I have tried a ton of task and project managers. So many of them are very inviting, but I find myself getting overwhelmed by all the tasks and projects I end up putting there... and it doesn't take long. It is most likely a failure of my brain in some way, and not a reflection of the apps themselves.

But I have just started using Superlist, and a strange thing happened. I got into a workflow and time buzzed by. I actually feel I may have found the solution -- for me -- for managing tasks and projects.

There are two features that together make Superlist unique, I think: Each task is also a page, in which you can put notes and many other elements (not as many as an app like Notion), including sub tasks. And each sub task is also a page, in which you can add sub tasks. As far as I can tell, you can nest tasks infinitum. It's this task-nesting ability in combination with being able to surround tasks with notes and files and whatnot that makes Superlist stand out.

Instead of crowding the sidebar with each of my projects, I can create "task" lists, where each task is a project that has its own set of tasks, notes and documents. I am sure that this is more than doable in an app like Notion, but I'd have to build it and fiddle with the build until I got it right. Superlist works this way "out of the box."

Superlist isn't fully developed yet. There is no facility for putting a table in your notes, for instance. And it doesn't yet use natural language for date assignments. I am confident that these and lots more features are to be added. In the meantime, it still seems to work great for me.

You can learn more here: https://www.superlist.com/

Steve

I'm sorry, I don't get it. Does it do anything more than what Coda can do with creating a page as a task and linking to other pages which in turn will also be tasks?
Or like Anytype with the "task" object?

I haven't used either of the above much, was just wondering about the theoretical similarities and differences.

I haven't used Coda or Anytype, so I can't comment.

Lucine wrote:

I'm sorry, I don't get it. Does it do anything more than what Coda can
do with creating a page as a task and linking to other pages which in
turn will also be tasks?
Or like Anytype with the "task" object?

I haven't used either of the above much, was just wondering about the
theoretical similarities and differences.

I've used Anytype extensively, and just had a look at Superlist. Although they do have the "every task is a page" model in common, they're very different. Superlist's advantage over Anytype is that, in focusing on tasks, it's a lot simpler to get to grips with. Anytype has way more flexibility but that makes it more complex to get into.

I think that if you want a good task management tool, Superlist is worth a look. Anytype is more like a PKM tool with task management facilities (as yet only limited) built in.

It is worth noting that the Anytype feature set has significant gaps still, especially in task management: only a simple calendar, no notifications, no repeating tasks, no integration with external apps, limited feature parity between mobile and desktop and (although coming soon) no collaboration.

Lucine wrote:

I'm sorry, I don't get it. Does it do anything more than what Coda can
do with creating a page as a task and linking to other pages which in
turn will also be tasks?
Or like Anytype with the "task" object?

I haven't used either of the above much, was just wondering about the
theoretical similarities and differences.

I'll need to check this out. I have been quite happy with Click-Up as it offers many of the features that you cited, and possibly more, but I tend to ignore what I do not need. And if I need something dead simple, Kanbanflow has been my tool of choice since it has minimal friction in use for simple tasks or projects.

--Ken

Superlist does not come close to matching the features in Click-up. If you're happy with Click-up there is no need to look elsewhere. I've used CU in the past, but it overwhelms me with all its features. That's what I like about Superlist. It is pretty simple, but with power where I need it.

Ken wrote:

I'll need to check this out. I have been quite happy with Click-Up as
it offers many of the features that you cited, and possibly more, but I
tend to ignore what I do not need. And if I need something dead simple,
Kanbanflow has been my tool of choice since it has minimal friction in
use for simple tasks or projects.

--Ken

It’s worth reminding everybody that Superlist is produced by the same wonderful team that developed Wunderlist – really great people; I approached them about a software project a few years back and they couldn’t have been nicer to deal with.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

Superlist does not come close to matching the features in Click-up. If
you're happy with Click-up there is no need to look elsewhere. I've used
CU in the past, but it overwhelms me with all its features. That's what
I like about Superlist. It is pretty simple, but with power where I need
it.

