To do: find replacement to do app

Being forced to replace an app to which you've grown accustomed is, on the one hand, a first world problem, and on the other, a genuine frustration. Particularly so if the app works just about perfectly for your needs. Exhibit A: Google Reader. It wasn't that long ago I made the move to feedly, and whilst it wasn't all smooth sailing I've adjusted to the post-Google Reader/feedly way of life. Now it's Astrid's turn for retirement, and the hunt begins for a suitable replacement.

Features I was looking for:

• free
• support for recurring tasks by due date and completion date 
• notes for tasks (ie separate notes field / additional to the task title/name)
• reminders independent of due date
• sync to cloud / PC / other devices (I currently sync between Google Tasks and Astrid on two devices)
• automatic backup, restore, and export (see next point) 
• data compatibility with other similar apps (ie in case need to transition again) 
• (optional) priority levels

Some of my research:

• http://www.androidauthority.com/astrid-alternatives-201278/
• https://sites.google.com/a/umich.edu/going-google/top-faqs/task-managers
• http://alternativeto.net/software/astrid/?platform=android
• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0At4J5a3i2zW8dDhUeGFJbFFORFhNQU5vRW8xZmRxX2c#gid=0

My shortlist of candidates and selected findings:

1. Gtasks
• syncs with Google Tasks 
• does not support recurring tasks in free version
• the above limitation pretty much killed it for me, so I uninstalled Gtasks after installing TickTick and importing from Gtasks to TickTick
2. TickTick
• based on/evolved from Gtasks? No longer tied to Google Tasks.
• can import from Gtasks, but sync is with own cloud
• reminder/alarm is tied to due date
• cannot set recurrence by completion date (only due date) 
• cannot set recurrence by more than 2.5 years (30 months) - I currently have one task that I want to recur every 5 years
• overview screen/list only displays 1/1st line of task title
• the combination of the above few limitations meant my search was not yet over
3. Wunderlist
• can only import from Astrid.com
• I wasn't using Astrid.com, but could do a one off sync from Android to Astrid.com, then use astrid.wunderlist.com to do the import into Wunderlist - this produced duplicates of everything, but otherwise worked fine
• sync is with own cloud 
• can maintain multiple lists 
• can set reminder separate from due date 
• email notification setting done via website seems to apply for normal reminders as well as what the website suggests (other things)
• cannot set recurrence by completion date (only due date) 
• overview screen/list only displays 1/1st line of task title… (but at least this is denoted by "…" cf no indication of more text in TickTick)
• selected sort order (eg by due date) does not autorefresh after changing a task's due date (or it might take a minute or more, which is a bit off-putting)
• reminder notification cannot be persistent (as Astrid's could be) 

I liked the cleanness and simplicity of TickTick, but it was lacking in some features I wanted. Wunderlist is in some ways more complex/more bloated than what I need, but it offers some features that TickTick doesn't. Wunderlist also has a much larger user (and fan?) base and potentially greater likelihood of sustained future support.

I also briefly considered how I might extend my use of Evernote, or play around more with Google Keep, but they're notetaking apps and not to do apps. I also subsequently found out I could keep using Astrid offline / syncing only to Google Tasks (which was my syncing regime in any case), but figured I didn't want to be 'stuck' with old and frozen software.

So, Wunderlist it is... but I am going to miss Astrid.

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