The Hit List is a task management app, a To Do application, and
previously we've spoken of it as occupying an interesting middle ground in the market. It's much more powerful than the majority of To Do apps but, we felt, not as strong or indeed as complicated as the heavyweight OmniFocus and Things. That's broadly still true, but
The Hit List 2.3 just leapt ahead because of its Apple Watch features.
The makers treat Apple Watch as a separate device, which makes sense and seems obvious unless you have one. If you have a Watch, you become quickly used to how apps for it are really iPhone apps with a bit added on. Yet Karelia Software now lists itself as having three products: The Hit List for Mac, for iPhone, and for Apple Watch. When you go into the Watch section on the official website, it then says "included with The Hit List for iPhone."
That's just exactly the right thing to do. It's what we imagine someone who has never had an iPhone will understand the fastest, it's the one that we think will make ever more sense as Apple Watch apps develop further. It's a simple marketing difference, but we'd bet money other developers will do the same thing.
Because this business of the Watch being an adjunct to the phone app is only a technical necessity. Plus, what Karelia Software has done is make a good To Do app that lives on your Watch: you can add tasks, change their due dates and get a quick view on your day today.
It's done very nicely, and it really feels like a complete To Do system, until you try to edit or delete tasks. That's a recurring issue with Apple Watch apps, and no surprise that The Hit List can't do it either, but it is the only thing stopping this being a complete solution.
Of course it doesn't need to be a complete one: you also get the iPhone version, for a start. Then there is the Mac one too. We'd still like to see an iPad edition, but we'll be honest, the Apple Watch one is more fun.
One thing to note about the Apple Watch features is that, as with practically every app we've tested, it takes ages to load the first time you load it. Thereafter, we found it and its Glance quick. Also, the iPhone version hasn't materially changed since our last review, but it has now added a Today extension. So you can read your To Do list right from Notification Center. It's not as customisable as OmniFocus's equivalent, but really all we'd like to see added here is a button for creating a new task.
The Hit List 2.3 requires iOS 8.3 or later, and
costs $15 in the App Store. The Hit List 1.1.5 for OS X
costs $50 in the Mac App Store.
Who is The Hit List 2.3 for:
On the list of how complex your tasks are, you need to be less shopping list and more shipping list to get the most out of this. Yet if you are, then this will be much more satisfying and useful than something basic like Apple's own Reminders app.
Who is The Hit List 2.3 not for:
The new features are strong, but not enough to make you change from Things, Todoist or OmniFocus.
-- William Gallagher (
@WGallagher)
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