To-Do, Google Tasks, Wunderlist, and Todoist: Which One Works for You?

To-Do, Google Tasks, Wunderlist, and Todoist: Which One Works for You?

Looking for a good app or service to manage the items on your to-do list?

You need an easy way to keep track of all the tasks you have to accomplish. And you want to be able to do this from your PC and your mobile device.

Microsoft To-Do is a skilled app for managing your to-do items. But it’s not the only game in town. You can try such programs as Google Tasks, Wunderlist, and Todoist. How do these free programs work and what features do they offer? Let’s check it out.

I wrote about Microsoft To-Do in this article “Keep Track of Your Tasks with the Microsoft To-Do App.” But I’ll start with a brief overview of this app before moving onto other programs.

Microsoft To-Do

Microsoft’s To-Do service is simple but effective. For each task, you can set a due date, reminder, and detailed notes. You can sort and view your items by name, due date, creation date, or status. You can create and manage multiple lists for different types of tasks. And you can access the service as a Windows 10 app, an iOS app, an Android app, and a website. Since you use your Microsoft Account to access the service, your tasks automatically sync among the different apps and the website.

From the start, easily create a task by clicking on the link to Add a to-do. Type out your task. Select it and add a due date, reminder, or note. The reminder is created as a Windows reminder, so the app doesn’t need to be open for you to see or hear the alert.

When the reminder arrives, you can respond by marking it as Complete or choosing to snooze it, in which case the alert pops up again in another five minutes. If you don’t set a reminder, just check the task to indicate when it’s been completed.

You may want to create more than one list to manage different tasks, for example, personal and professional. That’s easy enough. Click on the link for New list and give it a descriptive name. You can then apply a unique theme to each list to distinguish them all visually. To better view your tasks, sort them by such criteria as name, due date, creation date, and completed. You can also add specific tasks to the My Day folder, which displays them all in one shot.

Google Tasks

Google Tasks is a no-frills to-do service with basic features.

However, it’s missing certain options offered by other to-do apps. You can access the program as an iOS app or an Android app and through the Gmail Tasks webpage. And if you use Chrome, you can add an extension to tap into Google Tasks directly from the browser. Since you use your Google account to sign into the service, your tasks automatically synchronize among the mobile apps, the website, and Chrome.

To get started in the mobile app, click on the icon to Add a new task. Type your task. Tap on the + sign to add a due date and details on the task and save it. After you create a task, tap on it to add or revise the due date and details. From here, you can create subtasks if you need to break down the main task.

You can generate multiple lists to store different types of tasks and rename or delete a list. You can move a task from one list to another. You can sort your to-do items by date or by the order in which you created them. Check a task to indicate that it’s been completed, which strikes it out. You can also delete all completed tasks if you no longer wish to see them.

So what’s missing? In several ways, the Gmail Tasks webpage is more robust than the mobile app. From Gmail Tasks on the web, you can sort your items by date, by the order in which you created them, or by completed tasks. You can move a task up or down in the list. You can easily turn a task into a subtask or vice versa. You can even print a list.

From the webpage, you can add a Gmail email to your Google Tasks list. I saw no option to do that from the Gmail mobile app. Also, Google offers no way to set a reminder within the Google Tasks app itself. I’d like to see Google beef up the mobile apps and integrate notifications or reminders. If you use Gmail, you may find Google Tasks sufficient. If not, consider one of the other apps.

Wunderlist

Wunderlist is a robust to-do service with several advanced features. You can access it in Windows 10, on an iPhone, on an iPad, on an Apple Watch, on an Android device, on a Mac, on an Amazon Kindle Fire, and on the Web. Create an account or use your Microsoft Account to sign into the service to sync your tasks among the different platforms.

After you create a task, select it and you can set a date and reminder, add a note, write a comment, attached a related file, and insert a subtask. You can set a recurring task for every day, week, month, or year. You can also prioritize different tasks.

You can create multiple lists to manage different types of tasks. And here’s a neat trick. You can set up shared lists if you need to work on the same tasks with other people. You can assign items to anyone who’s a member of the list. You then receive a notification when the task is complete.

You can sort your tasks alphabetically, by due date, by creation date, by assignee, or by priority. You can also change the view of your tasks to see them by list, by week, or by other criteria. You can even add a link to your to-do items to calendars in Outlook, Google, Calendar, or Apple’s iCal. A helpful array of settings lets you configure notifications, change the background, and create smart lists to view specific types of items. Wunderlist is my favorite among the bunch.

