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Any.Do updates its to-do app with new sharing features

Any.Do updates its to-do app with new sharing features

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There's a revamped version of minimalist to-do app Any.Do out today, and using it might cost you. Today, the company announced Any.Do 2.0, a version of the cross-platform service focused on turning your lists into collaborative projects. It's meant to unify your work and personal lists, while making it easier for other people to see and modify them — the creators want you to be using it to organize your entire life (or, as CEO Omer Perchik puts it, your "portfolio of experiences and aspirations"), not just check off items. The more you're invested in it, the likelier you are to pay for the premium version, which costs $5 per month or $45 a year.

Most prominently, the update turns tasks into hubs that you can share with multiple people, whether that means your family or your team at work. They'll be able to add or modify items, and you'll be able to assign them subtasks and set deadlines. Their simplest example involves adding ketchup to your spouse's grocery list, and that's nearing the upper limit of what you can do with the free version, which lets two people collaborate on each task. Subscribing to premium removes that limit, which brings it closer to Trello-style project management. That level of integration is really what seems to set Any.Do's new features apart from the basic sharing options on any number of list apps, along with the fact that it will probably look better doing it. Even so, competitor Wunderlist already covers some of the same territory. As usual, your lists will sync across iOS, Android, and the web, including a Chrome app.

Any.do

It also helps that "tasks" are now more like little buckets for information. Users can attach files of up to 5MB on the free version, and the update adds Dropbox integration, along with in-app note-taking features. Once again, a premium subscription will let you attach files of any size, and you can set custom recurring tasks and location-based reminders. In a nice little visual addition, you can pick one of four color schemes beyond basic white for the Android and iOS apps. If you upgrade in the next two weeks, you'll knock a bit off the subscription cost, which is temporarily $3 a month or $27 a year.

There are a lot of note-taking and to-do apps out there, but Any.Do is one of the most popular, and the update offers some new reasons to use it. If you also want to feel like you're living in a mild dystopia, look no further than Perchik's inspiring words. "Most of our users have work lives, family lives, and personal lives, but I think the modern task app user doesn't see those things in separate silos anymore. It's more like they're in the business of life [emphasis in original]." So you'd better make your life-business as efficient as possible, or the next round of life-layoffs could see you downsized.