ETasks
Google Tasks vs. Apple Reminders vs. ETasks
Three ways to manage tasks on iPhone, compared honestly.
The short version
- Google Tasks is where your tasks live if you use Gmail and Google Calendar, but on iPhone it's a thin web-style app with no alarms, minimal widgets, no Watch app, and no sharing.
- Apple Reminders is an excellent native app with a few gaps: no real alarms, no drag-and-drop planning, and similar misses you can live without. The deal-breaker is Google: it can't touch your Google Tasks, so everything in Gmail and Calendar stays invisible to it.
- ETasks keeps your data in Google Tasks and gives it the native iOS treatment: real alarms, location reminders, eight widget types, an Apple Watch app, shared lists, and offline mode. No Google account, no problem, still works.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Google Tasks (iOS app) | Apple Reminders | ETasks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Syncs with Google Tasks (Gmail, Google Calendar) | Yes | No | Yes, two-way |
| Native on iPhone | No (thin web-style app) | Yes | Yes, built for iOS |
| All your lists, one view | No (one list at a time) | Limited | Yes |
| Share & collaborate | No | Yes (iCloud users) | Yes (invite link, over iCloud) |
| Set alarms (ring like an alarm clock) | No | No (notifications only) | Yes (AlarmKit) |
| Location reminders (arrive / leave) | No | Yes | Yes (Labs) |
| Prioritize favorites | No | Flags only | Yes, ordered favorites |
| Link files | No | Yes | Yes (personal on shared lists) |
| Wide range of widgets | Basic | Yes | Yes, eight types |
| Month, week, day views | No | Limited | Yes (plus agenda and map) |
| Plan by drag & drop | No | Limited | Yes, reschedule & assign dates |
| AI when it makes sense | No | No | Yes (links, photos, PDFs, search) |
| Search your tasks | Basic | Yes | Yes, across every list |
| Recycle bin | No | Yes (Recently Deleted) | Yes |
| Cool dark mode | System only | System only | Yes, designed for dark |
| Highly customizable | No | Limited | Yes (layouts, colors, prefs) |
| Apple Watch app | No | Yes | Yes |
| Works without any account | No (Google account required) | Apple ID for sync | Yes, fully local mode |
| Offline editing with sync queue | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Price | Free | Free | Free, ad-free |
Which one should you use?
Stay with Apple Reminders if your whole life is in iCloud and you never touch Gmail or Google Calendar. It's deeply integrated and free.
Stay with the Google Tasks app if a bare-bones checklist is genuinely all you need, and you don't mind missing all your lists in one view, sharing & collaborating, real alarms, prioritized favorites, linked files, and a wide range of widgets.
Choose ETasks if your tasks live in Google (or you want the option) but your devices are Apple. You keep the Google Tasks ecosystem (tasks appearing in Gmail and Google Calendar) and gain real alarms, location reminders, widgets, an Apple Watch app, shared lists, and AI capture. And if you leave Google someday, ETasks keeps working locally.
One honest limitation: ETasks list sharing runs over iCloud, so sharing a Google-connected list moves it off Google. Details in the FAQ.
Keep exploring
More about ETasks
Get early access to ETasks
Free, ad-free, and available now via TestFlight for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.