this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2023
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Apple

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[–] Astronomik 15 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I use Apple Notes and Reminders. The Reminders app is actually pretty robust and is also good for your grocery list etc. (you can add items via Siri). The main reason I use it is because reminders stay front-and-center on my Lock Screen even after I unlock and re-lock my phone. I have yet to find another app whose notifications don’t get buried in the Notification Center.

[–] Drunemeton 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

How do you add stuff to a reminder, especially using Siri?

Right now we're using a shared Apple Notes so anyone in the home can add items for me to buy. (Yes, I hate that feature but here we are… ; )

[–] Astronomik 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I do the same as @veedems already posted; name the list whatever you want and tell Siri to "add X to my Y list". Also works for a to-do list etc. One benefit of using Reminders over Notes is that you can pull a Reminders list up on your Apple Watch, if you have one. That way you can have your shopping list on your wrist in the store instead of pulling out your phone.

[–] Drunemeton 2 points 2 years ago

Great tip about the watch option. Thank you!

[–] jzefbeio54 13 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I use Obsidian : https://obsidian.md/ It's way more than just note and task, but I like the open structure of it. It's free

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

And I love the community extensions and themes. Highly customizable too

[–] tdawg 2 points 2 years ago

the spiderweb is pretty neat too

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I use microsoft to-do. Syncs with Outlook and the windows app.

[–] Spat_U_Later 3 points 2 years ago

And To-Do supports apple watch now! Great for checking off a list while shopping without having to constantly unlock your phone.

[–] coralof 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

For notes, just Apple Notes. If I’m taking detailed notes rather than something quick, I use GoodNotes 5 on my iPad.

For tasks / reminders, I actually just find myself using my calendar, since I always go to look at it every day. I’ll set a time to do the task or when it’s due, and then I can set reminders in the calendar event as well. I’ve tried todo apps and reminder apps and such, but I end up forgetting to use them. 😐

[–] rarkgrames 2 points 2 years ago

Another vote here for GoodNotes 5. Well worth the money (and it isn’t really expensive either)

[–] berkeleyblue 3 points 2 years ago

Notes and Reminders…

That kinda sounds passiv aggressive for some reason… No actually I like them. I don’t use teminders that often though and I do have 2Do on my mac and iPhone and wanted to start using that a bit more. For Notes however I never frlt the need to have more than what Notes gives me. My wife and some students I worked with over the years seem to enjoy Goodnotes for some more sophisticated note taking.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

I use Apple Notes since I don’t need a “second brain” model (e.g., Obsidian, Notion, etc.) For my more straightforward needs, Apple Notes works great. As for reminders, I’m a heavy calendar user, so I use Todoist and link it to my main calendar.

[–] ignism 3 points 2 years ago

Recently switched from Things to Reminders. Bought Things when reminders was lacklustre in features, but it caught up.

[–] yogsototh 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

emacs org-mode. Along with beorg to sync with iPhone.

[–] lhx 1 points 2 years ago
[–] eli 3 points 2 years ago

Simplenote for personal stuff(grocery lists, small to-do's)

For work? A physical paper notepad and pen.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Things 3 or TickTick for todo items. Microsoft OneNote or Apple Notes for notes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I use the stock Reminders app with Remind Faster. Makes it sooo easy to add basic reminders and to add things to a shopping list in Reminders.

For thought collection/idea making I usually start with Drafts. It’s so much more powerful than I expected without being at all sluggish.

If it becomes a bigger idea or a project I move to Obsidian, though I’m looking to move to Logseq for an open-source option. Obsidian’s newer mind map feature is pretty sweet, and replaced Mindmeister for me. Granted, I don’t make extensive maps, but it’s nice to just think in a graphical context from time to time.

[–] joneskind 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Alright...

I share two lists in Reminders with my wife for groceries and things we could do.

My main everything To Do app is OmniFocus, because it's the only app I found that gives me a Deferred option. The idea is to be able to add a task and forget about for it for the time need.

I follow the GTD method and because I use OF to organise all of my projects, I have tons of ToDos and it can be really overwhelming. I used to procrastinate a lot because I hadn't a good view of what I could achieve. So it goes like this :

OmniFocus has some Views. The one I use are Projects, Contexts (or Tags) and Flagged.

