't magically entitled to criticise my product pricing either. No?

Then why are you criticizing the prices of other apps in this very thread?

$80 for Todoist is overpriced.

 

[macintoshmac]

Then why are you criticizing the prices of other apps in this very thread?

What you are referring to, was an example, as case in point, a matter of fact today. I am a Todoist subscriber for 3 years now and I love every moment with it. The price is very fair. It can increase by another $10 or $20 and I will still pay for it. You have brought it out of context.

The context was that what TD is today, if the developers were to charge $80, I would just look at other apps and then settle on something, maybe even TD. When I said overpriced, the context was that in comparison to T3 being $80, TD today at $80 - I would not pay. I never said that it should not be so costly, it should be this much cheaper, etc etc. People are bashing CC for pricing a very good, beautiful-looking app at the same price as they did 5 years ago. That is the point I was talking about. Anyway, happy nitpicking on nothing. If that helps you defend anything, anyhow, good for you.

And yes, you don't know what I was talking about, clearly. I could not have been criticising prices of other apps, because TD is not $80. If it were, I wouldn't have ever said why is it $80, it doesn't deserve to be $80, the developers have been smoking crack for charging $80 for this software, etc etc. I would just have found something else to use (in case it wasn't worth $80).

To help my point about my not bashing prices of other apps in this very thread as you called it, I want to tell you that the price of TD is $30 per year. I was not bashing the price of an app because that price does not exist. That remark was made to make a point that was clearly lost on you. And yes, I find that TD can be even $50 in its current state. TD is a very robust, very good system. I would gladly pay $50 for it per year, because I use it anywhere, everywhere, seamlessly, and it really just works. That it is not $50 but $30, is a blessing for the millions of its users, including me.

The point was not about bashing. The point was unjust, undeserved bashing. There is a difference and a line you refuse to admit to and understand.

 

[windowpain]

Look you are clearly saying one app (todoist) is not worth 80 bucks, this app is currently cheaper and you think it is worth the current price but not worth 80 bucks.

You have given an opinion on the pricing of apps and what you think they are worth, exactly the same as me and others in this thread.

After looking at the apps in more detail, yes, they do look very good. Very polished and someone has obviously put a lot of time and effort into making them. If I made the developers sad by stating I wouldn't pay 80 bucks for it then I apologize, that was not my intention.

The fact remains I am not going to get 80 bucks worth of value from it, so I am not going to buy it.
If you buy it and use it daily, then great..I hope it enriches your life. It is no doubt worth it's weight in gold for you and others, and I wish you all the best in using it. I will continue to use something else.

 

[macintoshmac]

I really understood the whole meaning behind "they will drag you down, and beat you to it with their experience" today. I am getting out of this banter now.

 

[windowpain]

I really understood the whole meaning behind "they will drag you down, and beat you to it with their experience" today. I am getting out of this banter now.

Personal insults are uncalled for. Please discuss the app.

 

[macintoshmac]

Personal insults are uncalled for. Please discuss the app.

My remark was not directed to anyone in particular. It was just something I understood as a phenomena. The thread happened to be a trigger.

As I see you felt it was directed at you, I apologise for making you feel like I insulted you. I was not. I do not know you per se, and I have no right, rhyme or reason to insult you at all.

 

[DavoteK]

To summarise this thread.

"I don't think it's worth the cost and take exception to people that do"

"I think it's worth the cost and take exception to people that don't"


Personally, love it, think it's worth the cost, and couldn't care less about people that do or don't.

 

[nevheatley3]

I'm tinkering with the trial version, and I'm trying to start with a clean slate (I admit that I have been a heavy critic of their development time, their coy responses to their customers, and times when they have explicitly white-washed Wikipedia of cited facts), but I'm having a hard time convincing myself that I would take the plunge after the trial period is up. One thing has immediately jumped out at me, and it could just be that I'm not used to it, is how you go about setting alerts for tasks. The whole "reminders" thing (i.e., setting a timed alert) just doesn't seem be intuitive. The truth is, I can't just switch between task managing apps willy-nilly, and right now, despite a long list of new features, it feels like the biggest development has been a move away from skeuomorphism. With a development cycle that feels inspired by Duke Nukem, it's hard for me to feel like it is worth the time and energy re-investing in a platform that takes this long to make an update that is sort of par with where it should be and has been so cavalier with customer concerns about that.

