Show HN: Tweek – Fast to-do weekly calendar app

(tweek.so)

115 points | by losteden1 1350 days ago

26 comments

  • kareemm 1350 days ago
    I would love to see more todo lists take the weekly approach that lets you slot todos in against meetings, for two reasons.

    1. When you do things on your list, they take up time. Putting them into a calendar view makes a lot of sense because you have to balance those tasks against the other time-based commitments you have (meetings, etc). When you have a separate todo list and calendar, it's difficult to get an effective view of how you're planning to spend your day.

    2. I like the weekly time horizon. A day is sometimes too short to make meaningful progress, and a month is too long a time horizon to effectively plan. A week feels right - you can plan it out and make a dent in your project. But I've yet to see a todo list that lets you plan on this time horizon.

    Potential ways to improve:

    1. Sync with google cal to pull in my appointments

    2. Show me time slots so I can plan my todos around my meetings

    • bluewalt 1348 days ago
      I can't agree with you more. I never understood why calendar and todo apps are separate apps.

      At the time, Google Inbox tasks started to be visible in Google calendar, and it was an excellent idea IMHO.

      When I want to manage my day, I need to mix events and tasks. Events are not related to me, I don't need to complete them. Tasks are. But for me, both kinds of items need to be planned over the day.

      Currently, I'm using a todo app only, even for calendar events. It seems hacky to me, and I truly miss the calendar view, because 2-D visual representation of the time is really more understandable for my brain, than a simple list.

      So, for me, the perfect soft would be something like this one (I do like the minimalistic UI), but with embedded calendar.

    • yoav 1348 days ago
      https://ticktick.com/ Does this really well.
  • omarhaneef 1350 days ago
    Love the design too. Two things prevent me from using this:

    1. What if whomever is behind it doesn't get enough users and this whole thing shuts down in a year? (one solution: have a save to local drive in markdown[1] and sync with _box/_drive as an option)

    2. I already have all my info in my outlook/google/apple/etc calendar and it already syncs with appointments, alarms, email etc. Do I have to type it all here again and manually make sure the time is blocked off?

    Otherwise this looks great.

    [1] Is there a universal all-text calendar format?

    • kplaude 1349 days ago
      We're just launched. This is not our first launch and we take users content very seriously. You can find out more about other products on our website https://fragment.lv
      • ghostpepper 1349 days ago
        Saying that you take it seriously is great, but that doesn't really address the concerns of the parent.

        I'd also like to adopt something like this if I knew it would not disappear in a year. How do you plan to monetize it? Ads? Charging a monthly fee?

    • kplaude 1349 days ago
      As for integrations, they are in our roadmap and you can make a huge impact if you suggest some tools to integrate https://tweek.nolt.io/3
    • precommunicator 1349 days ago
      > Is there a universal all-text calendar format?

      iCalendar

    • totetsu 1349 days ago
      Yes, if these kind of apps had save/import to org file I could use them.
  • geraltofrivia 1350 days ago
    Possibly relevant excerpts from their privacy policy (to save you a click)

    > SIA Scada uses the collected data for various purposes:

    ● To provide and maintain our Service

    ● To notify you about changes to our Service

    ● To allow you to participate in interactive features of our Service when you choose to do so

    ● To provide customer support

    ● To gather analysis or valuable information so that we can improve our Service

    ● To monitor the usage of our Service

    ● To detect, prevent and address technical issues

    ● To provide you with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless you have opted not to receive such information

    > We do not support Do Not Track ("DNT").

    > We may use third-party Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service

    > > Google Analytics

    > > Behavioral Remarketing

    > > Google AdWords

    > > Facebook

    src - https://tweek.so/s/privacy.pdf

    • losteden1 1350 days ago
      What is unusual in it? It's standard privacy policy conditions
      • geraltofrivia 1350 days ago
        Nothing unusual. As I said, I copied the content here to save you a click. Personally, I'd like to read/discuss the privacy policy of most Show HN posts.
    • aminozuur 1350 days ago
      Maybe he copy/pasted it without reading it or caring about it.

