Reminders that ring
A time on a task is its reminder: a real Mac notification, with a tune, a looping alarm or silence.
A to-do list app made for the Mac.
It lives in your menu bar, opens over any app with ⇧⌘A, and keeps the list tidy on its own.
macOS 15 or later · Apple silicon and Intel · Works offline
01 / In the menu bar
One shortcut from every app on your Mac.
Your list opens over whatever you are doing, and gets out of the way just as fast.
No window to find.
Diurnal sits in the menu bar instead of the Dock. Press ⇧⌘A in the middle of an email, a document or a call, write the thing down, and press esc. You are back exactly where you were, and the thought is safe.
Both shortcuts are yours to change in Settings, and the rest of the app is just as reachable from the keyboard.
⇧⌘AOpen your list over any app
escBack to what you were doing
⏎⏎Finish one task, start the next
⌘1 2 3Write, Plan and Focus
⇧⌘LSay your tasks out loud
⌘FFind any task
02 / At home on macOS
It behaves like a Mac app, because it is one.
Built for the Mac alone, so it leans on macOS instead of working around it.
A focus timer that floats
Start a focus round on a task and close the window: a small timer stays at the top right of your screen. Hover it to pause or stop.
Say it instead
Press ⇧⌘L and talk. On macOS 26 with Apple Intelligence your words become tidy tasks, and your voice never reaches our servers.
Offline, and on every Mac
Your tasks live on your Mac, so it opens and works without a connection, and syncs to your other Macs when you are back online.
Make it yours
Light, Dark or Glass, with your desktop or one of eight photographs behind the glass, set in Crimson Pro, Inter, SF Pro or New York.
Every recent Mac
One download runs on Apple silicon and Intel, on macOS 15 Sequoia or later.
03 / Tidies itself
A to-do list that never piles up.
Most lists only grow until you stop opening them; this one checks in on what you have gone quiet on.
- 1
You write it down
No date needed. It waits on the page.
- 2
It asks, once
Left untouched for a while, a task checks in with you.
- 3
Silence moves it on
No answer, and it moves to next week, then comes back when that week starts.
- Only tasks without a date ever move.
- Nothing is deleted or archived.
- Pick when it asks and when it moves in Settings, or choose Never.
04 / Compared
Next to the usual Mac picks.
Everything on this list is in Diurnal; here is who else has it.
| Diurnal | Things 3 | Todoist | TickTick | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tidies away tasks you stopped touching | ||||
| Opens over any app with one shortcut | ||||
| Built-in focus timer | ||||
| Shows your Google Calendar beside your tasks | ||||
| Edits Google Calendar events both ways |
Checked against each maker's documentation. The full comparisons: Diurnal and Things 3, Diurnal and Todoist and Diurnal and TickTick.
05 / Questions
Before you install.
Straight answers, including the ones that rule us out.
Does the Mac come with a to-do list app?
Yes, Reminders, and for many people it is enough. Diurnal is for people who would rather write than fill in a form, and who want the list to tidy itself instead of piling up.
Which Macs does it run on?
Any Mac on macOS 15 Sequoia or later, with Apple silicon or Intel. It is one download for both.
Does it sit in the Dock?
It lives in the menu bar, so it never takes a spot in the Dock. If you would rather see it there, one switch in Settings puts it back.
Is there an iPhone or Windows version?
No. Diurnal is a Mac app and nothing else, built for one platform so it can feel at home there. If you need your list on a phone, Things, Todoist or TickTick will serve you better.
Do I need an account?
Yes. You sign in with Google or an email address, which is what lets your tasks sync between your Macs.