Why I Built Yet Another Task Management App When 100 Already Exist
Source: Dev.to
TL;DR
I wanted to turn the “tasks are better left unseen” philosophy into something real, so I built a task‑management app called kakiko.
“Seriously? There are a million task‑management apps out there.”
Yeah, I know. Todoist, Notion, TickTick, Things, Asana… the list goes on. It’s not just a red ocean — it’s a sea of blood.
But here’s why I built it anyway.
Why Existing Apps Never Stuck
I’ve bounced between a ridiculous number of task‑management tools over the years. They all have enough features, yet I stopped opening each one within a few weeks.
The date problem
Most apps let you set multiple dates for a single task—a due date, a reminder, a start date, a scheduled date. Sounds convenient, right?
But it’s quietly exhausting:
- “Do this by this day”
- “Do this on this day”
- “Remember this on this day”
You have to make that judgment call for every single task. You just want to jot something down, and suddenly there are three decisions to make.
Unfinished‑task fatigue
You know that screen where overdue tasks glow red and line up like a wall of shame? Every time I saw that, opening the app itself started to feel like a chore.
“That slight heaviness every time you open the list” – from my previous post.
Most existing apps treat unfinished tasks as a problem. In reality, an unfinished task usually just means “I couldn’t get to it right now.” Seeing it in red every day isn’t management; it’s pressure.
My Minimal‑Viable Vision
I didn’t start with some grand vision. I just wanted to build something I’d actually use, without the annoyances that drive me away.
| Annoyance | Solution in kakiko |
|---|---|
| I don’t want to set multiple dates | Simplify – one date per task |
| I don’t want to see unfinished tasks | Sleep – auto‑hide tasks untouched for a set period |
| My hands freeze while entering a task | Keyboard‑driven UI |
| I lose track of what I’m doing | Focus Mode – always show the active task |
As I knocked off these annoyances one by one, I noticed they were all solving the same problem.
Core problem: Tasks keep growing, but human attention and decision‑making capacity are finite.
Most apps assume you should see everything, so the more tasks you have, the more complex the screen becomes, and the more decisions you need to make.
kakiko’s premise: If you don’t need to think about it right now, you should be able to drop it from your mind.
Design Summary
You don’t have to keep your tasks in your head.
It isn’t about delegating or handing off to the cloud. All data lives locally on your device, so you can let go with peace of mind.
Feature alignment
- Sleep – you don’t have to see it
- Automation – you don’t have to decide
- Routines – you don’t have to think
- Focus Mode – you don’t have to remember your goal (the UI remembers for you)
- Keyboard‑driven – you don’t have to break your flow
- Local storage – you can let go with peace of mind
kakiko isn’t a “boost your productivity” or “rigorous management” app. It’s an app that protects your attention.
The Feature I Love Most: Focus Mode
When you hit the Start button on a task, a tiny window appears at the edge of the screen showing the task name and a running timer. That’s it.
The effect is surprisingly powerful.
- You start working on “Write the proposal.”
- You get distracted, browse the web for 30 minutes.
- The UI still shows “Write the proposal — 00:42:15.”
Your brain no longer has to hold “what am I doing this for?” in working memory. A tiny interruption can wipe that memory clean, but the UI keeps the purpose in view, nudging you back on track.
Subtle, but essential: a task‑management app should offload the sense of purpose to the interface.
Philosophy vs. Feature Lists
Every individual feature in kakiko has an equivalent elsewhere—sleep‑like hiding, reminder‑like alerts, etc. The underlying assumption is different.
| Typical apps | kakiko |
|---|---|
| “You should see everything → Then decide what to act on.” | “You only need to see what matters right now → Everything else stays out of sight.” |
Feature‑comparison tables can’t capture that shift in mindset, which is why I built one more task‑management app when a hundred already exist.
A Developer‑to‑Developer Tangent
When I tell people “I’m building a task‑management app,” the response is almost always:
“Wait, aren’t there already a ton of those?”
Fair enough. If someone else said that to me, I’d think the same thing.
But after actually doing it, I’ve learned that what’s saturated is features, not philosophy.
Most apps keep adding or removing features while staying inside the same worldview:
- “See everything.”
- “Manage by deadlines.”
- “Remember via notifications.”
Trying to differentiate within that worldview leads to AI auto‑sorting, Gantt charts, and ever‑increasing complexity.
Ask the right question instead:
Do we actually need to see everything?
When you do, the competition nearly vanishes.
Closing Thoughts
If you’re tired of task‑management tools that clutter your mind instead of clearing it, give kakiko a try. It’s built on the simple belief that you don’t have to keep every task in your head—your device can handle the rest.
Happy focusing!
Going Indie into a Red Ocean
You can’t win on features. You’ll never out‑resource the big players.
But you can change the assumptions. Differentiate not by what you build, but by what you believe.
Why This Matters in the Age of AI
With AI, anyone can build features.
The philosophy behind why those features exist—that’s something only you can figure out.
The Question
“Why did I build yet another task‑management app when 100 already exist?”
The Insight
When I started eliminating the things that quietly annoyed me—one by one—I arrived at an assumption that none of those apps had:
You don’t have to keep your tasks in your head.
Introducing kakiko
kakiko is built on this philosophy.
If you’ve ever felt tired of managing, I’d love for you to give it a try.
kakiko – No more managing. Just let go.
Not a place to manage your tasks — a place to leave them.
Somewhere you can offload the mental burden and trust that things are taken care of.