Firetask News

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Sep 30, 2025

Firetask 5 Redefines Personal Task Management with Focus and Clarity

The GTD® inspired iOS & Mac app helps people focus on what really matters — now with powerful new ways to stay organized.

Firetask today announced Firetask 5, the latest generation of its popular task management app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Guided by the principle “Focus on what matters,” Firetask 5 gives users the clarity and structure they need to be more productive every day.

Firetask has always been about reducing complexity without sacrificing power. With the new release, users can still see at a glance what’s due today, what’s coming next, and what they are waiting for — but now they gain even more flexibility and control. Projects and categories keep work and personal life organized, while multiple perspectives — from simple lists to Kanban boards and an integrated calendar — make it easy to adapt the app to different workflows. Seamless iCloud syncing ensures everything stays up to date across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

New in Firetask 5

Tags: Add flexible context to tasks without introducing clutter.
Agenda: Track topics you want to discuss in meetings or conversations.
Journal: Combines journal entries, status updates, and a task archive in a single new view.
File Attachments: Attach documents directly to tasks and projects for easy reference.

“Firetask 5 is all about balance,” said Wolfgang Bartelme, Apple Design Award-winning designer and CO-founder of Firetask. “We wanted to bring more power to our users without losing the clarity and simplicity that make Firetask unique.”

Firetask is unique in the way it fuses proven GTD® concepts with other productivity methods such as Kanban and the Pomodoro Technique. This hybrid approach gives users the structure of a trusted system while also offering practical tools for focus, prioritization, and time management. Unlike traditional task managers that overwhelm with steep learning curves, Firetask 5 combines structure with simplicity.

Availability

Firetask 5 is available today on the Mac App Store. The iOS version will follow shortly pending App Review approval. One subscription unlocks the complete experience across all devices, and new users can start with a free one-month trial.

Built on a redesigned syncing and database foundation, Firetask 5 launches as a new app. To ensure a smooth transition, existing Firetask 4 App Store customers can unlock the full Firetask 4-level functionality as a free upgrade — while also gaining access to Firetask 5’s modern foundation and new flexible user experience.

For more information, visit www.firetask.com.

2023

Oct 19, 2023

Firetask 4.8 Features Interactive Focus Widget for macOS 14 Sonoma & iOS 17 and More

Firetask 4.8 features many practical improvements including:

New interactive Focus widget: You can now tick off tasks directly from your home screen (requires macOS 14 Sonoma or iOS 17)
Improved Status Kanban board: We dropped the Someday column and instead introduced a new column for "On Hold"
Notes field for Quick-Entry: Enter notes directly when quick-entering a task via the global hotkey (Mac only)
Confirmation for stopping the Pomodoro timer: No more accidentally stopping a Pomodoro
Optional deletion of imported Reminders: Configure this now easily in the Firetask Settings
Improved sharing messages and links: Improved text structure as well as share link now include also actions
Easier task completion from Apple Watch: A new "Complete" button in the task details replaces the previous context menu

In addition, we solved a number of usability issues and minor bugs that have been brought to our attention by our valued users. As always, thank you for your feedback!

2021

Dec 23, 2021

Firetask 4.6.7 for Mac: Major Usability and Inline Editing Improvements

Firetask 4.6.7 provides major usability and inline editing improvements including:

More consistent editing of actions in the detail inspector with extended context menu support
Additional functions for the task list context men, for instance saving selected tasks as a checklist, or setting a start date
New "Move to Top" and "Move to Bottom" functionality for manually ordered task lists such as "Inbox", "Someday", "In Focus", or all project task lists

Additionally, we added the ability to create link attachments via command tagging (using the "#URL" format, e.g. "#https://elemental-tools.com"). Please note that due to sandboxing, this approach does not work for file:// URLs.

Oct 15, 2021

Firetask 4.6.6 for Mac: Introducing CSV Import & Export

Firetask 4.6.6 introduces import and export functionality for CSV files. Especially, migrating to Firetask from other task management apps becomes now a lot easier 😀.

