Picking a to-do list app for iPhone and iPad

The one device that's there when you remember

Think about where tasks actually show up. In line at the pharmacy, at your kid's practice, walking the dog at night. The work computer is at work and the laptop is in a bag, but the phone is in your pocket for all of it.

So the phone app's job is mostly catching. The whole contest is how fast "return the library books" gets out of your head and onto the list, because those thoughts don't wait around¹.

Apple Reminders is the default for a reason

Start with the honest baseline. Apple Reminders is free, already on the phone, and quietly good. Dates, repeats, shared lists, and reminders that fire when you arrive somewhere, which is a clever trick for "buy dog food."

Its world is Apple's world, though. The list is happy on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It gets strained the moment your life includes anything else, like a partner on Android, a workday in Slack, or the fact that you talk to ChatGPT more than Siri.

The widget does the real work

Whatever you pick, the widget matters more than the app behind it. A widget puts today's list on the home screen or the lock screen, so you see it every time you pick up the phone without deciding to check anything.

That's the difference between a list you visit and a list that's simply around. When you're trying apps, put each one's widget on the lock screen for a week. Did today's tasks keep landing in front of your eyes? An app you have to remember to open loses to one you can't help seeing.

The iPad on the kitchen counter

The iPad half of this search is usually a kitchen. An iPad propped by the fridge with the week's list on it, readable from across the room, is the new version of the whiteboard, and it's a good one.

A list everyone can glance at over cereal keeps the "did anyone book the oil change" conversations short. Just make sure it's the same list that's on the phones. Two lists that don't know about each other is how the milk gets bought twice, and how it doesn't get bought at all.

Test it with your hands full

Don't decide in the App Store. Put two finalists on the phone and live a normal week with them: add a task one-handed with the dog leash in the other, on the way into practice, at 11pm with the lights off².

That test is also where our bias lives, so we'll say it plainly. 42 Todo!'s app is on your iPhone, and the same list opens in a browser tab on the kitchen iPad. But the part we're proudest of is that you can skip the phone entirely. Say it in the car through CarPlay, tell Alexa while the pasta boils, or type it to ChatGPT, and it all lands on the one list.

The screenshots won't show you any of that.

Frequently asked questions

What's the best free to-do list app for iPhone?

Apple Reminders, if everyone and everything in your life is Apple. It's free, capable, and already there. 42 Todo!'s free plan is the one to try when your tasks need to reach further, into ChatGPT, Slack, Alexa, the car, or a household with an Android phone in it.

Is Apple Reminders enough?

Often, yes. It handles dates, repeats, and shared lists well. People outgrow it for a few common reasons: a partner or kid on Android, wanting tasks in Slack where work happens, or wanting to add things mid-chat with an AI assistant instead of switching apps.

Does 42 Todo! work on iPhone and iPad?

Yes. There's an iPhone app, and on the iPad the website works well, especially as the always-open tab on the kitchen counter. It's the same list everywhere, and the free plan covers all of it.

Can I add tasks from the car?

Yes. Through CarPlay or Android Auto you say it out loud, like "add a task: pick up the cake saturday morning", and the date comes from your words. You can hear what's due and check things off by voice too, so the red-light thought actually survives the drive.

Footnotes

1. Most tasks die before they reach your list the ten seconds you get before a thought disappears. ↩
2. How to pick a to-do list app the test that settles it, with your hands full. ↩