Are there no good to-do and list apps?

Orgmode.

I tried Trello, Workflowy, Todoist, Remember The Milk, Ticktick, Everdo, and more before I got into Orgmode and gave it a chance. It does everything I want except push notifications, and Orgzly (Android Orgmode based app) does that.

Is it hard to learn? Yes. It's worth it though, once you get it configured to your liking. At least it is for me. You don't have to learn much emacs to use it, just a few basics.

Evernote started out good then got bloated and crap and reduced the number of devices you could sync for free.

Todoist started out great and had promise but blocked a bunch of features behind premium.

I finally settled on orgmode as well. For work and personal.

I found the best way for me was to just have a giant .org file with everything in it.

At the top level I have * 2021 and * 2022 and then keep monthly subdivisions.

Other things get their own top level node like reading lists etc.

The great thing about orgmode is it can be the dumping ground for everything. If you make something a TODO then it shows up in the agenda view and you can see everything that is going on (across all the subdivisions and even in multiple different files).

But it can also be the place where you keep your longer form writing, your evergreen notes etc.

I have a * how to do stuff in emacs top level node for example.

MacOS and iOS/iPadOS come with both Notes and Reminders, free, sync across devices. Works great for me.

Windows and multiple mobile platforms have Microsoft To Do, also free.

Google offers Tasks, free, cross-platform.

An easy Google search will find many free to-do list apps.

Where are the "great apps?" I suppose that depends on your definition of "great." The apps I listed and many others easily available do the job of maintaining lists. A spreadsheet can do that as well.

What makes a to-do list app "just bad?" You should list your requirements, what you've tried, and why those don't work for you rather than just dismissing every app in what looks like a pretty full stable.

I though the idea what that everyone has to write their own...

I suggest you add this recurrent todo to your current todo app : "experiment with todo app X"

Trust me: maybe nothing short of actually using at least a dozen of them for some time will help you find the one that works for you.

And I'm not talking about mindlessly jumping from one to the next.

what is "just bad" anyway ?

I still is a text file, though I also use tiddlywiki for project task lists.

I think this is just “one of those things.” Stop screwing around with task managers, get your work done.

http://tiddlywiki.com/

As others have said, list your requirements then build your own.

I wanted something more than just a list, so I built https://todo3d.app

Hasn't cured me of procrastination though.

You need to define what makes it great for you. Microsoft TODO is reasonable.

WeKan Open Source kanban https://wekan.github.io . All features are free and Open Source.

But it depends, who likes what.

I'm maintainer of WeKan.

Workflowy.com. Has free tier and it’s simple and pretty great.

Apparently slack used it for their internal project tracking while they were getting started.

What does your ideal to-do list app look like?

I use paper lists for subtasks of tasks that are managed in JIRA.

This is exactly what someone says before building their own.

Microsoft TODO works well for me, and is free

Focus on daily/weekly planners rather than to-do first apps. Todos are just subset of planning

Check out Taskade.

One note! I use the following template

Pressing

[] - TODO #1

[] - TODO #2

Radar

[] - TODO #3

[] - TODO #4