Things 3

Things 3 Review: $9.99 Once, and No Subscription

Six Lists and Nothing Else to Learn

The structure is fixed and small: Inbox for anything unsorted, Today for what is happening now, Upcoming for the next days, Anytime, Someday, and a Logbook of everything finished. Beneath them sit areas — Family, Work — holding projects such as a holiday, a party or a presentation. Today merges the calendar into the list, so a birthday, a 7:00 gym session, an 11:00 meeting and a 15:30 review appear above the tasks rather than in a separate app, with an evening section split out below. Nothing needs configuring before it works.

A To-Do Holds a Note, a Checklist and Two Dates

Opening an entry expands it into a note, a checklist with individually tickable items, tags, a scheduled date and a separate deadline — the distinction between when you will do something and when it is due, which most task apps collapse into one field. Projects take headings so a presentation splits into slides, preparation and rehearsal, with drag-and-drop insertion between them. Notes support bullet lists and structure, so a research note about three campsites lives inside the task rather than in a different application entirely. Quick Find searches every list, note and project from one field, which is how a system this structured stays fast once it fills up.

The Price Is Per Platform

$9.99 buys the iPhone app outright: no in-app purchases, no subscription, and Things Cloud sync included at no cost. The iPad and Mac versions are separate purchases of the same product, which is the most-criticised decision the developer has made and the reason a full desktop-and-phone setup costs several times the headline figure. The install is 120.4 MB, the age rating 4+, and the App Store average 4.8 across 28,000 ratings. In a category that has moved almost entirely to subscriptions, paying once and syncing free is now the differentiator.