Todoist

Todoist is another full-featured to-do service with lots of options. You can tap into Todoist from Windows 10, the Mac, iOS, Android, an Apple Watch, an Android Wear smartwatch, and a website. You can even save web pages and emails into tasks through specific extensions and plugins. Whew! Todoist is available as a free version and a $29-per-year Premium edition.

After you set up your account, select a color theme, and you’re good to go. Add your first task and you can choose a one-time or recurring due date and pick a priority level from 1 through 4. You can also set up an item as a parent task or a subtask. You can easily edit a task, mark it as complete, archive it, create a hyperlink to it, duplicate it, and move it to a different project.

You can’t create multiple lists in the same way you can in other programs. But don’t worry, Todoist offers a similar capability, just with a different name. You can categorize and organize a task by assigning it to any one of a number of projects. The service comes with several predefined projects, such as Personal, Shopping, and Work. And you can create your own project names.

You can share a project with other people to collaborate with them on specific tasks. Those people can also add, delete, and complete tasks. And you receive a notification whenever someone else takes action on a task. You can sort your tasks by name, date, priority, and assignee. You can also move tasks up and down a list by dragging and dropping them. You can even print a list.

Here’s a cool feature designed to motivate you. Create goals based on the number of tasks you complete and how fast you complete them. You then win Karma points as you meet those goals.

The Premium edition of Todoist offers more features, such as creating reminders, adding comments to projects, exporting projects as templates, emailing tasks to projects, and generating progress reports of completed tasks.

All About Accessibility in the Windows 10 April 2018 Update

With the steady flow of feature updates about every six months now, operating system changes are measured in increments versus leaps. That is why we’re running through a series of articles and highlight the specific changes that are part of each feature update. This week we are looking at accessibility updates in the Windows 10 April 2018 Update.

(Editor’s note: Prior updates have covered Cortana,  Continue on PC, Storage Sense and Focus Assist.)

The first thing that has been done for accessibility in this update is a consolidation of most of the Accessibility options under the Ease of Access area of Windows Settings. Users no longer have to hunt across different menus.

Ease of Access Settings in Windows Settings – April 2018 Update

Beyond centralizing many of the accessibility options here, you will also notice that the various features have been organized in related areas such as Vision, Hearing and Interaction. You can now go directly into the subset of settings in each of those categories to quickly find the feature you are looking to configure/setup.

Hardware Keyboard Suggestions/Auto-Correct Settings – April 2018 Update

The on-screen keyboard for Windows 10 has had text prediction for a while however, that capability has never been available for your physical keyboard. In the April 2018 Update that changes with the ability to flip a couple of settings toggles on Windows Settings > Devices > Typing > Hardware keyboard.

Once you have turned this on, you will also have the option to have autocorrect catch spelling mistakes as you type on your physical keyboard in addition to word suggestions. This will allow those with accessibility challenges to be more efficient at their typing, but it can also benefit able-bodied users.

Grammar Tools for Microsoft Edge – April 2018 Update

The next enhancement for the April 2018 Update is the addition of tools for EPUB books and websites that will help readers with comprehension of the content they are reading through Microsoft Edge.

Once installed, Grammar Tools has options to highlight parts of speech including nouns, verbs and adjectives. Words can also be broken into syllables to further assist with reading and comprehension.

Grammar Tools Options – April 2018 Update

Reading View in Microsoft Edge with Grammar Tools On – April 2018 Update

Microsoft Edge gained the ability to read content aloud in a past feature update but now that capability has been enhanced.

Narrated EPUB in Microsoft Edge – April 2018 Update

EPUB book publishers can now add unique narration voices and ambient sounds to create a more in-depth experience of the electronic publication. This can replace the default narrator voice that sounds very robotic/artificial.

Another area of Microsoft Edge that has been implemented in the April 2018 Update is a new Dark theme.

Dark Theme in Microsoft Edge – April 2018 Update

The idea behind this new option for theming the framework of Microsoft edge is to help with contrast between colors, text and icons. This will help users who need that contrast due to vision challenges to better navigate the browser. For everyone it can also help prevent eyestrain plus dark colors need less power consumption to display on the screen.

Unfortunately, even with a Dark theme turned on for Microsoft Edge, you still end up with that main viewing area being at the mercy of the website/service you are accessing. Although, over the last year or so, more sites are providing their own night or dark mode to help with this.

In addition to all the improvements mentioned above, Microsoft has continued their work on Eye Control which is still in preview. In the April 2018 Update they have added the ability to scroll and click either the right or left button to move around the system faster using the Eye Control features. They have also improved control of the Start Menu, device calibration and the ability to pause eye control as necessary.

You can find more information about accessibility in Windows 10 at the Windows 10 Accessibility help page.