Google Tasks

My Experience with Google Tasks

I downloaded Google Tasks out of pure curiosity after seeing it pop up on some productivity forum. Several months later, I’m still using it daily on my Samsung Galaxy A54, but I’ve got mixed feelings. Look, I’m the type who pushes apps hard—I juggle work projects, personal errands, and random ideas across multiple lists. For basic stuff like “buy milk” or “call dentist,” Tasks is fine. But when I tried to rely on it for a complicated home renovation project last March, I hit walls. It handled my shopping lists and deadlines okay, but I couldn’t set recurring reminders for weekly paint check-ins, and I had to manually re-create tasks every time. The syncing between Gmail and Calendar worked smoothly during a Tuesday afternoon test—creating a task from an email about a client meeting popped up on my calendar instantly. But that same Wednesday, I noticed a reminder didn’t fire until I reopened the app hours later. Small annoyances, sure, but they stack up when you’re managing 50+ active tasks. I contacted support once about a sync delay, and though they replied after three days, the solution (clearing cache) actually fixed it. So points for that.

Features Worth Noting

The best part is how Tasks hooks into Google services. I can turn a Gmail thread into a to-do without leaving the email app—that saved me on a Thursday when I got buried in work requests. The app also works offline, which I tested during a subway commute: I added tasks without signal, and they synced perfectly once I got back online. The subtask feature is basic but useful; I broke down “Plan birthday party” into smaller steps like “buy cake” and “send invites,” though I wish I could indent subtasks deeper than one level. The design is clean and minimal, almost boring, but that helps me focus. I also like the drag-and-drop reordering—it’s smooth on my A54, no lag. You can set due dates and times, but reminders only fire once, which felt limiting. For a free app, it does the core job without ads or pushy upgrades.

What Needs Work

Here’s where I get critical. No recurring tasks? In 2024? I need a “weekly grocery list” that auto-renews, but I have to manually copy it every Sunday. That’s a dealbreaker for power users. The app also lacks any sort of priority levels beyond drag order—I can’t flag something as “high priority” or assign a color. Tags? Nope. Collaboration is bare-bones: you can share a list via Google account, but there’s no comment section or assignment tracking. The search function is weak—I typed “renovation” and it only pulled tasks from the currently open list, not all my lists. And the widget? It’s rudimentary. On my A54’s home screen, it shows only 3 tasks without scrolling, which is almost useless. Also, no dark mode on Android yet—I had to use a third-party launcher to force it. For a Google product in 2024, these omissions feel lazy.

Pricing

Google Tasks is completely free to download and use, which is honestly its biggest selling point. No hidden subscriptions, no premium tiers, no ads. You pay with your Google account data, same as always, but that’s the trade-off. If you want a zero-cost way to keep a few lists synced, it’s hard to beat. But for the missing features I mentioned, I’d happily pay a few bucks a month if Google ever offered a “Pro” version with recurring tasks, better widgets, and collaboration tools. As it stands, you get what you pay for—nothing more.

Developer Notes

The app gets infrequent updates—maybe one or two a year on Android. Last major update added list sharing, but that was ages ago. Google seems to treat Tasks as a side project compared to Keep or Calendar. No beta program I’ve found. The support I got was helpful but slow (3 days for a reply). I’d love to see a public roadmap or changelog so I know what’s coming. Given Google’s history of killing apps, I’m half-expecting this to get folded into something else eventually.

Security & Privacy

Standard Google stuff—your data lives on their servers, encrypted in transit. The app requests minimal permissions: just storage (for offline access) and notifications. No camera, no contacts, no location fussing. You can export your task lists via Google Takeout if you ever want to leave. But remember: this is a Google product, so your task data feeds their ad systems to some degree (anonymized, supposedly). If you’re privacy-conscious, keep that in mind. I’m personally fine with it for free utility, but it’s worth knowing.