Things 3 is tremendous, and I must confess that I’ve fully switched to it.
A bit of background: I had used Things 1 as my first high-powered to-do list (after first experimenting with Remember The Milk). But it languished, especially in terms of sync, and it didn’t have time-based deadlines. So I switched to OmniFocus. OmniFocus is best in class, really powerful and thoughtful. But some of OmniFocus’ recent power user implementations have felt odd to me – I don’t need TaskPaper support every time I copy and paste, for example. OmniFocus was oddly between a task manager and a project manager.
Although OmniFocus is thoroughly Mac-like, powerful, and intuitive, I missed the clear, lovely Things in its earlier versions. With Things 3, the stark beauty is only enhanced, with inviting fonts, titles, and clarity. (It feels very inspired by iOS 10’s Music app, with large, clear titles and sections.) I like the Today view, and I like the ease of seeing everything. Lists and items pop onscreen and offscreen in a really pleasing way that clearly communicates what is happening. Things has had a powerful sync for some years, but I hadn’t really experimented with it until Things 3.
I do sometimes miss the Review tab of OmniFocus, but it’s really not necessary. If you want to review, then review, or set an appointment or recurring event and go through everything. Things forces you to keep it simple, which is always a challenge for a kind of software that naturally invites complexity.
Use whatever works for you – Apple’s Reminders is great, and OmniFocus is awesome. But Things pops in a way that feels very contemporary, leaving OmniFocus feeling a bit stale.
Cheers to Things 3!
