Just two minutes. That's the deal
Promise two minutes, nothing more. When they're up you can stop with full credit or roll straight into a focus Dive. Most of the time, you keep going.
2:00Only two minutes.
New for iPhone.
The to-do list that cheers you on.
Finish a task and a spark flies to Todo, your whale. Every task becomes a light in its world. Miss a day and nothing breaks.
Free to download.
Go on, tick a task on the phone.
9:41
Ready when you are.
GlowSpark ×1
Today
0 of 5 done- No ads in the app
- Safe and secure
- iCloud sync
- Smart features, private by design
- Missed days never punish you
Your list shouldn't make you feel worse.
Most to-do apps keep score of what you haven't done. Red badges, overdue piles, a streak that drops to zero the first busy week. Todo Whale keeps the other score. It shows what you did, cheers when you start, and covers the days you miss.
A streak that resets to zeroA rhythm with Breaths that cover a missed dayA mascot that sulks when you're awayA whale that's just glad you're backA wall of everything still undoneOne small thing, two minutes, then a lightOverdue tasks that pile up foreverMove it, plan it, or let it go, guilt-free
A day with Todo
Todo lives on your Home Screen too. Its face follows your day, and it never nags. Here's how an ordinary Tuesday goes.
- 4Ready when you are
Ready when you areNo red numbers on your Home Screen. Just a whale that's happy to see you.
- 4One small thing?
One small thing?Fifteen minutes after lunch. Pick for me finds a task that fits and tells you why.
- 4Still time for one
Still time for oneA gentle nudge, never a scolding. Two minutes counts.
- 5All lit!
All lit!Close the day: look back at your lights, move what's left, pick tomorrow's first spark.
- 5Time to rest
Time to restTodo puts on its nightcap. Your lights stay on.
Three steps. The third one glows.
Every real to-do feature is here: lists, tags, repeats, reminders, notes, steps and search. The difference is what happens when you finish something.
-
Tell the whale
Type the way you think. Todo Whale reads the day, the time and the repeat for you.
Call the dentist tomorrow 5pmStretch every day -
Tick it off
A spark flies to Todo with a little climbing tune. Tiny tasks become jellyfish, medium ones coral, big ones a glowing kelp tower. Focus sessions leave a pearl.
-
Watch your world fill
Forty lights fill a scene. Then you get a postcard of it, Todo moves on to a new place, and the lights you made stay in your album for good.
Made for the moment you can't start.
Starting is the hard part, so most of Todo Whale is built around it. Try them right here.
Pick for me
Tell it how much time and energy you have. Todo picks a task that fits and says why.
Water the plantsFits 15 minutes · has a small step
The one you're avoiding
Mark the task you keep dodging. It wears a little storm cloud, and finishing it lights a brave light worth half as much again.
Call the tax officebecomes a brave kelp tower
Let it go
Some tasks just need to leave. Let one go and it floats away as bubbles. Nothing is earned or lost, and you can always bring it back.
Sort the garageMoved 6 times · Home
Let go: Sort the garage
A rhythm, not a streak
You earn a Breath every three active days. A missed day uses one, all by itself.
5days in rhythm
Message in a bottle
Now and then a bottle drifts in after you finish things. Inside is a note from Todo, and sometimes a small gift.
Small is not the same as unimportant. Krill taught me that.Note 2 of 24
You came back. That matters more than how long you were gone.Note 10 of 24
22 more are still at seaThey find you in the app, one bottle at a time.
Close the day
From 5 pm, a one-minute ritual. Then Todo says good night.
1That was todayYour lights, your rhythm, today's song.
2What's leftTomorrow, later, or let it go.
3Tomorrow starts withPick a first spark and a time.
Smart Whale Plus
Tell the whale everything on your mind in one go, typed or spoken. It sorts it into separate tasks with sizes and days, and adds nothing until you say so.
- Type it or say it, as messy as it comes out
- Days, times and repeats are picked up for you
- Each task gets a size, so Pick for me knows what fits
- Private: your words never reach us
What's on your mind?
call mom tomorrow, pay rent, finish the report by friday and buy milk. then book a haircut
- Call momTinyTomorrow
- Pay rentTiny
- Finish the reportBigFriday
- Buy milkTiny
- Book a haircutTiny
Three worlds to light up
Choose where Todo lives. Every finished task becomes something that glows there, and level by level each world unlocks four new things, ending in a lighthouse.
