TickTick:To-Do List & Calendar

What it does

TickTick is a powerful, all-in-one productivity suite designed to help users manage every aspect of their schedule. It combines a flexible to-do list and task manager with a full-featured calendar, habit tracker, Pomodoro timer, and an Eisenhower Matrix for prioritization. The app aims to be a single hub for personal and professional organization.

Where it shines

TickTick's strength lies in its density of features and the flexibility it offers power users. The onboarding itself is a great example. Instead of a simple tutorial, it creates a 'Getting Started' task list (03:34) that teaches you the app by using the app. Another highlight is the powerful task management menu (04:30), which surfaces advanced options like 'Convert to Note' and 'Add to Live Activity' directly from the task, showing its depth early on. The calendar is also impressive, offering multiple views from a standard month (13:25) to a detailed weekly schedule (13:35).

UX highlights

Interactive Onboarding: The app uses a pre-filled checklist to guide users through its features (05:15). This 'learn-by-doing' approach is more engaging than passive slideshows.
Customizable Tab Bar: Users can edit the main navigation bar to pin their most-used features, tailoring the core UI to their workflow (20:17).
Rich Context Menus: Long-pressing a task or list reveals a comprehensive menu of actions (04:30), putting powerful tools right at the user's fingertips without cluttering the screen.
Smart Date Parsing: When creating a task, typing natural language like 'tomorrow at 6 pm' is automatically recognized and set (08:53), speeding up task entry.
Multiple Calendar Views: The app provides five different calendar views (List, Month, Day, 3-Day, Week) at 13:22, catering to various planning needs.
Integrated Focus Timer: The Pomodoro timer is built-in and can be linked directly to a task (16:45), connecting time management with task completion.

Monetization & growth

Monetization is introduced immediately after the initial onboarding personalization. At 01:59, the app presents a single, clear offer for a 7-day free trial that converts to an annual subscription. The paywall is well-designed, using social proof like Apple's 'Editors' Choice' badge, a 4.9-star rating, and user testimonials to build trust. It also includes a detailed feature comparison table that clearly outlines the value of upgrading from the free to the premium version. The pricing is broken down into a monthly equivalent ('$3.00 /M') to make the annual cost feel more accessible.

Who it’s for

TickTick appears to be for serious productivity enthusiasts and power users who want one app to manage everything. Its feature set, including the Eisenhower Matrix (16:01), subtasks, and detailed recurring task options, is likely too complex for casual users. It's ideal for students, professionals, or anyone juggling multiple projects who appreciates having granular control over their tasks, habits, and schedule in a single, integrated system.

Notes & opportunities

The app is incredibly feature-rich, which can be a double-edged sword. While the 'Getting Started' list helps, the sheer number of settings and options (e.g., in the settings menu at 20:27) could still be intimidating for new users. The duplication of lists after the initial setup (e.g., multiple 'Work' and 'Personal' lists at 10:21) created some initial clutter that had to be manually cleaned up. Simplifying the initial list setup or offering a merge option could smooth out this part of the experience.