The Basics

What does DropTask do?

DropTask is a quick-entry app for Apple Reminders on both macOS and iOS.

It takes what you type and hands it to Reminders. Dash off a task and move on with your day.

DropTask is also available on watchOS. It provides a complication that displays how many reminders you have left to complete today.

Do I need an account?

Nope! There’s no sign-up, no login, and no server. DropTask talks directly to the Reminders app on your device.

Permissions & Privacy

Why does DropTask ask for access to Reminders?

Without this access, DropTask has nowhere to save anything!

Why does DropTask ask for access to Contacts?

Only so it can read your home and work addresses from your own contact card. You can also enter these manually in the Settings pane if you prefer. Reading your card happens on-device.

Does DropTask track my location?

Nope! DropTask never asks for location access. See more information in the Places section below.

Lists

Do I have to set up my lists in DropTask?

Nope! DropTask reads your lists straight from Reminders. If you make a new list in Reminders, DropTask sees it right away.

Which list does a task go to if I don’t pick one?

Your default list, which you can choose in DropTask’s settings. Until you do, tasks go to a list called Inbox if you have one, or to whatever list Reminders uses as its default.

Task Entry

What’s the difference between the Title box and the Meta box?

The Title box is your task’s name, exactly as you type it. The Meta box holds the details, and DropTask interprets only that. (So Call Mom when I get home entered in the Title box stays a title, without a location passed to Reminders.)

How do I add a task with metadata?

DropTask gives you three options:

  1. Type in plain English. To create a task on your Vacation list, due at 2 PM, type Vacation 2 PM.
  2. Tap or click on a colored chip to enter data via a menu. The due chip works like the date picker in Reminders, with a calendar under Custom.
  3. Use symbols if you want more structured entry.

You can intermix these methods as much as you like.

What are the symbols?

  • ^ for the due date: ^tomorrow, ^friday 5pm, ^June 2
  • # for the list: #Vacation, #Home
  • ! for priority: !1 high, !2 medium, !3 low (or spell it out: !high, !medium, !low)
  • * for repeating: *weekly, *every 2nd tuesday
  • @ for a place: @home, @work, @Apple Store

Can I add notes?

Yes. On the Mac, there’s a Notes box. On iPhone and iPad, tap the notes chip to open one. Notes go straight into the reminder’s notes field. If you want to save a URL, this is the place to do it, as Reminders doesn’t expose that field to third parties.

What are default times?

Like, whatever you want them to be, maaaaan. By default, DropTask interprets:

  • Morning: 9 AM
  • Afternoon: 3 PM
  • Evening: 6 PM
  • Night: 9 PM

You can change these in the app’s settings. The app knows about noon and midnight as well.

How do I write dates and times?

Pretty much however you’d say them:

  • A day: tomorrow, friday, next week, June 2, or 9/15. Numeric dates follow your region’s order, and if that day has already gone by this year, DropTask assumes you mean next year. The due chip shows the year when it isn’t this one.
  • A time: 5pm, at 5, 7:30, noon. Without AM or PM, 7 through 11 mean the morning, and 12 through 6 mean the afternoon or evening. So friday 5 is Friday at 5 PM, and tomorrow at 9 is 9 AM.
  • From now: in 2 hours, in 3 days, in 1 hour 30 minutes.

The due chip always shows the exact day and time DropTask landed on, so you can check before you save.

What do “next week” and “this weekend” mean?

The same as in Reminders. “Next week” is the next Monday after today, so on a Monday it’s a week away. “This weekend” is the coming Saturday; once the weekend has started, the due menu calls that same day “next weekend”. The one exception is the Shortcuts action, where This Weekend means today if it’s already Saturday or Sunday.

What about repeating tasks?

All of these work — and more: every monday, every other week, every 15th, every 2nd tuesday, weekdays.

Why can’t I flag a reminder in DropTask?

Apple doesn’t expose that to third-party apps, sadly.

Places

How do location reminders work?

Type @ and a place. @home or @work uses your addresses, and you’ll be alerted when you arrive. To be alerted when you leave instead, say so: leaving home or when I leave work. The place chip reads Arriving or Leaving, so you can see which one you’ll get.

How does it find locations near me?

When you attach a place to a reminder, DropTask sends that address or place name (for example, @Apple Store) and your saved home or work address as the search center to Apple’s Maps service, which turns it into map coordinates Reminders can use. This goes to Apple under Apple’s privacy policy. DropTask doesn’t send it anywhere else or keep the results.

macOS Menu Bar App

How do I open DropTask on the Mac?

Type Control+Option+R, or choose Open DropTask from the menu bar icon. You can change the shortcut in Settings.

How do I save on the Mac?

Type Command+Return. Return by itself only accepts a suggestion, so it can’t save something by accident while you’re still typing.

Can DropTask start when I log in?

Yep! Just enable it in the app’s settings.

iPhone, iPad, & Apple Watch

What’s the fastest way to add a task?

Add the DropTask button to Control Center or put one of its widgets on your Lock or Home Screen.

What does the Apple Watch app do?

It shows how many tasks you have left today and lets you add that number to your watch face as a complication. Open it once and allow Reminders so the complication can read your list.

My watch complication is behind. Why?

Apple limits how often a complication can refresh. If yours looks stale, open the DropTask app on the watch, and it will catch up right away.

Big Questions

Was AI used in the creation of this app?

Yes, agentic coding was used in the creation of this app. This is a big, complicated topic, but it’s not going away, and one reason I worked on this project — besides wanting it myself — was to learn what these tools can really do. I am speaking to an iOS developer about a formal code review process.

Are there any Easter eggs?

Duh.