The Deep
A night sea with soft light falling from above. Your tasks become jellyfish, coral, kelp towers and pearls. Notes from Todo arrive in bottles.
Free.
The Sky
A dusk valley with a windmill, a lighthouse and a village below. Todo becomes a warm paper lantern. Your tasks light lanterns, cabins, beacons and campfires. Notes come on paper cranes.
Free.
Candy Plus
A sweet land at sunset with ice-cream mountains and a strawberry whale with sprinkles. Your tasks become bonbons, gumdrops, lollipops and cupcakes. Notes arrive in fortune cookies.
When a scene fills, Todo moves on
The fortieth light fills the scene. Todo breaches, you get a postcard to keep or share, and a fresh scene opens in a new mood. Nothing you made is ever cleared away.
DawnSnowfallNorthern lightsPetal windMoonlit
Postcards show the scene and a few numbers. They never show what your tasks were called.
Lantern HollowTodo Whale
40 lights · Oct 4 – Oct 19, 2026Todo · level 7
♥ Whale's friend since October 2026 · todowhale.com
Every feature has a reason
Before we drew a single whale, we read the research on motivation, habits and procrastination. Each mechanic in Todo Whale is built on a published finding. Here is the reading list, so you can check our work.
-
2 minutesThe 2-minute start
People put off tasks most when the task feels unpleasant and its reward is far away. The app shrinks the unpleasant part to two minutes and pays the reward right away.
Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: a meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1). doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65 -
Sparks and lightsA reward the moment you finish
Across five studies, how much people enjoyed a goal along the way predicted whether they stuck with it better than the long-term payoff did. So every task pays off on the spot: a spark, a note of music, a new light.
Woolley, K. & Fishbach, A. (2017). Immediate rewards predict adherence to long-term goals. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(2). doi.org/10.1177/0146167216676480 -
Your worldProgress you can see
In nearly 12,000 daily diary entries from 238 people at work, the days they felt most motivated were the days they made progress, even small progress. Your world is that progress, made visible.
Amabile, T. & Kramer, S. (2011). The power of small wins. Harvard Business Review. hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins -
Glow meter and 40 lightsA goal that's always close
People speed up as they near a goal: café customers bought coffee more often as their loyalty card got closer to a free one. The glow meter and the 40-light scene keep the next goal within reach.
Kivetz, R., Urminsky, O. & Zheng, Y. (2006). The goal-gradient hypothesis resurrected. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(1). doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.43.1.39 -
First sparkDecide when, not just what
Planning when and where you'll act had a medium-to-large effect on reaching goals across 94 studies (d = 0.65). Close the day asks you to pick tomorrow's first task and a start time.
Gollwitzer, P. M. & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: a meta-analysis. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38. doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1 -
BreathsA rhythm instead of a streak
When a streak breaks, people become less likely to keep going at all. So in Todo Whale a missed day is covered by a Breath you earned, or repaired by finishing three things the next day.
Silverman, J. & Barasch, A. (2023). On or off track: how (broken) streaks affect consumer decisions. Journal of Consumer Research. Summary, University of Colorado -
No guiltA whale that never sulks
Students who forgave themselves for procrastinating before one exam procrastinated less before the next. Todo never scolds, and Let it go treats dropping a task as a decision you made.
Wohl, M. J. A., Pychyl, T. A. & Bennett, S. H. (2010). I forgive myself, now I can study. Personality and Individual Differences, 48(7). doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2010.01.029 -
The DiveFocus with planned breaks
In a study of 87 students, those who took breaks on a fixed schedule felt less tired and distracted, and more focused and motivated, than those who chose their own breaks, and got just as much done.
Biwer, F. et al. (2023). Understanding effort regulation: comparing ‘Pomodoro’ breaks and self-regulated breaks. British Journal of Educational Psychology. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36859717 -
Fresh scenesNew starts, built in
Fresh starts like a new week, month or birthday make people more likely to work on their goals. Every evening can close cleanly, and every full scene opens a brand-new one.
Dai, H., Milkman, K. L. & Riis, J. (2014). The fresh start effect. Management Science, 60(10). doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1901
Our promise: sources, not slogans
We won't tell you an app can cure procrastination. Nobody can. What we can show you is the research behind every feature, so you know each one is there for a reason: to help you start, keep going and come back. Todo Whale isn't a medical treatment. It's a to-do list built around the way your brain already works.