      That's what I did when I made tools that required a privacy policy.

  • henryfjordan 1349 days ago
    Recommendation: All calendars should have a "Today" or "Now" button to return to the current date as part of the nav options.
  • xmo 1349 days ago
    Interesting. I have been using Sunsama.com for the same use case. They have pretty good integration with calendar, email, github and common task managers. I particularly like their emphasis on daily and weekly planning ritual.
    • mopierotti 1349 days ago
      I'm also a big fan of Sunsama for my day-to-day. The recurring tasks, subtasks, and task backlog are nice additions.
  • asimjalis 1350 days ago
    I like the app and see promise. One challenge for me is that I am used to seeing dates in the month/day format rather than the day/month format. When I see 10.08 I think it is October. Could this be customizable?
    • kplaude 1349 days ago
      Thanks for feedback, will add this feature in our next update
      • asimjalis 1349 days ago
        Thank you! You could do it based on geolocation perhaps. Or it could be a toggle in the preferences next to the option to use Monday as the start of the week. The thing I like about the app is the simplicity. I used to have a calendar like this when I was in elementary school. It was nice to quickly see what was due over the rest of the week.
      • asimjalis 1349 days ago
        Another option might be to display the date in a neutral way as “Aug 1”, with the name of the month. This eliminates the ambiguity in 10.08.

        I like the simplicity of the app. It feels like paper. The risk with customizations is that they can add to complexity.

  • jelevasi 1350 days ago
    Great job, really. I like when tools are simple and clear, but functional. Looks like a paper journal I’d used for years. Simplicity is a new black.
  • anon1094 1346 days ago
    This is a great application. Thank you for creating it. I hope it stays simple rather than falling prey to unnecessary complicated features.

    Please do not add Google Calendar sync. It'll just become another time app at that point with 37 time app integrations, a chrome extension with automatic time tracking, weekly email-based reports, Zapier integrations, and next thing you know you're a project management app.

    The paper-like simplicity of it is very appealing.

  • gitgud 1349 days ago
    Looks and performs really well, awesome work!

    Todo apps are not a new idea, this proves you can still make a successful product even in the most competitive markets!

  • juliend2 1349 days ago
    I'm a fan of weekly view todo management. I've been using https://teuxdeux.com/ for quite a while, which was good enough for my needs (+ supported markdown text formatting for items).

    But apart from that, I really prefer Tweek's design over TeuxDeux. Seems more usable (typography, spacing, etc).

    • losteden1 1349 days ago
      Tweek was created in July 2020 and now it’s trending :-)
  • gordon_freeman 1350 days ago
    My biggest problem with adding dates to To-Do tasks is that most of these tasks I don't even have bothered to set date against. So my first impression of this tool that combines calendar and To-Do is that it would create a mental burden for me to think about the dates/days when all I want is to quickly add a tasks to my list.
    • ahnick 1349 days ago
      This is why I enjoy using Google Tasks so much. Typically I don't have or want to set a date for many items, but occasionally I do and occasionally I want them to even be recurring. For these moments they show up right alongside my other calendar entries. If you have a Gmail account and a Google Calendar and are not using Google Tasks, then you should really try it out.
    • ghostpepper 1349 days ago
      Isn't this how most to-do lists work now? ie. Anylist, the one built into iOS, etc
  • fibbery 1350 days ago
    I like it.

    Some ideas for you:

    - a toggle to hide completed tasks

    - going into a menu to delete is too cumbersome. what if on drag a trash target appeared (margins of the screen? bottom right) and then dragging to there deleted it? with a recycle bin view to get the deleted tasks back if desired.

  • eitland 1350 days ago
    + A large part of me likes this.

    - It was not immediately obvious how to customize it

  • kanobo 1350 days ago
    The design is great, would be nice if it simply saved to localstorage if you don't log in for those who aren't concerned about syncing and backing up.
  • davinci26 1349 days ago
    This is awesome, I've been locking into this for such a long time.