I had some issues with setting timed reminders as well but some things happened. 1. Since I am reviewing everything in the morning and distributing tasks between "today" and "evening," I haven't really missed it; 2. I am about "85%" competent in muscle memory with the app and haven't had to hunt for it for a while; and 3. Reminders should only be used, in my opinion, as a last ditch tickler under Things - I pretty much stay in the Today/Evening screen for the day and only have used the reminder alerts if I need to remind myself of something when I'm going to be somewhere (kind of like a workaround for location-based alerts).

 

[nevheatley3]

One last thing I will add.

I have used OmniFocus 1 & 2 on both iOS and Mac, Things 1 & 2 on both iOS and Mac, Apple Reminders with a "Things"-like setup, Wunderlist, Evernote GTD setup, and another program that I cannot recall.

This release of Things 3 is the first time that I have not felt compelled to have any companion app with the iPhone version. I do not feel it is needed or warranted given how the gestures and display, in my opinion, are next perfection for the iPhone. In contrast, I felt that I used very little of the functionality of OmniFocus 2 on my iPhone because it felt cumbersome, which forced me to wait until I got to my computer to do something more than add items to my Inbox.

I want to add this, because if you're like me, you may not have to worry at all about $80, and may be more than content with just paying the $8 or $10 for the iPhone version.

 

[windowpain]

I have used OmniFocus 1 & 2 on both iOS and Mac, Things 1 & 2 on both iOS and Mac, Apple Reminders with a "Things"-like setup, Wunderlist, Evernote GTD setup, and another program that I cannot recall.

It looks like you have used everything!
Can I ask, is there anything fundamentally different about Things 3 that you can't do with the other apps? Or is it more a case of the ease of which you can use it? (I suppose its usability is a bit part of its functionality..) Thanks.

 

[nevheatley3]

It looks like you have used everything!
Can I ask, is there anything fundamentally different about Things 3 that you can't do with the other apps? Or is it more a case of the ease of which you can use it? (I suppose its usability is a bit part of its functionality..) Thanks.

I definitely enjoy the ease, but must admit that I have been at this so long that I have a pretty stable way working with GTD systems like OmniFocus and Things that stay close or true to GTD methodology. The biggest thing I am missing is scheduling recurring tasks in projects (which they say they are working on). Sharing tasks (which I only really used with Apple Reminders in my "Family" group) is also missing.

I do believe the app is gorgeous and prefer the presentation of projects much more than in OmniFocus, what I do miss in OmniFocus is the long press back when you are deep into the app. However, I do not believe you get that deep into the app in Things, so I would like them to implement a long press back to the Today screen.

 

[Krevnik]

It looks like you have used everything!
Can I ask, is there anything fundamentally different about Things 3 that you can't do with the other apps? Or is it more a case of the ease of which you can use it? (I suppose its usability is a bit part of its functionality..) Thanks.

I've used practically everything under the sun, and it really is the ease of use that keeps bringing me back. It's not the most feature-rich (2Do, OmniFocus and Todoist still have more features), but the features in common are implemented with (usually) more care in Things. For me, it's the balance between having the power to deal with more complicated tasks, the ease with which I can work with those tasks, and the lack of rigidity in how Things expects me to use it compared to 2Do or OmniFocus. Some features it lacks, I don't even miss. Example I gave earlier in the thread was priority tags vs keeping your backlog sorted in priority order. I tend to prefer the latter. But in app like OmniFocus, it's harder to do that because it expects tasks to be in projects, always, so you get catchall projects that don't represent a particular priority themselves. You can still do it, but I can see the lure of tagging when you can't exactly structure things the way you'd like in a backlog format. Things doesn't get this perfect either, but close enough for me to not need it. But Things also is built so that you can use tags to represent priority if you like, so that's part of the flexibility.

