Task manager apps are nothing new to smartphones. With veterans like OmniFocus and Evernote grabbing the top spots, and Things, Any.DO, and Apple's own Reminders bringing up the rear, you'd think the space was pretty much full. But newcomer Cheddar aims to take a piece of the pie for itself. It doesn't aim for the complicated productivity features inherent to apps like Omnifocus, and it doesn't sacrifice syncing for innovative design like Clear. Cheddar's niche: simplicity.
Cheddar's layout is similar to other to-do list apps, but its design and style is what separates it from the rest of the crowd. The UI is well thought-out, from the soft shades of blue and orange to the typography provided by Hoefler & Frere-Jones. I found myself entering tasks I knew I'd never finish (I've never written a novel, much less autographed one) just to see how pretty they would look. I italicized words that needed no differentiation, placed hashtags on items that required no organizational structure. I thoroughly enjoyed planning an entire weekend with links and bold text.
But when I decided to clean my slate, I was faced with an unwelcome realization. Once a task is created, it can never actually be deleted. And although Cheddar allows for tasks to be archived, you cannot see or unarchive them once that choice has been made. I often look at old tasks I've done as a reference point when they relate to certain projects, so this is a major sticking point for me. It seemed as though my piece of autographed fiction was to forever remain in Cheddar, seen or unseen.
On the upside, syncing in Cheddar is instantaneous. After entrusting it with my breakfast plans, the task showed up in Cheddar's Web interface before I looked up from my iPhone. I tried again, this time holding my phone to my laptop so I could watch it sync in under a second. Ubiquity seems to be Cheddar's aim, at least for the Apple-friendly—while there are currently no plans for an Android app, an alpha version of Cheddar for Mac is on the way in a few weeks. "It will be closer to the look of the iPad app than the Web. It will definitely be all native and not just a Web wrapper," Sam Soffes, former lead developer at Hipstamatic and now lead developer for Cheddar, told Ars. A Cheddar API is also launching "very, very soon" allowing developers to create their own apps for whichever platform they choose.
Markdown support is a differentiator in the space as well. Cheddar boasts support for the "span-level" elements of Markdown, which includes links, code, emphasis, italics, and hashtag support. But hashtagging items, a personal pastime of mine, had a very confusing implementation. Tasks with the same hashtags in different lists didn't show up when sorted, relegating them to their own list silos.
Additionally, I found the Markdown entry to be a chore on iOS. Entering tasks quickly, a tenet of almost every task manager, was slowed by accessing the secondary and sometimes tertiary keyboard. I spent half the time pecking at characters I barely used. An appended row of keys for easier Markdown typing is in the works, says Soffes.
There are ways to upgrade Cheddar, too. Cheddar Plus is an in-app purchase that allows you to create more than two lists of tasks. At $5.99 for three months, $9.99 for six, and $19.99 for a year, it does seem a tad pricey. But with Cheddar's claim that it will eventually be your go-to task manager on any platform, I might consider a three-month trial once more features have been added. (Soffes promises "more in the pipeline to make Cheddar Plus more valuable.") In the meantime, I would probably hold off, given Cheddar's current limitations.
In its current iteration, Cheddar seems to be an exercise in creating a beautiful to-do list app rather than a functional one. Markdown support, instantaneous syncing with the Web and (future) Mac client, and a beautiful UI give it an edge compared to other task managers. But with important features missing such as task deletion, simpler Markdown entry, and archive view, Cheddar's "ready, fire, aim" approach isn't doing itself or its users any favors. And after a few days of use, it's clear that this is a task manager that's wet behind the ears.
Still, I'm not giving up entirely on Cheddar—I'm just eagerly awaiting another taste after it ages.
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