Aug 31, 2021

Firetask 4.6.5: Simplified Upcoming View & Improved Search

Firetask 4.6.5 comes with two important changes:

We retired the "Next" [tasks per project] section in "Upcoming" as it confuses many new users and is basically superseded by the new Kanban views
We also switched full text searching to Core Spotlight with improved support for non-latin character languages such as, e.g., Russian

Jun 27, 2021

Firetask 4.6.2: Additional Kanban, Dates Improvements and More

Firetask 4.6.2 builds on the user interface improvements introduced with Firetask 4.6, especially our new Kanban views:

Kanban cards now show notes and attachments indicators
Actions are visualized as open vs. total counts in Kanban views
Repeating tasks are now also marked as such in Kanban and Dates views
Kanban and Dates view-types are remembered as implicit preferences
Project filters are now synchronized across all filterable views including Kanban and Dates views
Copy & paste is supported for tasks, external text and links for the first time [Mac only]
All tasks lists now provide undo and redo functionality [Mac only]
The Start field made its way into the quick-entry panel [Mac only]
Finally, we added support for setting start dates via command tagging using the new "#>" syntax

Additionally, we did a lot of fine tuning, e.g. completed actions are now visualized in task details using the same grayish strike-through style as in inline action lists.

Let us know what you think!

May 3, 2021

Firetask 4.6: Improved Inline Editing, New Kanban View Types & Much More

IMPORTANT: We made inline editing even more intuitive on the Mac. ENTER now either concludes editing, or inserts a new task depending on whether you are currently editing a task title. In order to start editing an existing selected task you use ⌘ENTER. Please note that this also means that we had to adjust the keyboard shortcuts for quickly adding notes, actions, or a due date: we suggest that you take a quick look at the changes in the "Tasks" menu :-).

Firetask 4.6 is a major update with more than 50 improvements including:

Three additional Kanban view types: "Categories", "Due", and "Scheduled"
"Priorities" integrated into "Kanban" as a new view-type
More intuitive naming: "Next" becomes "Upcoming", "Backlog" changes to "Anytime", "Starred" is now "In Focus"
Improved, more consistent sort order for "Kanban", "Next", "Anytime", and "Waiting For" lists: Tasks that are In Focus come first, additional sorting criteria are Priority, Start, and Due (in this order)
Better category colors: Gray turns into Pink and Orange becomes a vivid Yellow (avoiding confusion with our orange tint color)
Context-sensitive display of Due or Start date in task lists complete with inline editing
Daily reminder hours have been extended until 20:00 / 8pm
Key command navigation now includes the "Tasks" view
A single keyboard shortcut for toggling "In Focus" [Mac only]
⌘+click navigation now also works for contributors in task lists (the same way as for projects) [Mac only]
Attachments indicators are now clickable and directly open the attachments inspector pane [Mac only]

We also tweaked many small things and we really put tons of user feedback into this update -- we hope you like it a much as we do.

February 9, 2021

Firetask 4.5.2 for Mac: Big Sur Improvements & Native Support for Apple Silicon / M1

Firetask 4.5.2 further improves the overall user experience on macOS 11 Big Sur -- especially when using Dark Mode. The new update is also our first version that runs natively on Apple Silicon Macs such as the new MacBook Air.

Additionally, we made the Archive much faster and more scalable. The only downside is that you cannot inline edit task titles and notes directly in the Archive anymore, but this should be a small price to pay.

Let us know what you think!

2020

October 3, 2020

Firetask 4.5: More Classical Kanban View, Much Improved Today View, and More

Firetask 4.5 represents a major update regarding our overall task management workflow -- mainly based on feedback of our current user base:

The Kanban view now resembles much more of a classical Kanban board featuring Inbox, Actionable, In-Progress, Completed and Canceled columns
We have introduced a new "Start" field that allows you to schedule tasks independent of their Due date
The Dates view now supports switching between Due and Scheduled modes allowing you to also easily adjust Start dates
Beside the new "Scheduled" sections, the Today view now also features an "In Progress" section that automatically lists all the tasks you are currently actively working on
We have added a configurable "Completed" section in General and project task lists for improving motivation (Today always only shows tasks that have been completed today)
Last but not least, we have introduced an easy way to clearly view all tasks in the "Manage" area. We simply renamed the "General" view to "Tasks" and thus, allow to switch between "General" and "All" on the Mac (on iOS we keep things simple and always show all actionable tasks grouped by project)

Additionally, we further improved usability and terminology in a number of areas. We are also making additional use of the new filterable choosers introduced in the previous update.

