A Things 3 alternative with custom views and an AI agent

What sets Things, OmniFocus, and Reminders apart

All three apps run on Mac, iPhone, and iPad and have loyal followings, for good reasons. But they follow different ideas of how much structure a to-do app should impose.

Things 3: clear and fast

Things by Cultured Code organizes tasks into areas, projects, and headings and shows them in fixed lists: Inbox, Today, Upcoming, and Someday. Calendar events appear directly in “Today” and “Upcoming.” The app is known for its calm design and very fast capture. You buy it once per platform; sync through Things Cloud is included in the price and requires a free account.

OmniFocus: the tool for elaborate systems

OmniFocus by The Omni Group is designed for extensive systems: projects, tags, a Forecast with calendar events, a built-in Review, and, in the Pro version, custom perspectives, meaning views you define yourself. Omni Automation (JavaScript) lets you automate a lot. Besides the apps for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro, there is a web version that requires a subscription.

Apple Reminders: preinstalled and always there

Reminders is on every Apple device and syncs through iCloud. The app supports lists with sections, tags, smart lists with filters, a column view, and shared lists whose items you can assign to other people. With Apple Intelligence, it can automatically sort reminders into sections if you want.

What Apple users miss in Things and similar apps

If you work with one of these apps for a while, you usually run into one of three things.

• Custom views. Things has fixed lists. If you want to see, say, everything due for a specific client in the next two weeks, you filter by hand every time. OmniFocus can do this with perspectives, but only in the Pro version.
• An open data format. Things stores data in its own database, Reminders in iCloud, and OmniFocus in its own file that syncs through the Omni Sync Server or your own WebDAV server. Getting to your tasks with other tools only works through exports, scripts, or Shortcuts.
• Working with an AI agent. If you work with Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor, today you copy tasks into the chat and results back. Since fall 2026, Things and OmniFocus can be used through the new Siri, Reminders uses Apple Intelligence for capturing and sorting, and OmniFocus also integrates Apple’s language models through Omni Automation. None of the three apps provides for an agent that takes on tasks from your projects, completes them, and hands the result back on the task.

Things 3 alternatives compared

The table puts TandemLoop next to Things 3, OmniFocus 4, and Apple Reminders. Pricing and features as of October 2026, according to the developers’ websites and the German App Store. Prices in other currencies are shown in the App Store.

Custom views instead of fixed lists

TandemLoop has no predefined list you have to stick to. A view, called “View” in the app, collects tasks across all areas and projects according to your rules: status, due date, tags, assignment, or custom fields like “Client.” Filters can be combined with AND, OR, and NOT, and date filters are relative to today, for example “due in the next 14 days.”

Each view has one of seven layouts: List, Table, Board, Agenda, Calendar, Multi-View, or Dashboard. That way, the same tasks become a Kanban board for one project, an agenda for the week, and a weekly review view that shows everything open. All features of the to-do app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone are described on the features page.

Your data in iCloud Drive

TandemLoop stores everything in a folder in your iCloud Drive, and your Mac, iPad, and iPhone see the same state. There is no TandemLoop account, no server of its own, and no data collection. Time Machine backs up the folder, and if your subscription ends, all your data stays visible in read-only mode. The trade-off: sync works only through iCloud; Google Drive and OneDrive are not supported.

Your agent works alongside you

Because everything is text, any AI agent with file access can work alongside you, such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or Gemini CLI, without a plugin and without an API. TandemLoop places instructions for agents in the data folder. They describe how the agent works with your tasks.

In everyday use, that means: you assign a task to your agent, it completes it and attaches the result to the task. If it needs something only you can do, such as an approval or a registration, it creates a task for you. It tidies up the Inbox, files items into projects, and prepares your weekly review. The page Share tasks with AI agents shows exactly how the handover works.

Who is better off with Things or OmniFocus

TandemLoop is not the better choice for everyone. Stay with your app if one of these points matters to you:

• Things 3 is a better fit if you want a simple app with a one-time purchase, without setting up views, and don’t need an agent working on your tasks. Things is also at home on Apple Watch and Vision Pro; TandemLoop is not.
• OmniFocus is a better fit if you maintain an elaborate GTD system with Forecast and a built-in Review, want to reach your tasks in the browser on a Windows PC, or want to sync your data on your own WebDAV server.
• Apple Reminders is enough if you mostly manage shopping lists and individual reminders or share lists with family and friends. TandemLoop is not a tool for shared lists.

TandemLoop fits if you work with an AI agent, want to build your own overview, and want to keep your tasks with you. If you also use Windows or Android, the comparison Todoist alternative covers cross-platform apps.

Switching from Things or OmniFocus

TandemLoop has no import tool. On the Mac, OmniFocus exports to CSV; Things backs up its data as a database file. You can ask your agent to read the export and create the entries as projects and tasks. Afterward, check in the app whether all fields came over correctly. Small lists from Reminders are quickest to re-enter.