    I am using notion now and everything is there so if there was an integration with it I would 100% use it

  • ekanes 1350 days ago
    Love the easy way people can play with it, but it'd really help convey the concept if you showed an example calendar all filled out!
    • kplaude 1349 days ago
      just made it :)
  • keenmaster 1350 days ago
    You're onto something here. I hate having a separate calendar and task list. With Tweek I can just scroll down and put unscheduled tasks in the "someday" category. I also love the simple interface which emphasizes canvas size. Honestly, great job. Ideally there would be a robust notification system on the level of Google Calendar.

    Semi-related anecdote: This reminds me of those free calendar planner booklets you get in college, in a good way. Before college I didn't use any kind of calendar. On my first day on campus, I got a calendar booklet from a random lady and it changed my life. For some reason at the end of syllabus week I had the impulse to put all the homework deadlines, assignments, exams, etc...from my syllabi into the planner. On top of that I put all the same stuff into my google calendar so that I get multiple notifications ahead of important deadlines.

    I was a procrastinator in high school, but in college I had better foresight than most of my peers. I got homework done 1-2 weeks ahead of time. I would get a dopamine rush from crossing an assignment off of my planner. Each semester at the end of syllabus week, I would sit down for a few hours to fill out my calendar booklet and my google calendar. I wouldn't stop studying until I was satisfied with the number of things I scratched off on my booklet - and if I didn't feel like doing the hard stuff, I would do my reading for next week so I have more time for the hard stuff later on. Being productive was as easy as opening this booklet that I carried with me everywhere and just doing the next thing. I was super involved in campus activities because I always had my studies taken care of. If my friends wanted to hang out, I would open the booklet and see if I had enough things crossed off, otherwise they would be met with a prompt "sorry I have stuff to do."

    This sounds silly, but I am honestly not sure if I would have excelled so much in college if a random lady didn't give me a calendar booklet as a freshman. To this day I have not found an app that feels the same way that that booklet did for me. It would be wonderful if Tweek can be that app, but I also wonder if there was something special about the dual analog and digital experience of writing on paper + Google Calendar notifications. I would also be able to star, highlight, circle, etc...different deadlines depending on the nature of the deadline and its importance. You can do a lot more than mere color coding on actual physical paper, but that is something that can be replicated in a digital format.

    I know the greatest thing about the calendar booklet: the forward feeling it gave me, and the satisfaction I got with scratching off or "defeating" tasks. The ease with which it enabled to pounce on the next thing. The reason I speak about feelings is because hormones and feelings have as much of an impact on your productivity as logic. Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman discusses the importance of feeling which way is forward in this podcast with Joe Rogan https://youtu.be/gLJowTOkZVo

    • ahnick 1349 days ago
      Have you tried Google Tasks? You can enter a task with or without a date. For those that have dates they will show up on your Google Calendar, you can set recurring tasks that occur every so often, and it sends notifications.
      • keenmaster 1349 days ago
        I did a few years ago. I didn't like how tasks were miniaturized and visually de-emphasized relative to the rest of the calendar. I will give it another try though and see how it changed.
  • tethys 1349 days ago
    Got an error on signup: Failed to execute 'transaction' on 'IDBDatabase': The database connection is closing.
  • losteden1 1349 days ago
    Tweek & https://octopus.do is the same team
  • aminozuur 1350 days ago
    I like the large text and simple design.
  • jdxcode 1350 days ago
    Checkboxes should just be an empty circle unless checked, other than that I love it
  • jimmynopension 1350 days ago
    Can you make URLs auto hyperlinks that click to open in new tab please
  • ghostpepper 1349 days ago
    How is this funded, now and also a few years from now?
  • tmaly 1350 days ago
    great job, I like that it is simple enough that I can figure out how to use it in less than 30 seconds.
  • FailMore 1349 days ago
    Remember
  • betoharres 1349 days ago
    I loved the app! Congrats! For some reason my brain kept trying to drag horizontally Hope I'm the only one