Kind by design
An app that wants you to feel better should treat you well. These are promises, built into the code.
No ads in the app
Nothing interrupts you, and nobody pays to get your attention.
Safe and secure
Your tasks live on your iPhone and in your own iCloud. We never see them.
Earned, never sold
Breaths and repairs come from showing up. You never need to buy your way out of a missed day.
Smart, and private
Smart Whale and Smart steps use your iPhone and Apple Intelligence, with Apple's privacy protections. What you type never reaches us.
Your world comes with you
iCloud sync keeps your tasks, lights and rhythm when you get a new phone.
Free stays free
Everything you rely on to get things done is free. Plus adds extras on top and never takes anything away.
Free to get things done. Plus to go deeper.
The whole to-do list, both free worlds and the full rhythm cost nothing. Plus is for people who want more of Todo, and it keeps this app swimming.
Free
$0
- Every to-do feature: lists, tags, repeats, reminders, notes, steps, quick add, search
- The Deep and The Sky, with postcards and the album
- 2 minutes, Dive, Pick for me, Close the day, Let it go
- Rhythm with Breaths, the calendar and all 24 notes
- Name your whale and the daily Home Screen widget
- A whale that grows up with your level, from calf to elder
- iCloud sync
Whale Plus
- Smart Whale: say everything at once and it becomes tasks
- More widgets: your world as it fills, your rhythm, Today in larger sizes and on the Lock Screen
- The focus timer on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island
- Candy, a third world. More worlds are coming.
- Five more whales (8-bit, Galaxy, Robot, Origami, Plush), six outfits and two new voices
- Smart steps: the first tiny steps written for each task, on iPhones with Apple Intelligence
- Insights and timer sounds: waves, rain or a fire
- App icons: six more for your Home Screen, including Midnight, Bubblegum and the Tail in three colors
- And more to come… Plus grows with every update.
Yearly$39.99+7 days free
Monthly$4.99Cancel any time
Lifetime$99.99Pay once, keep it
Plus members become a Whale's friend: a little thank-you heart shines in every scene and on every postcard, and it stays even if you leave.
Prices in US dollars. The App Store shows the price for your country before you pay. Plus is bought in the app.
Todo Whale is made by a small team, slowly and with a lot of care. We'd love for you to give it a try, because we truly believe Todo can make your days lighter and help you reach the things you're working toward.
Questions
Something else on your mind? Todo would love to hear it. Write to us at hello@todowhale.com.
Is Todo Whale really free?
Yes. Every to-do feature, two worlds, the rhythm, the notes, postcards and the daily widget are free, with no ads and no time limit. Whale Plus is optional and adds extras like Smart Whale, the Candy world and more.
Will the app show ads?
No. Todo Whale will never show ads from other companies in the app. If we make another app one day, Todo may mention it now and then, and you'll be able to turn that off.
What happens if I miss a day?
Nothing bad. You start with one Breath and earn another every three active days, up to three. A missed day uses a Breath automatically. If you're out of Breaths, finish three things the next day and the missed day is repaired. Todo is just glad you're back.
Which devices does it work on?
iPhone with iOS 18 or later. Smart Whale works on every iPhone and uses Apple Intelligence when your iPhone has it. Smart steps needs an iPhone with Apple Intelligence.
Which languages does it speak?
Eight: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Japanese and Korean. It follows your iPhone's language, or you can pick one just for Todo Whale in your iPhone's Settings.
Is it good for ADHD or procrastination?
Todo Whale was designed for anyone who finds it hard to start: two-minute starts, small steps, a picker for when you can't choose, and no guilt for missed days. Many of these ideas come from research on procrastination and motivation. It isn't a medical tool or a treatment, though, and it can't replace support from a professional.
Where are my tasks stored?
On your iPhone, and in your own iCloud if you have iCloud turned on, so they follow you to a new phone. What you tell Smart Whale is handled by your iPhone and Apple Intelligence, and never reaches us.
Can I cancel Plus whenever I want?
Yes. Plus is managed by Apple, so you can cancel any time in your iPhone's Settings. New subscribers get 7 days free on the yearly plan, and if you cancel during the trial you pay nothing. Lifetime is a single payment.
Will my world reset if I stop for a while?
Never. Your lights, scenes and postcards stay exactly where you left them. Come back after a week or a year and Todo picks up where you were.
Your first light is two minutes away.
Get Todo Whale on the App Store. It's free to download.