Ken wrote:
I'll need to check this out. I have been quite happy with Click-Up as
>it offers many of the features that you cited, and possibly more, but I
>tend to ignore what I do not need. And if I need something dead
simple,
>Kanbanflow has been my tool of choice since it has minimal friction in
>use for simple tasks or projects.
>
>--Ken

I tried Superlist a week or so ago and quite liked it, but I rely on TextExpander a lot for my work (for technical terms and suchlike) and Superlist simply refused to expand any snippets. I contacted support straight away with a query but as yet no reply.

In case you're curiosity was piqued by Superlist, the app has now been officially released and is open for anyone to use.

I've been playing with it and it's pretty useful. For a brand new app it has powerful built-in integrations:

free: Gmail, Google Calendar, Microsoft To Do sync, email forwarding

pay: Slack, Github, Linear Figma

For individuals there's almost reason not to remain on the free tier, and families of up to five could easily live in and share lists/notes in the free Group tier.

The Getting Started video is constructive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MzzbRhYlSA

I've been using the free tier of Anylist (I paid for it for several years previously) for all my groceries and most of my generic lists. I'll continue to use it because it has features focused on grocery shopping (autofill by category, multiple shopping locations, etc) but I can see myself using Superlist for most other things because of its power and simplicity and easy sharing.

The Keep Productive channel just did an overview of it and Francesco says it's jumped into his Top 10 list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7dndjGauE8

Worth remarking here that TickTick is just as flexible as Superlist, with more options (e.g. Kanban boards, Calendar, nested tags, etc.)

You can essentially use TickTick to “build” your own unique task management system, adopting features from most popular task managers.

But Superlist does look nice!

satis wrote:

I've been playing with it and it's pretty useful. For a brand new app it
has powerful built-in integrations:

free: Gmail, Google Calendar, Microsoft To Do sync, email forwarding

pay: Slack, Github, Linear Figma

For individuals there's almost reason not to remain on the free tier,
and families of up to five could easily live in and share lists/notes in
the free Group tier.

The Getting Started video is constructive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MzzbRhYlSA

I've been using the free tier of Anylist (I paid for it for several
years previously) for all my groceries and most of my generic lists.
I'll continue to use it because it has features focused on grocery
shopping (autofill by category, multiple shopping locations, etc) but I
can see myself using Superlist for most other things because of its
power and simplicity and easy sharing.

The Keep Productive channel just did an overview of it and Francesco
says it's jumped into his Top 10 list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7dndjGauE8

There is no question in my mind that TickTick is the more full-featured task app, but Superlist has two things TickTick does not: infinite nesting of tasks and every task is also a page that can hold various elements. That's what attracts me.

MadaboutDana wrote:

Worth remarking here that TickTick is just as flexible as Superlist,
with more options (e.g. Kanban boards, Calendar, nested tags, etc.)

You can essentially use TickTick to “build” your own unique
task management system, adopting features from most popular task
managers.

But Superlist does look nice!

satis wrote:
I've been playing with it and it's pretty useful. For a brand new app it
>has powerful built-in integrations:
>
>free: Gmail, Google Calendar, Microsoft To Do sync, email forwarding
>
>pay: Slack, Github, Linear Figma
>
>For individuals there's almost reason not to remain on the free tier,
>and families of up to five could easily live in and share lists/notes
in
>the free Group tier.
>
>The Getting Started video is constructive.
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MzzbRhYlSA

>
>I've been using the free tier of Anylist (I paid for it for several
>years previously) for all my groceries and most of my generic lists.
>I'll continue to use it because it has features focused on grocery
>shopping (autofill by category, multiple shopping locations, etc) but I
>can see myself using Superlist for most other things because of its
>power and simplicity and easy sharing.
>
>The Keep Productive channel just did an overview of it and Francesco
>says it's jumped into his Top 10 list.
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7dndjGauE8

Also, Superlist is a more elegant, beautiful app, with well-chosen use of color (icons, item-bubble numbering list elements). That goes for the Mac and iOS apps, as well as the web version. Ticktick has rudimentary, relatively crude theming and I disliked its color schemes so much when I started with it I switched to the grayscale theme just to reduce the ugliness.

Ticktick's link to local calendars is a big advantage for Apple users. (The free version shows a list of calendar items, the pay version displays the TickTick calendar.) One apparently can't access calendar items in Superlist, but if you use Google Calendar you can sync Superlist items to it (then subscribe to the Superlist/GC calendar in your calendar app of choice).

