Why I Built Nexto: A Todo List That Finally Gets Out of My Way

I have a confession to make: I've tried almost every todo app on the App Store. Like, embarrassingly many. Things 3, Todoist, OmniFocus, TickTick, Microsoft To Do, GoodTask… the list goes on. I even went through a "bullet journal" phase that lasted about two weeks.

Every single one of them eventually ended up in the same place — untouched, gathering digital dust in some folder on my home screen. And every time I uninstalled one, I told myself the same thing: "Maybe I'm just not a todo list person."

But the thing is, I really wanted to be.

The real problem wasn't me

For a while I genuinely believed I was the problem. I wasn't disciplined enough. I didn't have the right "system." Maybe I needed to watch more productivity YouTubers or try that new GTD-inspired workflow everyone was talking about.

Then one day I was sitting at my desk, staring at a bunch of sticky notes plastered around my monitor like some kind of detective board, and it hit me: the apps weren't the problem because I was lazy — they were the problem because they asked too much of me.

Open app. Create new task. Type the title. Select a project. Pick a due date. Assign a priority level. Add tags. Set a reminder. Choose a list. Configure a repeat interval. By the time I finished setting up a single task, I'd forgotten what I wanted to write down in the first place.

The moment the idea clicked

It was a random Tuesday evening. I was cooking dinner — nothing fancy, just pasta — and I realized I needed to pick up garlic the next day. I pulled out my phone, opened the notes app (because the todo apps were all too slow), typed "garlic," and locked the phone.

Then I looked at the screen and thought: why did I just do that in notes instead of a proper todo app?

Because the notes app was instant. No folders, no tags, no priority levels. Just type and go. That's all I wanted. A todo app that gets out of my way.

But I also wanted it to be smart. If I type "call mom tomorrow at 3pm," I shouldn't have to manually set a date and time. The app should just get it.

So I built it myself

That's how Nexto was born. A todo list that does one thing differently: it understands natural language. Type "buy groceries saturday morning" and it just works. No tapping through date pickers. No selecting which list it belongs to. The app figures it out.

And that's basically the whole philosophy behind it:

• Fast to add. Open app, type, done. Should take less than 5 seconds.
• Smart time detection. Write "tomorrow at 2pm" and the reminder is set. No extra clicks.
• No accounts. No sign-up, no cloud sync, no "create an account to continue." Your tasks stay on your phone because they're nobody else's business.
• No ads, no tracking. It's not trying to sell you anything. It's just a list.

What it's not

Nexto is not trying to replace Things 3 or Todoist. If you have a complex project management workflow with nested subtasks, dependencies, and team collaboration — use those apps. They're great for that.

Nexto is for the other people. The ones who just want to jot down a task and be reminded of it without jumping through hoops. The ones who, like me, have tried every app and just want something that feels like a piece of paper but also remembers things for you.

It's also completely free. No subscriptions, no "Pro" tier, no dark pattern trying to upsell you. I built it because I wanted it to exist, not because I saw a business opportunity.

A year later

I've been using Nexto as my daily driver for a while now. The sticky notes are gone. The detective board on my monitor is no more. And somewhere along the way, I stopped thinking about "productivity systems" and just started getting things done.

Funny how that works.

If any of this resonates with you, give it a try. It's free, it's simple, and it just might be the todo app that finally sticks — not because it's fancy, but because it gets out of your way.