Most todo apps want you to plan your entire life. Tags, folders, projects, priorities, deadlines, recurring tasks, subtasks, dependencies. The problem is you spend more time organizing tasks than actually doing them. Then I discovered Redline, and it changed how I think about productivity.
Developer Ivan Danilov built Redline with a deliberately controversial philosophy: productivity apps should focus on doing, not planning. The result is an app that strips away everything - tags, searching, folders, notifications - leaving you with just a list of tasks that’s always visible in your menu bar.
What struck me first was how uncomfortable the simplicity felt. I kept reaching for features that weren’t there. Where’s the tag system? How do I organize by project? Can I set deadlines? The answer to all of these: you can’t. And that’s exactly the point.
Redline forces you to work one task at a time. The app stays visible in your menu bar, constantly reminding you what you’re supposed to be working on. No switching apps, no losing focus, no getting distracted by organizing your organization system. Just do the first task, then move to the next.
Running Redline on my M2 MacBook Air with macOS 15.4, the performance is exactly what a minimal app should be. Lightweight, instant startup, completely unobtrusive. I tested it during a particularly chaotic week coordinating between my Sydney timezone and colleagues in China and the UK. Instead of building elaborate task hierarchies, I just listed what needed doing and worked through them sequentially.
The natural language parsing is intuitive. Type “call dentist tomorrow 2pm” and it understands. No clicking through date pickers or navigating menus. The global keyboard shortcut lets you add tasks without touching the mouse - essential for maintaining flow state.
What I appreciate most is the philosophical stance. In Redline’s Manifesto, Danilov argues that modern productivity tools have become planning addiction machines. We feel productive when we organize tasks, but organization isn’t output. Redline removes that false sense of accomplishment by removing the ability to organize at all.
The app requires macOS 10.15 Catalina or newer and integrates seamlessly with system themes. Available on the Mac App Store, Redline follows a simple pricing model that respects your attention as much as the app’s design does.
The target users are clear: programmers dealing with context switching, designers drowning in client edits, anyone who needs to break complex work into smaller chunks. The always-visible menu bar placement means you can’t ignore what you’re supposed to be doing. For someone coordinating across three timezones, this constant reminder prevents tasks from slipping through the cracks.
One significant limitation: if you need project management, team collaboration, or time tracking, Redline won’t work. This isn’t a limitation of implementation - it’s a deliberate design choice. The app is for personal task execution, not complex project planning.
The philosophy won’t suit everyone. Some people genuinely need sophisticated organization systems. But if you find yourself spending more time organizing todos than completing them, Redline offers a harsh but effective intervention: stop planning, start doing.
For anyone overwhelmed by feature-bloated productivity apps or curious about extreme minimalism, Redline is worth experiencing. It’s less a todo app and more a productivity philosophy enforced through intentional design constraints.
