Microsoft has for years promised it would eventually shut down to-do list app Wunderlist, which it acquired in 2015, in favor of its own app, To Do — after it felt the latter was able to offer a competitive experience that included Wunderlist’s best features. Today, Microsoft is finally announcing a shut-down date for Wunderlist of May 6, 2020. After this date, Wunderlist to-dos will no longer sync, but users will still be able to import their content into Microsoft’s own To Do app.
Some Wunderlist users may be disappointed but, to be fair, Microsoft allowed Wunderlist to operate far longer than expected, compared with how most acquisitions of this nature tend to go. And the company prepared Wunderlist users for the app’s inevitable closure as far back as April 2017.
In the meantime, Microsoft has been working to ensure that users’ favorite features — like list groups (folders), steps (subtasks), file attachments, sharing and task assignments — made their way over to Microsoft To Do.
In September, Microsoft unveiled another upgrade for To Do which hinted the Wunderlist shut down could be nearing, with the addition of new backgrounds, smart lists and a personalized daily planner offering smart suggestions of tasks to be accomplished. It also integrated To Do with other Microsoft apps like Outlook, Microsoft Planner, Cortana and Microsoft Launcher on Android.
At the same time, Wunderlist’s creator Christian Reber took to Twitter to express remorse over Wunderlist’s coming closure, and even suggested he would buy the app back if allowed. Reber wasn’t expressing sour grapes, necessarily, but rather a desire to fulfill his original vision for the app, which included building out features like shared folders and cross-team collaboration, for example. (Reber is currently involved with a new content collaboration startup, Pitch, which he co-founded. So returning to Wunderlist never really seemed feasible.)
Microsoft says it decided to now move to close down Wunderlist because it has stopped releasing new features for the app and, as the app ages, it will become more difficult to maintain. In addition, it wants to at last focus its full energies on making its To Do app the best alternative to Wunderlist.
While Wunderlist to-dos will no longer sync after May 6, 2020, the app will be supported until that time. As time goes on, Microsoft will make no guarantees that everything will continue to work properly after the end date.
Microsoft also says that, as of today, it’s no longer accepting new sign-ups for Wunderlist in preparation for the app’s closure.
To make the switch, To Do users can access the iOS, Android, Mac, PC or web app to use the Wunderlist importer. (A link to the importer is in the Settings.) You also can choose to export lists from Wunderlist to To Do from the Wunderlist app, if you prefer.
Once your content is properly imported, users can switch over to To Do, which now features a similar design following the fall update, but introduces new features as well, like the personalized My Day home screen. In addition, Microsoft Outlook emails and Planner tasks can now be sent to To Do. Meanwhile, a Planned Smart List will show everything with a due date, and this can be configured to only show today’s tasks, if you prefer.
“Some of you have been on this journey with us since the very beginning,” said Microsoft, in an announcement. “You, our users, mean everything to us, and we hope that you continue to share our vision and join us on this next step of our journey. You helped us make Wunderlist what it is, and we’d love for you to help us do the same with To Do. Tell us what you love and what you’d like to see added or updated. With our latest additions – printing, smart due dates, and dark mode – you can be sure that we always take your feedback into consideration when building new features,” the company said.
Wunderlist had 26 million installs globally across iOS and Android platforms since January 1, 2014, according to data from Sensor Tower. Downloads since the app was acquired by Microsoft on June 1, 2015 stand at approximately 18.6 million. And in 2019, the app has been installed by 3 million users, down from 4 million during the same period in 2018.
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