Ask NewTwos
To-do detection
Twos can recognise when a thing you wrote reads like a task, and offer to give it a checkbox.
Why you'd care
The difference between a note and a to-do is carry-over. A to-do follows you until you deal with it. A note does not.
People write tasks without marking them constantly, and then wonder why nothing followed up. Detection closes that gap.
The three levels
- Off. Settings Lists & Things Detect to-dos turns it off entirely.
- Ask. Settings Lists & Things Auto-prompt for to-dos offers to convert, and you decide.
- Automatic. Settings Lists & Things Auto-apply verb detection converts without asking.
Ask is the sensible default. Automatic is worth it only if nearly everything you write is a task.
Going further
It reads the verb. "Call the bank" is a task. "The bank called" is not. Phrasing is the whole signal, so writing in the imperative gets better results.
It does not carry anything over on its own. Detection sets the type. Carry-over is a separate behaviour that then applies. See carry-over.
It will be wrong sometimes. A quote containing an instruction can look like a task. That is why the default asks.
When you say no
The prompt has three answers, and they are three different sizes of no.
| Answer | What it means |
|---|---|
| Add checkbox | Turn it into a to-do |
| No | Not this one. It stays exactly as you wrote it |
| Don't ask for now | Stop asking on this list until you switch lists or days |
No is remembered on that thing. It is not just dismissing the box. Twos records the decline on the thing itself, so editing that text later never asks you about it again. Declining a to-do prompt never silences reminder detection: the two are tracked separately.
Don't ask for now is a pause, not an off switch. Prompting stops on that list until you open a different list, move to another day, or reopen the app. Saying No never pauses the prompts on its own. To stop the prompts for good, turn off Settings Lists & Things Auto-prompt for to-dos, and turn it back on there whenever you like.
Settings that change this
- Settings Lists & Things Detect to-dos turns detection on and off.
- Settings Lists & Things Auto-prompt for to-dos asks before converting.
- Settings Lists & Things Auto-apply verb detection converts automatically.
- Settings Lists & Things Default thing type is the alternative: make everything a to-do by default.
Tips
- If you find yourself accepting nearly every prompt, change the default thing type instead and skip the question.
- Write tasks as instructions to yourself. It reads better later and detects more reliably.