
Tasks.org – Open-source ToDo app for Android with CalDAV sync - freetonik
https://tasks.org/
======
sdwolfz
Was looking for a "grocery list" type of application and this one seems to be
the fastest and most user friendly one in all of F-Droid.

Two small improvements I would suggest:

1\. A sorting order where checked tasks are moved at the bottom, keeping only
the unchecked ones on top. (I could not find this if it's already
implemented). Note: I want to see all of them, just have the checked ones
moved.

2\. The save button on task creation is a bit weird. It occupies the top row,
together with the delete button on existing tasks, but the checked button is
floating on the right. You might want to unify the look of these 3 buttons.

Otherwise, good work! I'll be using it from now on. Normally I'd use Orgzly
for tasks, but grocery lists are a bit different, you want to be able to
operate them with one hand while carrying your groceries with another. This
app allows that while Orgzly is a pain to work with as it requires multiple
actions to mark a task done. I know this from personal experience.

~~~
alexbaker
Thanks for the feedback! I plan to implement #1, and I get a few complaints
about #2. I'm not sure what to do about it, but currently there are
preferences to hide the check button altogether, as well as an option to save
when back is pressed

~~~
sdwolfz
I've enabled those two settings now, fits my fingers better. Thanks for the
hint!

As for the look of those buttons and where to put them, not sure if my
suggestion is good, but how about having them floating as a row at the bottom
of the screen, and right above the keyboard when it's active. This is sort of
how it looks like in `Simpletask` (another task app on F-Droid that I tried
out and liked).

------
russellbeattie
What I want to see someday is a task manager that has "timeouts" for completed
tasks. I don't want to schedule laundry and grocery shopping for the exact
same day and time every week. Nor do I want it sitting in my to-do list
forever.

What I want is to be able to add "laundry" as a reoccurring task and set the
timeout for a week. After I do my laundry, I can mark it done, but it'll
automatically get added to my to-do list again a week later. It should be
marked low priority at first, but increasing in priority every day until it's
sitting at the top in bright red letters. This should nicely correspond to the
amount of clean clothes I have left.

So many tasks are like this. Except for hard appointments, I rarely set a
day/time to get something done. Instead I have a list of tasks that I need to
do regularly, and once I've done them, they won't be needed for another x
amount of time. Oil changes, cleaning tasks, etc.

~~~
rickpmg
Check out the android app "Regularly", it does exactly what you want.

It is the simplest, most well designed app I have encountered... and it is
free.

~~~
jms
I used "Regularly" and it worked great. I've now upgraded to my own system
which plugs into my dashboard and can generate graphs. Each time I complete a
task I can give it a score, which is then graphed. I just use it for my
weight, but you could use it for anything.

I should really tidy it up and promote it!

------
codethief
Does anyone know whether there is an open-source application that could be
used as a companion app to edit todo lists on the desktop?

~~~
alexbaker
Currently the Nextcloud Tasks (web) app offers the greatest feature parity
with the app. Thunderbird + Lightning + TbSync is another option. There are
some others but I haven't used very many. I've heard from a couple users that
run tasks.org on their desktop with Bluestacks

------
ikcubose
first, I love the app, I really love that it syncs to Google tasks, but there
is no way to "plan your day". What I would like to be able to do is pull up
all my upcoming tasks, ordered by due date, and choose what tasks should go on
my agenda for the day, and have those tasks populate on a list that starts
fresh every day This allows me to prioritize what I want to focus on that day
when I have multiple competing priorities. Microsoft To Do (formerly
Wunderlist) does this really well, so well that even though I don't use
anything else in the Microsoft ecosystem I still keep using the app. That
feature makes me such a sticky user that I am willing to accept my entire
organized life living on its own Microsoft island away from my
email/calendar/etc unable to sync with everything else I use.

Food for thought, but again overall this is awesome and I love it.

