Things 3 is one of the best iOS apps ever made. That’s not hyperbole - Cultured Code has won multiple Apple Design Awards, and anyone who has used Things 3 understands why. The interactions are beautiful. The scheduling model, with its distinction between “when” dates and due dates, is brilliantly designed. Everything about the app feels intentional and polished.
If you’re looking for a pure task manager on iOS, Things 3 sets the standard. It’s fast, it’s native, and it does exactly what it promises.
But some people need more than tasks. They need notes alongside their to-dos. They want to attach images, save web articles, record voice memos, and keep reference material right next to their action items. If that sounds like you, and you’ve been searching for a Things 3 alternative that extends into note-taking, there’s an interesting option worth knowing about.
Before talking about anything else, it’s worth appreciating what Cultured Code built. Things 3 is a masterclass in focused design:
The scheduling engine. The separation of “when” dates (when you plan to work on something) from due dates (when it’s actually due) is elegant. Most task managers conflate the two. Things 3 understands that planning and deadlines are different things.
Temporal views. Today, Upcoming, Anytime, Someday - these views let you slice your tasks by time horizon. It’s a natural way to think about work, and Things 3 executes it perfectly.
Projects and areas. You can group tasks into projects with headings and checklists, and organize projects under broader areas of responsibility. It’s structured enough to handle complex workflows without feeling heavy.
Native iOS craftsmanship. Things 3 is built natively for Apple platforms - iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch. The gestures are fluid, the animations are smooth, and the app feels like it belongs on iOS in a way that cross-platform apps rarely achieve.
Focus through simplicity. Things 3 doesn’t try to do everything. It does task management, and it does it exceptionally well. That focus is a feature, not a limitation.
Things 3 is a dedicated task manager, and it’s the best at what it does. But some workflows naturally blend tasks with other types of content. You might want to keep meeting notes next to action items, reference images alongside a project plan, or saved articles with the tasks they relate to.
That’s where a different kind of app comes in - one that includes task management but also extends into note-taking, media, and general knowledge organization.
Unit Notes is built around this idea. It has to-do blocks that work similarly to tasks in any good task manager, but they live inside a modular, block-based canvas alongside text, images, voice recordings, web bookmarks, file attachments, and more. You can mix and rearrange all of these freely.
A project in Unit might look like this:
Everything lives in one place. The tasks and the context sit side by side.
What’s interesting is how much Things 3 and Unit have in common despite being different types of apps.
Both are native iOS apps. Unit is built in Swift with a custom block-based data model for iOS. Like Things 3, it takes advantage of native gesture systems, launches fast, and feels like it belongs on an iPhone. Neither is a web app squeezed into a phone screen.
Both have a Magic Plus button. Things 3 uses it for quick task creation. Unit uses it for inserting any content type at any point in your canvas - text, to-do, image, voice recording, link. Same concept, broader application.
Both care about drag and drop. Things 3’s drag interactions are famously smooth. Unit’s block-level drag and drop is built on the same native iOS APIs. Rearranging content in Unit feels as natural as rearranging tasks in Things 3.
Both work offline. Both apps store data locally and sync in the background. No internet required to capture, edit, or organize.
Both respect simplicity. Neither app overwhelms you with options. Things 3 shows your tasks cleanly. Unit gives you a clean canvas that you fill as you need.
The core difference is that Unit extends the task management experience into a full note-taking and knowledge organization system:
Rich content blocks. Beyond to-dos, you can add text, images, voice recordings, web bookmarks (saved for offline reading), file attachments, location blocks, and toggle blocks for collapsible sections. All of these are modular blocks you can drag, reorder, and combine.
Nested organization. Unit uses a nested structure - notes within notes - that works like a project folder system. You can create a top-level project, then nest sub-notes for different aspects (research, tasks, reference material). This gives you both the big picture and focused views.
Color coding. Every note can be assigned a color for instant visual identification. When you’re scanning a list of notes, colors register faster than reading titles.
Voice capture. Record voice memos directly inside a note, inline with your text and tasks. For capturing ideas when typing isn’t convenient - walking, driving, cooking - it keeps everything in context rather than in a separate app.
Read it later. Save entire web pages for offline reading, stored inside your notes alongside your own annotations. Your references stay intact even if the original page changes or disappears.
Many people find that Things 3 and Unit serve different purposes well:
The apps don’t compete for the same moment. Things 3 is where you check what’s next. Unit is where you do the work that needs context.
Things 3 is an outstanding task manager. It’s beautifully designed, deeply native to iOS, and does one thing better than almost anyone. If your productivity needs are centered on managing tasks and deadlines, it’s hard to beat.
Unit takes a broader approach - tasks plus notes plus media plus organization, all in one modular system with the same iOS-native quality. If your work blends tasks with reference material, notes, and different types of content, Unit brings all of that together in one place.
Both are excellent apps made by teams that care about craft on Apple platforms. The right choice depends on what you need your productivity tool to hold.
Looking ahead, the line between tasks and notes is blurring even further as AI enters the picture. We explored where this is heading in Notes, Tasks, and AI Are Merging.
