To-Do or Not To-Do?

Back in one of the Feb 2017 Tech Frustrations blogs (From Start to Finish) I mentioned that I was still mourning the loss of the SpringPad app which was discontinued about three years ago. Since no replacement app appeared visible on the horizon, I settled on using Wunderlist to replace the “To Do” list functionality within SpringPad. Begrudgingly. While the functionality is pretty good, the “look” of the app doesn’t appeal to me.  In fact I really don’t like it. And I’ve determined, right or wrong, that matters to me.  I want my phone to “spark joy” when I look at it. On the bright side, the functionality is pretty good, and my husband and I have worked into a rhythm using the shared list functionality to manage a joint list of stuff that needs to be done around the house. He said he likes the fact that I can tell him what I need him to do without talking to him. That’s probably not a very positive statement about our marriage, my communication style, or both. But I digress …
 
Imagine my surprise when a headline popped up on one of my newsfeeds recently announcing, “Microsoft to shut down Wunderlist in favor of its new app, To-Do”. I couldn’t believe it. Apparently Microsoft purchased Wunderlist when I wasn’t looking.  After expressing frustration and sentiments about my status as a victim, I decided to download and look at the To-Do app while my husband researched the acquisition terms.  Within the first few seconds of using it, I liked it. A lot. And now I love it. It’s just what I wanted in terms of good looks and basic functionality. It does lack a lot of the Wunderlist functionality I like (and sometimes even need) like the ability to create folders and the ability to share lists between people, but I’m optimistic that this functionality will be added in the future since we’re told that the Wunderlist team is creating the To-Do app. The import (from Wunderlist) feature is slick, and I’ve already transferred all of my non-shared lists over.
 
On a side note, while researching this “situation” I happened across this article about how Bill Gates didn’t let his kids get cell phones until they were 14. The thing that intrigued me most was the family photo included in the article. It seems that the richest man in the world’s family doesn’t look too much different from my own. At least when they visit the Grand Canyon. That surprised me.
 
If you want a pretty To-Do list, which I’m hopeful will become more robust soon, give Microsoft To-Do a try.