Getting Started with Set

What is Set?

Set is a time-based task manager designed specifically for neurodivergent thinkers. Unlike traditional to-do lists that just show what you need to do, Set answers the crucial question: “When will I be done?”

By assigning time estimates to your tasks, Set automatically calculates when you’ll finish everything on your plate. This gives you a realistic view of your day and helps you make better decisions about what you can actually accomplish.

Key Concepts

Tasks

Individual action items with time estimates. Tap any task card to expand it and edit all details inline, duration, priority, schedule date, notes, and subtasks. No separate sheet required.

Projects

High-level containers for related work (e.g., “Write Novel”, “Launch Website”).

Stages

Phases within projects that help you break down complex work (e.g., “Planning”, “In Progress”, “Complete”).

Today View

Your daily timeline. Star tasks or schedule them to a specific date to add them to Today, and see exactly when you’ll finish your day.

The Reschedule Button, Set’s Core Feature

The ↻ button in the top left of Today view is the heart of Set. When life interrupts your plan, and it always does, one tap instantly rebuilds your entire day’s timeline. No manual math, no dragging tasks around. Set chains all your incomplete tasks sequentially from the new start time and reschedules every notification automatically.

Tap for a quick From Now reschedule, or hold the button for more options: From Next Half Hour, From First Task, or Set Start Time to pick a custom time. The menu that appears is titled Recalculate Timeline, which is the same thing under its older name. On Mac the button is a menu, and ⌘R rebuilds from now without leaving the keyboard.

Tasks with a locked start time keep their slots and everything else queues around them.

Week Strip

Swipe down in the Today view (iOS) to reveal the week strip. Plan ahead by viewing and editing any day, add tasks, reorder, and rebuild start times for the whole week. You can also drag any task directly onto a date pill to instantly reschedule it to that day.

Your Calendar in Today

Today reads the calendars you choose and shows each event as its own row, slotted into the timeline at its real start time. Events are never imported as tasks, so they never reach your Inbox and can never turn into duplicates. Reschedule fits your tasks into the gaps between them, and nothing you do to a task can move an event. See Calendar & Reminders Sync.

Settings That Follow You

Your preferences travel with your iCloud account, around 130 of them: theme and colours, day start and end, date format, week start, sounds, swipe actions, defaults, notifications and every sync option. Two devices can no longer disagree about how Set behaves.

First-Time Experience

When you first open Set, you’ll find a Welcome to Set project of onboarding tutorial tasks, each one carrying a detailed note explaining a feature. Four stages cover the app as it is:

• Getting Started: Task cards, the reschedule button, gestures, starring tasks, dragging the + button, and the Mac quick-add bar
• Today View & Timer: The ⋯ menu, editing start times, completing tasks, the timer, select mode, week strip, schedule date, Focus Mode, and the Overdue Alarm
• Projects & Notes: Organising with projects and stages, markdown notes, subtasks, and Sort Mode
• Advanced Features: Stats & achievements, Pro features, smart title parsing, Scan Tasks from Image, the App Blocker, where to get help, and a closing note when you are ready to start

A fifth stage covers whatever is newest, currently New in Version 4: the Apple Watch app, your calendar in Today, the rebuilt Calendar & Reminders sync, adding tasks with Siri, and a roundup of everything else in Version 4.

The explainers that used to sit under a “new in” heading for versions 3.0 to 3.2 describe features that are simply part of Set now, so they have moved into the four evergreen stages above, where a new user will actually come across them.

Work through these to learn the app naturally. Delete them when you’re ready to build your own workflow.

Already using Set? You don’t need to reset anything. A Tutorial group near the top of Settings holds two buttons: Regenerate Welcome Project replaces the Welcome to Set project with a fresh, up to date copy, and Replay Tutorial runs the guided walkthrough again. Regenerating deletes whatever you had added to that one project and nothing else, so your own tasks, projects and statistics are untouched.

On Mac: the Mac now runs the same first-run setup as iPhone, which it never did before, and it has a guided tour of its own, written for a window rather than a phone. Twelve steps cover the sidebar, the quick-add bar, typing durations and dates in plain language, keyboard control and right-click menus. It is offered after setup, and you can replay it from the Tutorial group in Settings.

Quick Start Guide

1. Create Your First Task Tap the ”+” button, enter a task name, and set how long it will take. Try typing “45m” at the end of the title to auto-set the duration. You can also drag the + button into the list to drop the new task exactly where you want it. On Mac, use the persistent quick-add bar at the bottom of Today, any project, or the Inbox: type a task and press Return to capture it.

2. Star It for Today Tap the star icon to add the task to your Today timeline. Set will show you exactly when you’ll finish it. If you star more than the day can hold, the finish time turns orange with a label like “2h over” and a banner counts the tasks starting past your day end. Tap Move and they shift onto the days ahead, filling each day before spilling into the next. Nothing is shortened and nothing is deleted.

3. Hit the Reschedule Button Tap the ↻ button (top left) to instantly rebuild all your tasks’ start times from now. This is the feature you’ll use every single day, when you run late, when something unexpected comes up, or when you simply want to reset your timeline to the present moment.

4. Schedule Tasks Ahead Expand a task card and tap the calendar pill to schedule it for a future date. Swipe down to reveal the week strip and plan your whole week, or drag any task directly onto a date pill to reschedule it instantly.

5. Start the Timer Navigate to the Timer tab to start timing your task. The timer tracks your actual work time and counts into overtime so you know when you’ve gone past your estimate.

6. Complete and Track Mark the task complete by tapping the circle. Every completed task contributes to your stats and unlocks achievements, celebrate your progress as you build productive habits.

Platforms at a Glance

A few features are tailored to specific devices:

• Apple Watch: a standalone watch app with today’s timeline, tap to complete, Reschedule, the mirrored timer, two complications and voice capture. It syncs through iCloud on its own, so it works whether or not your iPhone is nearby. See Apple Watch
• Siri and Shortcuts: say “Add a Set task” on iPhone, Mac or watch, or use the Add Task action from the Action button, Spotlight and automations. See Siri & Shortcuts
• App Blocker: iPhone and iPad only (Apple doesn’t allow it on Mac)
• Quick-add bar: Mac only
• Focus Mode and swipe actions: iPhone and iPad
• Control Center timer: iPhone (iOS 18 and later)