In beta Not on the App Store yet. Everything described here is what it does today. Ask about the beta
Support

A question? Ask a human.

No ticket system, no help desk, no forum to search. One address, and I read it myself.

Read by one person  ·  answered as soon as I can

Getting help

support@thingist.appAnswered as soon as I can

One address for everything — a bug, a question, a feature you want. I read it. There is no ticket number and no chatbot.

You are emailing me. Not a support tier and not an outsourced desk. If something is wrong, I am the one who can go and change it — which is why things tend to get fixed, not queued.

On timing. I have a day job, two small businesses, and a large family. I am not going to promise you 24 or 48 hours, because I cannot guarantee I will meet it, and I would rather not set an expectation I might miss.

So if it takes me a while: I am not ignoring you. I am probably at a kid’s program, or a game, or a doctor’s appointment, or heads-down on the other business for the day — or, hopefully, catching up on sleep.

I will get back to you. That one I can promise.

What it runs on

iPhone and iPad
iOS 17 or later
iPadOS 17 or later on iPad. If your device updated to iOS 17, Thingist runs on it.
Mac
macOS 14 or later
Sonoma and up, on Apple silicon and Intel.
Apple Watch
watchOS 10 or later
Comes with the iPhone purchase. Nothing extra to buy.

I do not drop an old version while it is still possible to build for it. The one thing that could change that is Apple making it impossible to ship an update without leaving older systems behind.

Even then, the copy you have keeps working. There is no login and nothing to renew, so stop updating and it runs as long as the device does. I cannot take it back. You paid for it. It is yours.

What to put in the message

Which device
e.g. iPhone 15
iPhone, iPad or Mac, and which model if you know it.
Which version of iOS or macOS
Settings › General
The number is under About on iPhone and iPad, and under About This Mac.
What you did
one line
The steps that led to it, in whatever words you would use out loud.
What you expected instead
one line
This is usually the most useful line in the whole message.
A screenshot, if there is one
optional
Blank out anything you would rather not send. Nothing is read automatically.

None of this is compulsory. Write in with one sentence and a screenshot and it will still get answered.

Questions that come up

Is there a subscription?
No. Thingist is $24.95, paid once, and that covers iPhone, iPad and Mac. There are no tiers, nothing is held back for an upgrade, and features added later are included.
Do I need an account?
No, and there is not one to make. Most apps that sync your tasks need an email address, a password of theirs, and a server to keep it all on. Thingist uses the iCloud account already on your devices — nothing to sign up for, nothing to verify, and no password of mine for anybody to lose. You open the app and start typing.
How does it sync between my devices?
Through your own private iCloud database, using the Apple Account already on your devices. Turn iCloud off and Thingist keeps working, entirely on that device.
How does the trial work?
Download it free and use it for 14 days. Everything is switched on — there is no cut-down version. When the 14 days are up, adding and changing tasks stops. Your lists stay readable, searchable, backed up and exportable whether you buy or not — your work is never held hostage. It is $24.95, paid once, for iPhone, iPad and Mac, and nothing renews.
Siri sent my task to Reminders instead.
A free-form “Hey Siri, remind me…” always goes to Apple’s Reminders. That is an iOS rule and no app can change it. Two ways round it: name the app — “add milk to Thingist” — or point Thingist at a Reminders list and it takes anything that lands there. That is how something dictated in the car ends up in the right place.
Can I send a task to somebody else?
Two different things now. Send as Text puts the task, or a whole list, into Messages, Mail or anything else as words — a copy that stops where you sent it. Sharing is the other one: see the next answer.
Can somebody else see my list?
You can share a task, a project or a whole area through iCloud — press and hold it, or right-click on the Mac, and choose Share. They see it in their own copy of Thingist, with everything inside it: tasks, headings, notes, checklists and files. Nothing above it goes with it — sharing a project does not share the area it sits in. Either of you can check things off, move them to another day and edit notes; only you can move things out or change who is on it. It can also be shared to look at only. Tags stay personal and never travel with a shared list.
Does Waiting On contact people for me?
No. Thingist never messages anybody. When you hand something over it asks who has it, and you pick from there. You can set a chase reminder for yourself at the same time — it is off unless you turn it on. When a chase falls due the task turns up in Today while staying on Waiting On, because it is your move again.
Something has been sitting for a month. Will it nag me?
No. After two weeks the row turns amber. At a month with no chase booked, a flag appears in the sidebar. No notification, nothing moved, nothing rescheduled.
I deleted something by mistake.
Two safety nets. Undo goes back 25 steps, and anything deleted waits in Trash before it is really gone. Thirty days by default, and you can set it to 15, 60 or 90 instead.
Can I bring my list over from another app?
Yes, by CSV. Most task apps will export one. Thingist exports to CSV and JSON, so you can take it out again whenever you want.
Can I change the swipe actions?
Yes. A swipe has two actions in each direction, four slots in total, and you assign any of the eight actions to any slot — Nothing, Complete, Today, Tomorrow, Someday, Important, Waiting On and Delete. Out of the box, swiping right gives you Today then Waiting On, and swiping left gives you Important then Delete.
Can you refund me?
I cannot. Apple takes the payment on every App Store purchase, so the money never passes through me and a refund is Apple’s decision rather than mine. What I can do is fix things. If something is broken, or the app is not doing what this site said it would, write in and say so — that gets read and answered, and it is usually quicker than anything else.
Can I use it on a Windows PC or an Android phone?
No. Thingist is built for iPhone, iPad and Mac only. Your data is exportable as CSV and JSON, so it is never stuck.

Asking for something that isn’t there yet

Send them to me. I built it, so I am the one who would build the new thing too. Tell me what you were trying to get done rather than naming a feature — there is often already a way, and when there is not, that is what gets it built.

Everything added later is included in what you already paid.