Slate

A todo app whose list is your wallpaper.

Free · $19.99 one-time unlockmacOS

A macOS menu-bar todo app that renders your list as the desktop wallpaper. Seven templates, natural-language dates, subtasks and repeats, and an Apple Reminders mirror so Siri capture lands on your desktop.

What it’s for, in plain terms

A to-do list only works if you see it. Slate draws today's list straight onto your desktop wallpaper, so it is already in front of you every time you close a window.

You keep forgetting the app exists

Every other to-do app waits behind an icon for you to remember it. Slate has nothing to open: the list is the wallpaper, so quitting your browser is the same thing as checking your tasks.

The thought arrives while your hands are full

Tell Siri to remind you to send the invoice, on your phone, in the car. Slate mirrors Apple Reminders, so it lands on your Mac's desktop, and ticking it off there clears it on your iPhone too.

You want to know what's left without opening anything

Today's calendar sits next to the tasks, with overdue items emphasised and subtask progress shown. An empty desktop becomes the answer to “what now?”

Your Mac is also your desk

Seven layouts, from a quiet editorial page to a receipt to a terminal print-out, with palettes and typefaces to match. It can look like a workplace or a notebook, not like a widget bolted onto your screen.

Getting the best out of it

  1. Turn the Reminders mirror onSettings → Reminders, off by default. This is the switch that connects Siri, your iPhone and your Watch to the wallpaper. Slate only ever writes back two things, whether it's done and when it's due, so nothing else in Reminders can be damaged.
  2. Type dates the way you'd say them“pay rent friday 5pm #home” becomes a task, a date and a list while you type. You never need to open a date picker.
  3. Use the two windows for two different jobsThe menu-bar popover is deliberately tiny: today, and one box to add to it. Plan in the full window; capture from the menu bar.
  4. Pin the three that actually matterA wallpaper has an edge. Pinning keeps the important items above it instead of letting a long list bury them.
  5. Start the Pomodoro from the menu bar25 and 5, with a longer break every fourth. No separate timer app, no ceremony.
Why Slate is like this →

What it does

Your list is the wallpaper

Tasks render onto the desktop itself. Tick one off and the wallpaper redraws.

Natural-language dates

Type “pay rent friday 5pm #home”, Slate parses it live as you write.

Say it to Siri

The Apple Reminders mirror puts Siri capture on your desktop, and ticking off syncs back.

Seven templates

Editorial, Ledger, Poster, Terminal, Timeline, Receipt, Card. Times nine placements.

Pomodoro, without the ceremony

25/5 by default, a long break every fourth. Started from the menu bar.

A proper app behind it

Lists, subtasks, repeats, notes, pinning, search, undo/redo. Mouse-first throughout.

Screenshots

Recent releases

Full Slate changelog →

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