Pinwork is a private, native to-do app for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. It is designed for people who want to capture a thought quickly, then keep the dates, recurrence, estimates, tags, projects, and other structure needed to make that thought actionable.
The central idea is simple: writing a task should feel close to writing a sentence, but the result should still behave like a properly scheduled task. Pinwork stores tasks locally, can sync them through the user’s private iCloud database, and does not require a separate Pinwork account.
Why Pinwork exists
Pinwork began with a recurring frustration: the quickest way to capture a task was often the least useful later. A note such as “Review proposal Friday” preserved the thought, but its date, duration, and context still had to be filed by hand. A detailed task form kept that structure, but interrupted the moment with several controls.
That trade-off matters because most tasks begin in ordinary language. Someone thinks, “Call mom tomorrow at 2pm,” not “create an item, open its date picker, choose tomorrow, then set a time.” When capture requires too many decisions, the task may never reach the list. When capture saves only a title, the list collects work that still needs to be interpreted.
Pinwork keeps both paths available. A title alone can be saved immediately, with an unscheduled task landing in Inbox. Dates, tags, or a project can be added later. When the details are already known, supported capture fields can parse them from the sentence and apply them at once.
This makes Inbox a deliberate holding place rather than a penalty for fast capture. It also means structure is optional at the moment of entry, not absent from the task model.
One sentence can create a scheduled task
Consider a routine instruction:
Prepare weekly report every Friday at 9am 45min add to calendar
That sentence contains a title, a recurring schedule, a time, an estimate, and a Calendar instruction. In a supported parsed capture path, Pinwork can separate those details and keep the remaining words as the task title.
Recurrence Time Estimate Calendar
Pinwork saves a task called Prepare weekly report, scheduled for 9:00 AM
every Friday with a 45-minute estimate. When Calendar linking is available and
permission has been granted, the command can also create a linked Apple
Calendar event. For a recurring task, that event represents the current task
occurrence, not a recurring Calendar series.
Natural-language parsing also recognizes common date phrases, tags written
with #, and projects written with >. It is available in places such as
in-app Quick Add and Mac menu bar Quick Add. Some system capture routes,
including Siri Quick Add, Shortcuts Quick Add, the Action Button, and the Share
Extension, keep the input as a raw task title instead of parsing its fields.
Apple Watch capture parses a smaller set of fields than the main apps.
Those boundaries are useful to know. Natural language is a capture tool, not a promise that every text entry point behaves identically. The natural-language guide documents the supported syntax and capture paths.
When and Deadline answer different questions
Many task lists use one date for two different ideas: the day someone intends to work and the day the work must be finished. Pinwork separates them.
When is the planned work date or time. It determines whether a task appears in Today, Upcoming, or an unscheduled view. Deadline is the final acceptable date or time. A task can use either field, both fields, or neither.
For example, a report might have When set to Tuesday at 9:00 AM and Deadline set to Friday at 5:00 PM. Tuesday is the plan. Friday is the cutoff. Keeping the values separate prevents every planned task from looking overdue and makes real due dates easier to notice.
Natural-language capture keeps the fields distinct. A scheduling phrase sets When, while an explicit supported Deadline phrase can set the real cutoff. When no Deadline is stated, the field stays empty instead of copying the When date into it. Either value can also be adjusted through the task’s controls.
The deeper explanation of When and Deadline covers how to choose one field, both, or neither. The When vs Deadline guide documents how the fields affect lists and linked Calendar events.
Plan beyond today without filling the list with copies
Today puts tasks with explicit times first in chronological order, followed by untimed work. Manual ordering remains available when a hand-arranged list is more useful.
The Today title also opens a calendar picker. Today itself keeps unfinished overdue work visible, while any other selected date shows that exact day’s plan. New tasks inherit the selected date, and Back to Today returns to the current working list.
Recurring tasks participate in future planning without creating months of stored copies. Upcoming and selected-day views show lightweight projected occurrences. Frequent repeats collapse after the first few previews, and a projection opens the recurring task or its series settings rather than acting like an independently completable task.