~~~
alexbaker
Thanks for the feedback! This is one of the more frequently requested
features, so I am planning to add this

~~~
brnt
Great! That's also my only wish for Tasks. Thanks for the app!

------
unknown_abyss
Really good ToDo-App, I especially like that it's fully offline-capable and
that the import/export feature works flawlessly. Also the create-todo screen
is just great with predefined timestamps and everything is customizable! So a
big thank you alexbaker! Just set up liberapay yesterday.

~~~
alexbaker
Thanks, I appreciate the feedback and support!

------
beart
How did you end up getting "Tasks.org"? Seems like that domain would have been
taken a long time ago.

~~~
alexbaker
There is a brief explanation buried a little further down

~~~
cercatrova
Where? I don't see anything like that on the homepage.

~~~
alexbaker
Sorry! I meant down further in the HN comments

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23613234](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23613234)

------
karateka
I've been debating subscribing to Todoist so I can get notifications, but
after seeing this it looks like I've found something better to subscribe to :)

Keep up the good work, this is really feature rich!

~~~
maps7
I am subscribed on todoist until september but I will move to tasks.org after
that.

------
firefly_owl
I've tried it quickly (I'm currently a Google Keep user but I'm looking for
some alternatives) and it seems very nice! Maybe somebody knows: is there any
way (even considering sync to some CalDAV service) to share a list/multiple
notes between multiple users with different accounts? I find this feature
really important to share grocery list and similiar!

~~~
alexbaker
Nextcloud supports list sharing, you can find some free providers at
nextcloud.com/signup. EteSync also supports list sharing.

The app itself doesn't include any sharing functionality, but if you set up
list sharing through your provider then the shared lists will appear on both
user's devices

~~~
firefly_owl
Hey, thanks for the reply! I will look into this list sharing feature and
consider if try to self-host Nextcloud! In the meanwhile I will try Tasks
locally, really nice app :)

------
rmolin88
Glad to see this app in the front page of HN. Absolutely love the app. The
biggest props for me are caldav sync. It allows me to self host and get away
from the figure ecosystem.

I just setup a mail in as box instance and boom! Mail, Calendar, Contacts,
Todo list, and storage all outside of Google in a heart beat. And this app is
just the best for managing Todo items. Just love it!

------
tasn
I absolutely love Tasks.org especially since it now supports end-to-end
encryption using EteSync (which I created)!

Glad to see it getting love here!

------
xvilka
I wish timewarrior [1]/taskwarrior[2] would have had more attention. They also
have an Android application [3] which is open source too. And a rich system of
plugins and extensions [4].

[1] [https://timewarrior.net/](https://timewarrior.net/)

[2] [https://taskwarrior.org/](https://taskwarrior.org/)

[3]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kvj.taskw](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kvj.taskw)

[4] [https://taskwarrior.org/tools/](https://taskwarrior.org/tools/)

~~~
houzi
The thing that stopped me was synchronization, as you needed to run dedicated
software for that. Has that changed?

------
justaj
This looks pretty cool. I've been looking for a to-do app with subtasks on
Android. But in what format does Tasks.org export in? As in: Would I also be
able to edit / modify the tasks on the terminal on my desktop?

~~~
alexbaker
Tasks exports json backup files, but editing these and importing them would
not be convenient. You could synchronize with CalDAV or EteSync and look for a
CLI client (e.g. [https://calcurse.org](https://calcurse.org))

~~~
justaj
Thanks, though now I see I can't create sub-sub-tasks and so on, so it's only
hierarchical to one level only. Is that correct?

~~~
alexbaker
Sorry for the late response! Tasks supports infinite depth subtasks for
offline, CalDAV, or EteSync tasks. Google Tasks are limited to a single level

------
LockAndLol
Really great app. The CalDav sync was what makes it stand out from other
F-Droid apps in the same category and allows integration with NextCloud.
Really helps when becoming a Google heretic.

------
ISL
Coming from a Taskwarrior perspective:

Is there a way to handle dependencies across tasks?

Can priorities be set by-project rather than by-task?

Can sharing work by-project, or must the entire tasklist be shared?