A free list app *alone* (which is what I think I'll use it for) it's probably better than the competition at this point, definitely better than Microsoft To Do (which it can import from) or Google Tasks or Anylist. The free realtime collaboration makes it a much better fit for couples, families and small groups, and Markdown formatting in notes makes it more useful to expand on tasks and reminders.

As a 1.0 release it's really impressive, with the exception of search. They're working on a lot of updates, like drag-and-drop on mobile and swipe actions on tasks, and they're planning Todoist-like natural language processing, time-blocking, including tasks in multiple lists, and Notion integration(!).

satis wrote:

I've been playing with it and it's pretty useful. For a brand new app it
has powerful built-in integrations:

free: Gmail, Google Calendar, Microsoft To Do sync, email forwarding

pay: Slack, Github, Linear Figma

For individuals there's almost reason not to remain on the free tier,
and families of up to five could easily live in and share lists/notes in
the free Group tier.

The Getting Started video is constructive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MzzbRhYlSA

I've been using the free tier of Anylist (I paid for it for several
years previously) for all my groceries and most of my generic lists.
I'll continue to use it because it has features focused on grocery
shopping (autofill by category, multiple shopping locations, etc) but I
can see myself using Superlist for most other things because of its
power and simplicity and easy sharing.

The Keep Productive channel just did an overview of it and Francesco
says it's jumped into his Top 10 list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7dndjGauE8

Saw the video last night as I was considering signing up for a free account. I ended up doing so, mostly to see what it can do for me. Weird that it did not require a password for the account and just sent me a code. The different items it can handle and the layout flexibility reminds me a bit of Walling, and I guess this must be part of the newest design trend. Not sur eit will replace Click-Up for my main task management, but this could be useful in other ways.

--Ken

Well, I agree Superlist looks nicer, but your two other points aren’t valid:

a) TickTick *does* have infinite nesting of subtasks, and has had for some time (subtasks appear as tasks in a folding “outline” layout, as well as inside the parent task)

b) And TickTick pages can indeed contain information as well as subtasks or, if you prefer, checklists (which aren’t the same thing, but are useful if you only want one “layer” of subtasks). So in that sense, TickTick pages are (almost) as flexible as Superlist’s (although again, I agree that Superlist does this more elegantly, in that you can have subtasks anywhere on the page, whereas TickTick subtasks appear at the bottom)

I’d make a final point: that TickTick makes better (by which I mean, tighter) use of space – Superlist is still at the Big Heading stage (a bit like Pagico was a few versions ago). Which wastes quite a lot of space at the top of each task (especially in the top-level list, which has an Enormous Heading). I hope they tone that down in the near future, because for me, more information on a page is “better” – from this point of view, Pagico used to be infuriating, despite its undoubted power.

However, I’ll admit – again – that Superlist hits the “desirable” spot quite nicely. Hopefully they’ll introduce a Calendar and Kanban boards, at which point I suspect I’ll be strongly tempted to switch loyalties... ;-)

One other point about TickTick – you can convert tasks to notes (which are exactly the same, but without embedded tasks) and vice versa. Each TickTick note – or task – can contain a LOT of information, including links to other tasks (or anything else, in fact). So you can create nested subtasks with detailed (markdown with hybrid preview) notes in them, plus linked notes with even more information in them (if you need to).

When TickTick acquired these abilities, we switched back to it from Pagico (with some regret – but TickTick is quite simply faster and easier to use). It’s also very easy to share. It’s worth mentioning that TickTick also has (very competent) support for a timeline view, and you can now reassign tasks not just to task lists, but also to individual sections within those lists (this has revolutionised the way we use it). The nested tagging is also useful. It’s one of those apps that’s in permanent development, albeit in a very low-key way – sometimes you only realise that something significant has been added by chance.

The only thing I’d like to see added to TickTick as it stands is folding (e.g. of text below headers in tasks/notes); it already acts like a two-pane folding outliner to handle subtasks (but you can’t have subnotes, interestingly, or subtasks in notes). Subtasks inside tasks also fold, but nothing else does.