Getting started

Pinwork is a private, native task app for every Apple device. There is no Pinwork account to create, no tracking, and nothing to set up. Open the app and start with Today.

Your tasks live on your device and sync through your private iCloud database when iCloud is available. Pinwork also works offline, so you can keep capturing and planning even without a connection.

The main lists

Pinwork starts with a small set of lists that cover most day-to-day work.

• Today: your starting view, with tasks scheduled for today and work that needs your attention now.
• Upcoming: an interactive calendar for tasks scheduled ahead.
• Inbox: unscheduled tasks you captured quickly and still need to process.
• Projects: groups of related tasks, goals, or areas of work.
• Tags: labels you can use across projects and lists.
• All Tasks: the full task list with filters.
• Archive: finished work. Tasks appear here when they are Done or Canceled.

Apple Watch focuses on the lists that make sense on your wrist: Today, Inbox, and Upcoming.

Where navigation lives

Navigation changes by device size, but the lists are the same.

• iPhone and compact iPad: use the bottom tabs for Today, Upcoming, Inbox, Browse, and Search. Open Browse to reach Projects, Tags, All Tasks, Archive, Settings, and optional workflow lists.
• iPad and Mac: use the sidebar. It contains Today, Upcoming, Inbox, Organize, System, pinned projects, and pinned tags. Organize contains Projects, Tags, and All Tasks. System contains Archive and Settings.
• Apple Watch: use Today, Inbox, and Upcoming from the Watch app.

Add your first task

1. Tap the add button. On Mac and iPad, you can also press Command-N.
2. Type the task.
3. Add a date in plain language if you want, such as Call mom tomorrow at 2pm.
4. Save.

If you add a date, Pinwork schedules the task. If you do not add a date, the task lands in Inbox so you can organize it later.

Capture now, organize later

You do not need to fill everything in up front. Save a task with just a title, then add dates, tags, or a project later from the task itself. Inbox is the safe place for anything you have not sorted yet.

Use natural language

Pinwork can understand dates, times, tags, projects, recurrence, and calendar commands while you type in supported capture fields.

For example:

Review pitch deck Friday at 2pm #startup

That can become a task scheduled for Friday at 2:00 PM with the startup tag.

See Natural language for the full syntax and the places where parsing is available.

The first-run guide

The first time you open Pinwork on iPhone, iPad, or Mac, an inline guide can walk you through the basics on Today.

It helps you:

• add your first task
• name a task
• defer a task
• complete a task
• open task details on Mac

The guide uses two practice tasks in Today: Move this to tomorrow and Complete this task.

If Pinwork detects that you already have existing tasks or restored Pro access, it can skip the automatic beginner guide so a fresh device does not feel like a new account.

Learn Pinwork project

After the first-run guide, Pinwork can add a pinned project called Learn Pinwork.

That project is optional. It contains small learning tasks for capture, natural language, core lists, gestures, snooze, dates, deadlines, estimates, tags, recurrence, statuses, checklists, settings, search, shortcuts, and cleanup.

You can delete the project when you no longer need it.

Replay the guide

You can replay the first-run guide from Settings under Data.

Replaying the guide keeps your existing tasks and projects. It returns you to Today and walks through the practice steps again, but it does not create another starter project.

If editing is locked after setup

On iPhone, iPad, and Mac, Pinwork can let you finish the first-run guide before asking you to choose or restore access.

If you close the access sheet without active Pro access, your app content stays visible but editing and creation are locked. Trying to add or change something opens the access sheet again. Your tasks are not deleted.

Restore Purchases and plan management are available from the access sheet and from Settings.

Next steps

• Capturing tasks: every way to add a task.
• Natural language: write tasks with dates, tags, projects, and recurrence.
• Working with tasks: gestures, task details, properties, and actions.
• Sync and privacy: how your data stays yours.