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Getting started with to-do list app Any.Do

Android app Any.Do has come to the iPhone. This slick and free to-do list app boasts gesture controls and voice commands.

Matt Elliott Senior Editor
Matt Elliott is a senior editor at CNET with a focus on laptops and streaming services. Matt has more than 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and San Francisco and now lives in New Hampshire. When he's not writing about laptops, Matt likes to play and watch sports. He loves to play tennis and hates the number of streaming services he has to subscribe to in order to watch the various sports he wants to watch.
Expertise Laptops, desktops, all-in-one PCs, streaming devices, streaming platforms
Matt Elliott
3 min read

Any.Do for iOS is like a less colorful version of Clear, but with three important differences: it's free, it supports voice commands, and it integrates with other apps on your iPhone.

When you first launch Any.Do, you will need to create an account using an e-mail address or you can log in via Facebook. Any.Do is also available as a Chrome extension, and your account is synced with any device you have running the app or extension.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

When held in portrait mode, you can view by either date or folder. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to switch between these two views. Turn your iPhone to landscape mode and you get a calendar view. You can add new items to your list, however, only when holding your iPhone in portrait mode.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

To add a new item, pull down until an entry appears at the top, with the prompt, "I want to..." You can tap the microphone icon to talk instead of type to add an item. You can also pull down and hold to add items by speaking. As you talk or type, Any.Do tries to autocomplete your entry. It uses your address book if you are adding a to-do item that involves a name.

What's really useful about Any.Do is that it works with the other apps on your iPhone. For example, if you have an item to remind you to e-mail, text, or call someone, the app adds a small green icon to the right of that item. Tap that green icon and it will launch your e-mail, text, or phone app to contact that person. Slick.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

The other gesture controls should be familiar to anyone who has used Clear. You swipe to the right to mark an item as completed (and you can swipe left to perform the reverse). Completed items are grayed out, struck through, and moved to the bottom of that day's list. You can then tap the small X next to a completed item to delete it. If you tap and hold on an item, you can drag to reorder it.

If you tap on an item, a row of five options -- Priority, Folder, Reminder, Notes, and Share -- appears below it. Priority turns the item's font red. Folder lets you place the item in your Work or Personal folder, or any folders you have created. Reminder lets you set a reminder with an alarm. Notes are basically a sub-list for a particular item. Say you have entered "Go to the grocery store" as a to-do item. You could then use the Notes function to create a shopping list under that item, which wouldn't clutter your to-do list, hiding under the single grocery-store entry. Lastly, Share lets you share to-do items via e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter.

Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

Swipe up from the bottom edge to switch between the Date and Folder views, view all of your completed items, or access Any.Do's settings to change the color scheme (white or black) and enable or disable sounds.

Lastly, Any.Do uses badge notifications to inform you how many to-do items you have for today.