Are there good CalDAV command-line clients?

~~~
alexbaker
The app supports infinite-depth subtasks, but there is no way to link two
tasks at the same level

Subtasks are themselves tasks, so their priorities can be set separately from
their parents. Collapsible subtasks will be displayed in searches and filters,
so if you have a custom filter for high priority tasks, you will also see
their lower-priority subtasks

Sharing is done at the list level, and this is handled by your synchronization
service

I haven't personally used any command line CalDAV clients so I have nothing to
offer there, sorry!

~~~
ISL
Awesome.

Most of my dependency chains are tree-like, with minimal cross-linking, so
infinite-depth subtasks will handle most of my use-cases.

Collaboration is essential to getting things done -- taskwarrior's siloed
tasklists have been a big blocker for me. Very interested to explore what
list-level sharing can open up.

Will have to give Tasks.org a try. Figuring out a desktop/cross-platform
option is a long-term need, as most of my tasks are on the desktop. Capturing
tasks (a la GTD) is as simple as popping open a terminal (Win+A for me)

    
    
      t add +[ListName] Thing I need to do
    

Ctrl+D

and I'm back to work. I can modify the task with dependencies and other
decorations later. What I can't do with TW is project/list-level sharing and
calendar integration, something Tasks.org appears to do gracefully.

------
runiq
Can I sync via DAVx5, or do I have to use the built-in CalDAV sync
functionality? I'd rather configure everything in one place instead of two or
three…

~~~
alexbaker
Tasks handles synchronization itself (using libraries released by the DAVx5
developer). There is a request for DAVx5 integration on the issue tracker
([https://github.com/tasks/tasks/issues/554](https://github.com/tasks/tasks/issues/554)),
which I am thinking about finally implementing

~~~
runiq
Thank you for the quick reply! That issue is pretty much the only one keeping
me on OpenTasks at the moment. :)

~~~
alexbaker
I haven't looked too deeply into this, but I believe there are a few features
supported by Tasks.org that aren't currently supported through DAVx5

------
Nelkins
I'm impressed they were able to get that domain.

~~~
alexbaker
When Yahoo originally shut down Astrid I re-released it the same day under the
namespace "org.astrid" without changing the name or graphics. It was
predictably yanked for infringement.

So I thought long and hard and came up with the name "Tasks" and changed the
namespace to org.tasks. The domain name tasks.org was parked, and a few years
later I bought it through a broker. I have no idea if I paid a fair price, but
it was probably a relatively expensive outlay for a side project?

~~~
jjordan
What did you end up outlaying?

~~~
alexbaker
$4k USD + escrow.com fees

~~~
ukyrgf
That's definitely not a bad deal! Definitely seen worse at my job for domains
that sit unused, and we aren't even really a tech company.

------
rlpb
I've been using DAVx5 for CalDAV calendaring and OpenTasks (referenced by
DAVx5) for CalDAV-synced tasks. Both are available on F-Droid.

How does Tasks.org compare to OpenTasks? The website doesn't seem to have any
screenshots or describe any features, so I can't compare.

The thing I miss most in OpenTasks is recurring tasks. Can Tasks.org do
recurring tasks?

~~~
dastx
I started out with OpenTasks after setting up Nextcloud, but soon hated it.
Didn't feel intuitive among other issues I found. Still, I was forced to use
it for a while, until I accidentally stumbled upon Tasks.org on F-Droid, and
it's a lot better. It feels smoother, more intuitive, and overall has more
features. Needlessly to say I switched over and haven't looked back.

------
riccardomc
I've been using this app for years. Funny to see in on HN. Well done. It is
just the best TODO app out there.

------
hkt
Already have this installed and love it. Went through quite a few to find it.
Recommended.

------
ragebol
Heh, I went to check it out and turns out I already have Tasks installed.
Works great!

~~~
alexbaker
Tasks dev here - thanks! It is the app formerly known as Astrid To-Do List
Clone

------
subhashp
I installed it. Great App. Thanks! 1\. Are "Local Notifications" enabled. So a
notification pops up when a task is due. 2\. Do you have to keep the app
running in the background for notification to be show.

