Wanted: a privacy-respecting checklist app

Akrasia
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Hi folks,

this is not very Beeminder-related, but since there are lots of productivity nerds here, you might have some pointers for me.

I’m looking for a “checklist”-type app for my (android) phone. This would be similar to a “todo” app, with one exception: after completing all (or most) tasks on the checklist, I’d like to be able to tap a button and mark all the tasks as “not done” - so that I can use the same checklist next time (e.g., next day). One use-case is “I want to leave home and I don’t want to forget anything”, another is “I take these meds regularly and I want to be sure I took every single one just once”, etc.

An important feature would be for this app to be privacy-respecting (no cloud, no account, keeps all the checklists locally on the phone).

It does not have to be free (as in “free beer”, though being FOSS is probably a prerequisite for being privacy-respecting) – I’m ok with paying for the same thing I could install from GitLab or wherever to support the author.

Bonus points for the app being fast.

While at that - a note-taking app (again, privacy-respecting, so all notes kept locally) would also be nice.

I’d prefer a ready-made solution, but I’m willing to self-host a free/open-source app, too.

Any ideas?

EDIT: as usual, it occurred to me that my post might sound rude after I sent it. I didn’t mean to say that Beeminder is not privacy-respecting – in fact, thanks to the API and some of my code, my Emacs client supports encryption of the goal slugs and descriptions, which would be enough for me (and I don’t even use that, I coded it as a PoC). However, I’d like to teach my kids using a checklist app – and there is no way I have my kids putting any sensitive information (e.g., information about their daily routine) on the internet. I don’t even assume bad will; it’s enough for some company to have a security breach/data leak, and this stuff happens… (Beeminder is probably relatively safe because it’s very niche; popular todo apps etc. less so.)

3 Likes
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Hmmm. Finch has to-do lists, which can be set up to repeat, and all data is kept locally on the phone… but it has so many other bells and whistles that I wouldn’t recommend it as a to-do app (it’s more of a self-care thing, with some gamification). I don’t think it’d work out for your use-case, but I’m just mentioning it in case the gamification/self-care aspect appeals to someone looking for anything similar.

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I use Obsidian for notes. It’s fully local if you don’t do any syncing. I use Syncthing to peer-to-peer sync my notes between my computers and phone.

You could use it for to-do lists—it’s not purpose-built, but it does nicely display markdown checkboxes, which might be just good enough?

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Thought of this post when I saw a rec for Loop Habit Tracker. From what the person who recommended it said, it’s free, ad-free, open source, and the data is local to your device.

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Oh yes! I used Loop Habit Tracker for several months while I was setting up a morning routine. It’s excellent. I tried several Android habit trackers and it was by far the best, even without considering its open-source, private nature, which almost all the others didn’t have. I only stopped using it once the routine was so fixed I didn’t need a tracker any more.

1 Like