Markdown Task Manager Cheddar Goes Free
As a Markdown users and 99% plain-text guy I always wished there was a Markdown-driven task manager. Back in 2012 Sam Soffes (… who has worked on a ton of other cool apps) heard my cry of help and released Cheddar.
Cheddar is a super simple task list manager which supports Markdown. It also comes with a super fast sync - which was at this time the fastest I’ve ever seen - and a basic URL scheme.
I was a beta tester of his app, but what ultimately kept me from using Cheddar was that I couldn’ afford to pay the $20/year subscription since I already had my Simplenote subscription going and was still happy with OmniFocus at that point in time.
Things changed, Cheddar is now free and under new ownership. Still, it isn’t for me, but maybe it is for you: if you’re looking for a Reminders.app alternative with tags and Markdown support, I suggest you give it a try.
A Little History
On June 28th, 2012, Cheddar started out with a web app and iOS app. A couple of months after the launch Sam also released a Mac app.
Regarding the pricing. Cheddar was a free download, but if you wan’t to use it without limitations (aka write more lists), you’d have to subscribe and fork over said $20 for one year of Cheddar.
Updates to the app weren’t as frequent as one wishes as a feature-hungry users. On January 6th, 2013, roughly after about one and a half years in the App Store, Sam made the decision to sell Cheddar:
I simply don’t have the time to give Cheddar the love it deserves. Lots of you have asked for tons of great features that I personally wish Cheddar had as well. I think it’s better for everyone if it moves on to a new home where some can give it the love it deserves. This makes me a little sad to see all of my hard work go to someone else. I’m excited really to see where they take it though! Sam Soffes on the Cheddar Blog
Fast forward. End of October 2014 the guys from Wide Open Technologies bought Cheddar and answered the question “who moved my cheese?”. After two weeks and some tweaks they released Cheddar Plus as a completely free successor of the original Cheddar (= no subscription needed anymore to go nuts with lists).
PS: if you’re interested in the source code, the old version is still open source and hosted on GitHub:
The Features
Cheddar has a solid API for all the hackers out there.
The iOS version of Cheddar has an in-app browser in which you can open a Markdown link. Inside the browser you can pass the URL to Safari, copy or email it to someone.
There’s also an URL scheme, but I couldn’t find any documentation on it — maybe it’s because the transition to a new team of developers takes some time to take care of all the little details. Let’s just hope it isn’t gone.
Talking iOS, the iPhone version isn’t yet optimized for the iPhone 6 and the 6 Plus.
On the Mac there are a handful of keyboard shortcuts, but most of the ones listed on the website didn’t work for me. Basic support is there, but if Cheddar wants to appeal to more Mac users, the team behind it needs to kick it up a notch so that it is possible to swiftly navigate trough the minimalistic interface without using the mouse.
That’s about it for the device specific features. Here coem the global ones.
Cheddars tags work as filters inside of lists. So, if you’re a dude who is on the hunt for his #carpet and click on the #carpet tag you’ll see all the tasks which have it assigned inside the current list.
When it comes to tasks, adding them is easy; the “What do you have to do?” input field is always at the top of your screen.
On the other hand, deleting a task or list isn’t possible. The only option is to archive them. I guess this will be one of the top priorities Wide Open Technologies will fix. After all, if you accidentally enter a task, the only way to complete get rid of it is to rename it and convert it into an actual task.
Speaking of the archive, you can archive your tasks everywhere, but only the web app allows you to access the archive (where you can look at your old projects or unarchive tasks).
The most interesting new features are the offline mode and the option to share a list to somebody. Your invitee has to join Cheddar to use this collaboration feature. Currently there isn’t much detail about this new feature available. If you’re inclinded to find out more, the best thing is to subscribe to the official blog to get updates.
My résumé: Cheddar shines at simplicity. If you don’t need subtasks, notes and are happy with using your favorite Syntax for writing in a task/list manager which syncs instantly, then this app is made for you.
With a larger team behind the app I hope we hear more about Cheddar in the near future.