Filters can narrow tasks by scheduling, Deadline, status, project, tags, estimate, recurrence, and other saved structure. A useful combination can be named, saved, pinned in navigation, and synchronized through private iCloud so the same view is available on another supported device.
Native Apple integration reduces detours
Pinwork runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, with navigation adapted to each screen. The full Today, Upcoming, Inbox, Projects, Tags, and All Tasks structure is available where it fits, while Apple Watch focuses on Today, Inbox, and Upcoming.
Its capture surfaces also meet different situations. In-app Quick Add and Mac menu bar Quick Add are parsed capture paths, while system routes include Siri, Shortcuts, the Action Button, and the Share Extension. Widgets and other extensions use limited shared data so they can work outside the main app.
Apple Reminders can serve as a starting point rather than a permanent second list. Pinwork can import selected Reminders lists into projects. The import is one-way: it reads the chosen reminders without changing, deleting, completing, or continuing to sync the originals. After import, the copies become normal Pinwork tasks. The Reminders import guide covers that workflow step by step.
These integrations do not all expose the same fields or controls. They are different entry points into one task system, chosen for the device and moment.
Let an AI draft a plan without reading the task list
Pinwork can receive structured task drafts prepared by ChatGPT, Claude, or another AI. The AI works from the conversation you choose to share. It does not need a standing connection to the existing Pinwork database.
Several drafts can open together in Pinwork’s Review Tasks screen. Titles, notes, When, Deadline, tags, projects, estimates, recurrence, checklist items, destinations, and Add to Calendar requests remain editable. You can exclude or merge drafts before confirming the batch, and nothing enters the task list until you approve it.
This does not let the AI inspect existing tasks or reorganize the list on its own. It is a narrower workflow for turning a conversation into proposed work, with the final decision kept inside Pinwork.
Privacy includes local storage and private iCloud sync
Pinwork stores tasks, projects, tags, checklist items, ordering, and app metadata in a local Core Data store. The app continues to work offline, and pending changes can export when iCloud becomes available again.
On production devices, sync uses Apple’s CloudKit-backed Core Data system and the user’s private iCloud database. Synced task data therefore leaves the physical device to pass through Apple’s iCloud infrastructure. It is not sent to a separate Pinwork task server, and there is no Pinwork account to create.
CloudKit controls download timing, so Pinwork cannot force another device to receive a change instantly. Most preferences stay local to each device, while selected preferences sync separately through iCloud. Extensions such as widgets, Shortcuts, and the Share Extension use limited payloads in a shared App Group container.
The native Pinwork targets declare no collected data types and no tracking in their app privacy manifests. That privacy model is explained in the sync and privacy guide. For a closer look at local storage, CloudKit, offline changes, and extensions, continue with where Pinwork tasks go.
One plan covers supported Apple devices
Pinwork offers one plan with monthly, yearly, or lifetime access. One active purchase unlocks the supported iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch apps for the purchasing App Store Apple Account.
Apple handles access through the App Store and StoreKit. Restoring a purchase on another device and syncing task data through iCloud are separate mechanisms, even when both use Apple infrastructure. The plans and lifetime guide covers that distinction in more detail.
Who Pinwork is for
Pinwork fits people who use Apple devices and want less friction between remembering a task and scheduling it. It is especially suited to someone who already thinks in phrases such as “tomorrow at 2pm,” wants planned work kept separate from real deadlines, and expects a task app to remain useful offline.
It also fits people who want the same personal task system across phone, tablet, computer, and watch without creating another service account. Existing Apple Reminders can be imported one way, which can make a move possible without altering the source lists.
Pinwork is not designed for every task workflow. People who need shared projects, team assignments, or collaboration should choose a product built around those capabilities. People who rely on Android or Windows, or who need a task list in a web browser, also need a cross-platform service rather than an Apple-only native app.
Those are product-model differences, not a ranking. A browser-based team tool can be the right choice for collaborative work, while a native personal app can be the right choice for private planning on Apple devices.
For the practical starting point, the getting started guide explains the main lists, how navigation changes by device, and what happens when a first task is saved with or without a date.