Reminders
Apple's built-in task list, with due dates, tags and shared lists
Every iPhone, iPad and Mac ships with this task app already installed. Lists take due dates, tags, locations and sub-tasks, and you can share a list with other people. It syncs over iCloud. Shortcuts can drive it, which is why people keep drifting back to it from task managers they pay for. Where it struggles is anything that needs a weekly review, or a deeply nested project.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Federico ViticciDoes it
Apple writer · founder of MacStories
Went back to Apple's Reminders as his task manager in 2026 and dropped Todoist, reversing the swap he had made at the start of 2025. The round trip took about eighteen months.
Source: MacStories: Our Setups
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under productivity.
- App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.On record from 5 of 62 tracked people: 5 do it
- App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Readwise
Syncs your highlights and resurfaces them a few at a time
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it, 1 recommends it - App$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Website and app blocker
Software that makes distracting sites genuinely unavailable on a schedule
On record from 4 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it, 2 recommend it - AppFREE, no cost
Notion
Flexible workspace used as a second brain, wiki and task system
On record from 3 of 62 tracked people: 3 do it - App$$$Mid: Roughly $50 to $500, or up to $50/month.
Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe's video editor, the default in most professional edit bays
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it - AppFREE, no cost
Apple Notes
The note app that ships on every Mac, iPhone and iPad, synced through iCloud
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it
App entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.