And unlike previous versions, Things 3 does a very good job exposing all the functionality of the app on their mobile versions. If you can do it on the Mac version, you really can do it on the iPhone or iPad as well. Something OmniFocus gets close to, but doesn't make the experience quite as fast or streamlined, and leaves a few things out. It helps that Things has a few new gestures that I have yet to see in any other app that make certain processes a bit more streamlined, and more feasible on mobile as a result.

 

[pickaxe]

I am currently using Things 3 for Mac and iPhone, and I like it a lot. It does a lot of things right.

Furthermore, I'm a software developer with a good idea of how hard making software is and the "real" price of software. I also dislike freemium and am completely opposed to software subscriptions.

And I STILL think Things 3 is quite overpriced, that it took way too long to make, that the developers handled communication horribly, and that there's plenty of things I'd add or change about it. How's that?
I also think the condescending remarks of some of people in this thread are pathetic and hilarious. I think they're a byproduct knowing that you paid too much and perhaps got caught in the hype.

 

[Rique]

This is the most ridiculous I've seen in ages. But then again, it shows many people will pay for a polished turd.
[doublepost=1495141771][/doublepost]

Because it's not quality (in my opinion)

I also pay for Office365, Adobe Photograoher Suite, Evernote, Xmind, and many more. Things is a continual disappointment and as many have mentioned, it hasn't got collaboration features??????
[doublepost=1495141852][/doublepost]

Just a correction, it's $80 for all three apps.

Along with early versions of Things, I've used and payed for Omnifocus, Todoist, Zendone, 2Do, ToDo, The Hit List and even Toodledo over the years. Each has had its quirks and shortcomings and each has had its areas of "quality". I kept coming back to some combination of Outlook along with some list manager (most recently, Todoist and The Hit List). Yes, I had a big problem with "productivity porn" and probably needed an intervention, along with a 12 step program.

Things 3 is the first among this class of application which I've found to be a true pleasure to use. A person would have to go through a task management workflow for a few hours to gain a full appreciation, but if one were to do that - and that person was someone with experience using (and likely struggling with - at least to an extent) productivity and task management apps, that person would gain (IMO) a deep appreciation of the many fine points inherent in Things 3.

There's a ridiculously awesome search feature, tagging is super easy to add and use, there are 3 time management options (start date, deadlines - aka due date to many of us - and reminders), there's a view which is clear and easy to read, manage and report from (printing from Things 3 is excellent!) and in the iOS apps, there are other extremely well engineered and innovative touches (the + sign application is a revelation). To say that this application is "not quality" because it lacks collaboration is simply wrong - and simply your opinion (I fixed that for you).

Collaboration would be nice - but I prefer an application aimed solely at myself where I don't have to convince a co-worker, my team - or management - that it should be adopted in order to leverage a benefit.

I thought the lack of Email to Task would be a show stopper for me - but coupling Things with Mailmate handled that well.

I thought I'd have a big problem with the lack of saved filters - but the search is so great - and so fast - that it's simply not needed.

Things 3 is a great application. It reeks of quality.

I have no association with Cultured Code - I've written many critical posts re: Things over the years. However, with Things 3, boy did they get it right. Kudos to them. I've found my task management app and I doubt I'm looking back - or elsewhere.

 

[nevheatley3]

I have no association with Cultured Code - I've written many critical posts re: Things over the years. However, with Things 3, boy did they get it right. Kudos to them. I've found my task management app and I doubt I'm looking back - or elsewhere.

I ate some crow myself https://twitter.com/nevheatley3/status/866643993047826432

 

[ScottNWDW]

Like many others on here I have tried many to do apps over the years. I am simultaneously using a few trying to decide which one I like the best. Over the past few days I tried Things 3 and liked it so much that I bought and after a few days now find it being my go-to app. I've learned so much about the app the past few days and I am impressed with it. It does everything I need it to do and in projects I love the headings feature and checklists are nice and clear. Another great feature I live is the way the project stays fills in the circle. Just a minor thing, but at the same time it's a small detail that I love. The only other app that I know that does that is my other favorite app, Informant. I also love OmniFocus, but it is way more than what I need. I've also played with 2Do and ToDo Cloud. Both are outstanding in their own right. Each of the apps listed actually has features that I love and hate, but with this release on Things, I think I finally found something that will take the cake.