To-do list and project management app Todoist is launching a big update to its iOS app today. Similar to, and in many ways more powerful than, our favorite to-do app Wunderlist, Todoist has long had a utilitarian design that's lacked the fun and whimsical nature of other apps. Today's update changes that, while adding new features that make it easier create tasks and manage your to-dos. The update adds new theming options, more gesture controls, and a smart task creation tool.

The theming options are pretty basic — there are 10 different colors to choose from — and don't quite match Wunderlist's or Clear's level of design. But the new smart task creation tool is a useful addition that makes it much easier to quickly add things to your to-do lists. Todoist now uses smart parsing to automatically add labels, due dates, and reminders to tasks as you add them. It's very similar to Fantastical's well-regarded event creation tool and a feature Wunderlist added just a few weeks ago. The company says the date parsing feature works in more than ten languages and supports over 100 rules per language. I found it very useful to add tags and due dates to my tasks all in one step, but it's not smart enough to add location-based notifications yet.

Todoist, which is available as a free app, but offers a $29 per year premium subscription to unlock all of its features, including reminder notifications and search, is still a better option for those wanting a more powerful to-do list and project management app than someone who just needs to create grocery lists. Today's update, especially the new gesture controls that let you swipe tasks away like Clear, do make it more fun to use, but it's still not quite as approachable as Wunderlist. But for a powerful task management app that works pretty much anywhere, it's an attractive option. The company says the new design and features will soon be available in its Mac, Android, Windows, and web apps. A Material Design update is also in the works for the Android app.