Things 3.23 Puts a Checkbox on Repeats

On 19 August, Cultured Code’s own blog did not sell a redesign. It sold a box.

Previously, repeating to-dos could not be completed before they arrived in Today.

— culturedcode.com/things/blog/2026/08/repeating-to-dos-refined

That is the Things plot. Weekly bills, monthly invoices, the chore that repeats after you finish it: they sat in Upcoming without a checkbox. You waited until Today. Then you could tick. 3.23 put a normal checkbox on the copy. Tick it on Tuesday. The next copy follows the rule you already wrote.

Cultured Code is a 12-person studio in Stuttgart. The product is a personal task manager for Apple hardware: Inbox, Today, Upcoming, Anytime, Someday, then the Logbook when you are done. Areas group the hats you wear. Projects hold the work that takes more than one step. Calendar events can sit above the to-dos if you turn that on. The company is context. The lists are the software.

How you actually use it

Everything unprocessed lands in the Inbox. Their line, not a catalog blurb:

Each and every thing that you want to accomplish needs to end up in one place, and that place is the Inbox.

— culturedcode.com/things/support/articles/6378414

Today is what you mean to start before the day ends. Upcoming is a timeline: start dates, deadlines, the next repeat. Anytime is the active pile with no start date blocking you. Someday is the stuff you have not planned yet. Type Repeating into search and you get the rules plus the copies they have already spawned.

Two kinds of repeat. Fixed schedule: every Monday, every first of the month. After completion: water the plants three days after you last did it. Move a fixed copy and Things asks Make Exception or Update Rule. Move an after-completion copy and it just moves. Repeat → Create Next Copy if you want to write notes on the next instance before its day. Generated copies get a small grey repeat icon. You can pause, resume, or stop several at once.

The Mac release notes stamp 3.23 on 21 August, two days after the blog. 3.23.3 followed on 2 September. Same code path now draws and edits to-dos on Mac and iOS. Minimums: macOS 13.3, iOS and iPadOS 16.4, watchOS 9.1, visionOS 26. A 15-day Mac trial exists. Buy only through Apple’s stores.

Four apps, one cloud

You do not buy Things. You buy Things for Mac, Things for iPhone, Things for iPad, and Things for Vision, separately. Watch comes with iPhone. Sync does not cost extra. There is no bundle. Family Sharing works. A second Mac of yours does not cost another license. Their FAQ is blunt:

Things 3 is a one-time purchase for each platform; there are no subscriptions.

— culturedcode.com/things/support/articles/2803552

They set a dollar price and let Apple convert it. On 6 September the Things homepage showed Mac at $49.99, struck through to $34.99 (US) for a 30 percent off that runs 31 August through 10 September. iPhone and Watch $9.99. iPad $19.99. Vision Pro $29.99. The German Mac App Store showed €41.99 the same day, with the discount already in the number. After 10 September, read the card again. There is no student cut from Stuttgart. Business volume is Apple’s program, not theirs.

Things Cloud is the only sync. Not iCloud. Not Dropbox. Offline, the full database sits on the device and catches up later. Mail to Things turns an email into an Inbox row. Local Push pokes other devices on the LAN. Background Push uses Apple’s notification service. Their privacy card:

Things Cloud encrypts your data in transit and at rest, with full GDPR compliance. No tracking, no analytics, no profiling – just fast, private sync.

— culturedcode.com/things/cloud

Support is more specific: 2048-bit certificate in flight, AES-256 on the server, no clear text on disk. That is a locked cupboard Cultured Code holds. It is not a vault whose keys stay only on your devices. There is no browser view. Sign-in with Apple is out; you use an email address. A Watch needs Cloud. One device and no sync: you can skip the account.

Who should not buy this. Anyone whose work computer is a PC and who needs the same list there. Anyone who wanted a shared grocery list with a partner who is on Android. Anyone whose policy requires end-to-end encryption they hold themselves. Anyone who refuses the App Store as the till. Anyone who thought one license covered Mac and iPhone: it does not.

If every machine you touch is Apple, you want a personal system rather than a hallway, and you can live with four one-time store prices, start with the listing and then the Getting Things page. 3.23 is a free update. The checkbox is the change. The four apps are still the bill.

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