  • The Project View is bloated with all the tasks I have registered.
  • The Context View allows me to sort my tasks by Capabilities on the moment (A location, a person, a tool, a period in the day etc) and add a first filter on tasks that can be done. For instance I might have a list of ordered tasks in some project that need to be completed one after the other, only the first task of the list will appear here. Tasks that have been deferred won't appear here either.
  • The Flagged View displays the tasks I flagged, but because there is a deferred option I can flag a task without it actually showing up in my Flagged View. It will automatically show up the moment I decided it should.

You could argue that setting an alarm on a task would basically do the same thing. But the whole point is to decide when I should begin to start doing stuff. Alarms are stressful. I don't need an alarm for a task like "Clean the cat litter" or "Get the trash out". I just need not to forget, because I usually forget those things.

There are a lot of other things I do with OmniFocus, but this comment is long enough already.

I share some Notes too with my wife, but I use Notes mainly for very quick draft. I'll go with IA Writer for longer text, and with Day One for my diary.

[–] PKRockin 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Man, Omnifocus (and most of the Omni suite) seems so good, but it's so expensive. I absolutely am not opposed to paying for services, but a $10/mo subscription service or a $50+ app seems crazy for a task tracker.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I was a subscriber until I decided it was way too expensive for a glorified todo list which was really buggy (bad UI, sync problems, etc.) I tried Reminders again and found out that it could do everything I needed for free. I don't care about perspectives which can be replaced with tags, or deferred tasks which can be replaced with deadlines. I'm happy with Reminders actually.

[–] joneskind 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yeah I know OmniFocus cost a kidney... And even you have an in app purchase to add some features, so it could cost even more. But it's the only Task manager that I know to deferring tasks and perspectives, and I couldn't handle my workflow without it. For me the key part is to not feel overwhelmed.

At some point I've been thinking about developing my own app, but it would definitely cost me more than 50 bucks of my time... So I guess I'll pay.

[–] PKRockin 1 points 2 years ago

Hey, I'm glad it's working for you! I wish it just were more accessible financially :(

[–] Gorroth 2 points 2 years ago

Apple Notes and Apple Reminder

Both are actually quite useful when you give them a chance. And I use them on a daily basis with lots of notes, documents, recipes, etc… Reminders for everything, even location based. It really has everything I need, they are ad free and I didn’t have to pay for the apps (besides the price of the iPhone)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

I like google keep. Accessible from any device. iCloud.com always get clunky to me when working from a computer.

[–] ifDogsCouldTalk 2 points 2 years ago

The default Notes app and the default Reminders app. Does the job and works with Siri HomePod.

[–] brownbreadboy 2 points 2 years ago

Standard notes. It’s the best and also can get it on your computer as well or use the website to see your notes. Best part it’s free and you can set encryptions

[–] sknob 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

With the standard Apple Reminders app, you can link specific email messages to specific reminders, and then link back to the email. Major part of my workflow, and it works across devices.

Oh, and Apple Notes for notes.

[–] DarkKnight_ 2 points 2 years ago

Been using Apple Notes for years. More than iMessage, it's what always brought me back from android.

For a long time, I was using Things for reminders, but I feel like reminders has caught up so much. Plus, I use the location based reminders more than I ever thought I would.

[–] C_Gajewski 1 points 2 years ago

I use Things and Bear daily, but I'm trying to go back to reminders and notes because the integration with Spotlight is next level. And it could not be otherwise.

[–] coolfission 1 points 2 years ago

SimpleNote for notes and default Reminders app for Reminders.

[–] Washable2263 1 points 2 years ago

I use Apple’s stock Calender and Reminder apps, but I use the Onward widget to show them both together on my Home Screen and in Notification Centre.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Things and Agenda

[–] thisisdee 1 points 2 years ago

The built-in Notes and Reminders are great. The only thing I use a different app for is a shared groceries list with my partner, since he's an Android user. We use AnyList which is cross-platform and works well with Siri (e.g. "Add milk to groceries")