~~~
alexbaker
Thanks! Yes everything is handled on your device. If Tasks is killed then you
won't get any notifications. If you have any trouble you can visit
tasks.org/notifications, or send an e-mail to support@tasks.org

~~~
subhashp
I had to take help from tasks.org/notifications. It works now! It meets all my
requirements: \- Local notifications. (Connection to Internet not required) \-
No dependency on Google calendar \- Ability to repeat tasks on a daily /
weekly monthly basis

Thank you developing this app @alexbaker!

------
Jubok
This look pretty cool. But Google's advanced protection program doesn't let me
download app from F-Droid anymore, i'm mad.

~~~
alexbaker
I'm in the same boat! You can download the F-Droid APK and sideload it with
adb

~~~
Jubok
Thank you for the tip !

~~~
ta17711771
Look, Google, you're making people safer already!

Also...you can exempt F-Droid from the protection, no?

~~~
alexbaker
As far as I know you cannot disable this protection. Even if you sideload
F-Droid itself, it can't install other apps.

------
kseistrup
I can install it from Google Play, but F-Droid says “No version with
compatible signature.” What does than mean, and what can I do?

~~~
alexbaker
The F-Droid version is built by the F-Droid build machine, not me, so it has a
different signature. If you have the Google Play release installed then
Android will only allow upgrades that are signed by me. If you uninstall the
Google Play version then you should be able to install the F-Droid version

~~~
kseistrup
That's what I thought, but I don't have the Google Play version installed.

First I tried installing Tasks from F-Droid, but it said the thing about the
signature (even if Tasks wasn't already installed). So I went to Google Play
and installed it from there, then uninstalled it, cleared F-Droid's cache and
rebooted my phone. Still F-Droid tells me that there is no compatible
signature.

I have several other apps installed via F-Droid, and I have never encountered
that message when an app isn't installed in parallel.

\----

edit: added missing word

~~~
alexbaker
That is bizarre, and now that you mention it, perhaps this is related to
[https://github.com/tasks/tasks/issues/971](https://github.com/tasks/tasks/issues/971)

~~~
kseistrup
That sounds plausible.

I once had Astrid installed, but I can't remember if it's on this phone or the
previous one. But that shouldn't interfere, should it.

I had OpenTasks, that also presents itself with a icon named Tasks, but
uninstalling it didn't help either.

~~~
alexbaker
You should be able to have all three installed at the same time

Open up your device's settings, click on apps, and make sure Tasks.org is not
there. If it is, tap on it, tap on the overflow menu, and select 'Uninstall
for all users'

Then try downloading an APK from
[https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.tasks/](https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.tasks/)
and side loading it

You can follow up with me at support@tasks.org if you would prefer

~~~
kseistrup
It's not in the lists of apps, so I can't remove it.

I'll see if I can install the APK directly.

------
nachtigall
Looks nice, but I'd need an easy web client too. Currently, I use ticktick
(android app and web).

------
nichos
Tasks.org is nice, but I prefer Joplin. It's nice to see competition though.

------
ykevinator
This is really well done, any plans for iOS?

~~~
alexbaker
I would love to work on an iOS app, but I'm not sure if I'm able to (legally)?
Perhaps someone could weigh in as I really don't know what I'm talking
about...

This app is based on the source code from Astrid Tasks, which was licensed
under the GPLv3. I'm under the impression that one cannot distribute GPL apps
in the App Store, and I assume I would be legally required to license an iOS
rewrite as GPLv3 since I'm intimately familiar with the original Android
implementation.

~~~
tasn
IANAL but I asked FSF (Europe) about it and they said GPLv3 in the app store
is fine.

~~~
alexbaker
Hey Tom!

Cool, maybe I'll have to buy an iPhone

------
nunodonato
will this work with Fastmail's caldav?

~~~
alexbaker
Yes it does! The CalDAV URL is
[https://caldav.fastmail.com/](https://caldav.fastmail.com/). If you have 2FA
enabled you will need to set up an app-specific password. E-mail
support@tasks.org if you have trouble getting set up

~~~
nunodonato
amazing! installing right now :) thanks for supporting standards!

------
unixhero
Installed!

------
dzonga
is there something similar, but for notes ?

