Popular to-do app Things reached version 3.11 today on iPad and iPhone, bringing a big update to its Quick Find feature and some other notable improvements.

things ios quickfind
The Quick Find bar is used to quickly switch between lists, find to-dos, and search for tags. That functionality has been expanded and now includes the ability to generate lists for specific types of data.

For example, typing "Deadlines" generates a list of all upcoming (or passed) deadlines. Likewise, typing the keyword "Repeating" brings up all repeating to-dos in one convenient place.

Meanwhile, "Tomorrow" brings up a list for planning your next day, "All Projects" provides an overview of all your goals, and "Logged Projects" offers an overview of past achievements.

While not technically a list, typing "Settings" or "Preferences" into the Quick Find bar offers another way to get to the app's settings screen. Also, to make Quick Find easier to access in longer lists, you can now just tap a list's title to bring it up, instead of having to scroll all the way to the top. Tapping it will also now show recently-viewed lists for convenient access.

Additionally in this update, you can now see the date when an item was created or completed, using a new Get Info option. On Mac, you can now hold down the Command key when clicking a link to open it in the background. And on larger iPad Pro models, the sidebar width has been increased to accommodate longer project titles.

Things 3.11 for ‌iPad‌ is priced at $19.99 [Direct Link] while the ‌iPhone‌ version (which includes Apple watch support) is priced at $9.99. [Direct Link] A 15-day trial of Things for Mac is available on the Cultured Code website.

Top Rated Comments

sfwalter Avatar
69 months ago
I'm still waiting for saved searches. For example show me the tasks in a particular project with a certain tag without having to type in a search query every time.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
orbital~debris Avatar
69 months ago
Fantastic, wonderful software!

Absolutely worth every penny.

Frequent improvements, too.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ignatius345 Avatar
69 months ago

Great app! Just needs attachment support...
Add location based alerts! That’s the biggest thing I miss from OmniFocus.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4487549 Avatar
69 months ago
OK this is insane. The searches can't be saved? Every time I want filter lists for deadlines, I have to search and then type d-e-a-d until it autocompletes? Same for "tomorrow" and "all"??? These are default lists in every other app (that can be easily turned on or off).

Been using Things for a decade (since the alpha), and they'e such a ridiculously frustrating developer. They could absolutely sweep the floor with every other To Do app if they just added a few key features but they arrogantly insist on ignoring their users' begging and pleading.

That said, Things 3 is still my preferred personal list app by default because of the Someday functionality (thank god they didn't rename that list in v3).

Meanwhile, Wunderlist is still my preferred productivity app to get work done (3-pane view, starred items, 3-pane view, list sharing, 3-pane view, file attachment, 3-pane view, comments, 3-pane view, multi-platform support, 3-pane view, web app, 3-pane view, less wasted space, 3-pane view).

If only we could have the best of both!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BWhaler Avatar
69 months ago
Clever new features. Fine additions to an already great product which is the best in the marker (IMHO.)

For me, the best thing about Things is every few years, they charge real fees for meaningful upgrades. No subscriptions. It’s not an upgrade fee for basically two new features and bug fixes that should have been done anyway—-Adobe and Intuit I’m looking at you. And it’s not too cheap where you worry the company is selling your data or may go out of business with your critical information.

Things and the business model behind it is how software should be.


Great app! Just needs attachment support...
My speculative guess is this will be part of a paid upgrade. (Which I don’t mind because we’ve had years of great updates and the software is so good I want them to stay in business and make lots of money to stay motivated.)

But who knows...
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4487549 Avatar
69 months ago

Any thoughts about Things vs. Microsoft To Do?
Things for personal use, Wunderlist for work.

To Do is has almost reached parity with Wunderlist since M$ bought them but if you read the reviews in the App Store, they're not quite there yet. On that note, Wunderlist has received a ton of updates in the past few months (no doubt due to migrating users to To Do), so it's still very much activity developed. Meanwhile, Cultured Code is sunsetting Things v2 in January.

Where Things 3 beats Wunderlist/To Do:
[LIST=1]
* Someday functionality
* Next (aka "Anytime" SMDH) functionality
* Tonight (great for breaking up the Today view)
* Tags
* Headings
* "Delicious" UI

Where Wunderlist/To Do beat Things 3:
[LIST=1]
* Cost
* 3-Pane View (MUCH less clicking and animated nonsense)
* Starred items
* List sharing
* File attachments
* Comments
* Multi-platform
* Web app
* Subtasks are positioned above notes, so you can write down a bunch of running notes from a client calls and meeting without burying the subtasks that you pull from them at the bottom
* Things 3 comically wastes space and cartoonishly inflates font size (with no way to adjust settings)

Things 3 is a powerful GTD LIST app.

Wunderlist/To Do is structured perfectly for working on PROJECTS but sorely lacks GTD (Next and Someday lists that will automatically move move items to those list vs manually faking it with folders).

Also, Cultured Code are the slowest developers in the world. They lost half their user base between Things 2 and Things 3, and initially broke a ton of features that they've mostly brought back. Just like Apple, they always "know better." If you're a fan of Jony Ive, you'll probably love Things. If you weren't a fan, you might get annoyed with Things.

Top contenders to both are TickTick and ToDoist but neither are better than Things 3 + Wunderlist for me.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
Facebook Feature

Facebook's New iPhone App Feature Turns the Clock Back to 2007

Thursday March 27, 2025 1:59 pm PDT by
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out. That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook. Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
ipad pro 2024

Gurman: New iPad Pro and MacBook Pro Models With M5 Chips to Launch Later This Year

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:06 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPad Pro models with the M5 chip will "launch this year," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new iPad Pro models have progressed to an "advanced testing" stage, and he expects mass production of the devices to begin in the second half of this year. If that timeframe is met, the new iPad Pro models could launch...