We hope you like these changes as much as we do -- looking forward to your feedback!

July 4, 2020

Firetask 4.3: Keyboard Shortcuts and Filterable Choosers

Firetask 4.3 introduces keyboard shortcuts for often-used functionality such as adding new tasks (CMD+N) and search (CMD+F), as well as quick navigation on iPad: CMD+1 quick-navigates to the Inbox, CMD+4 to Today -- available for all views inside the first three main tabs and consistent to the Mac version.

Additionally, the new version introduces filterable choosers for projects, categories, and contributors/contacts that make it especially much easier to work with a large number of projects or contacts.

The update also includes a number of bug fixes and smaller improvements. Please note that app and brush icons in existing categories may flip after the update, as they were accidentally flipped earlier and this was the only way to correctly fix this issue.

2019

November 30, 2019

Firetask 4.2 for Mac: Support for Dark Mode and Much More

Firetask 4.2 provides a major user interface refresh with support for Dark Mode and much more:

Colored, more unique sidebar icons for "Scratchpad", "Kanban", and "Priorities" for improved clarity
More logical priority icons and better priority names
Streamlined project and category task lists for a more "lightweight" user experience
More visible today visualization in the "Dates" view
New category icon for "heart"
More "straight" category colors that look great in both Light and Dark Mode

Last but not least we made a number of other small usability improvements throughout the app -- we hope you like the new version!

November 17, 2019

Firetask 4.1.3 for iOS and 4.1.5 for Mac Now With French Localization

Firetask 4.1.3 for iOS and 4.1.5 for Mac now include a French user interface localization.

March 27, 2019

Firetask 4.1.2 for iOS Brings Command Tagging to iPhone and iPad

Besides improving overall usability and user interface consistency throughout the app, Firetask 4.1.2 also comes with a number of practical new features:

The "Waiting For" view now supports project filtering
Command tagging is available for the first time for iPhone and iPad (see our new manual on our website for more details)
Checklists support an optional category

March 9, 2019

New Online Manual for Firetask Pro

We have replaced our online tutorial with a much more complete user manual. You can find it in the new "Manual" section on our website. Check it out and let us know what you think!

2018

November 22, 2018

Firetask 4.1.1 for iOS Features Major Accessibility Enhancements

Firetask 4.1.1 focuses on improving accessibility and more specifically, VoiceOver support in all areas of the app:

Improved accessibility of navigation bar items
Sub-navigation is now consistently accessible via VoiceOver
Improved VoiceOver handling for task and navigation lists including custom rotor actions
More efficient VoiceOver support for detail view fields, especially for switch and notes fields
Improved VoiceOver navigation for date chooser
Made multi-column overviews (Kanban, Priorities, Date) accessible as good as currently possible
Provides now also VoiceOver support for our Apple Watch app

September 22, 2018

Firetask 4.1 for iOS Now With Extended Support for Actions

Firetask 4.1 provides major improvements to working with actions including:

Viewing actions is now possible directly inline in task lists
Renamed preference "Always show task details" toggles visibility of both notes and actions in task lists
The search function now also searches within action titles and shows actions also inline in search results

In addition, we improved the handling of long task titles in the task detail view via auto-shrinking text and more exact scrolling.

September 17, 2018

Firetask 4.1 for Mac Now With Extended Support for Actions

Firetask 4.1 for Mac provides major improvements to working with actions including:

Reordering of actions is now possible directly within a task list via drag & drop
Support for dragging actions between tasks
Dragging of actions from the actions detail view into other tasks within any task list
A new context menu on actions allows you to easily convert actions to tasks
Renamed menu item "Always show task details" now toggles visibility of both notes and actions in task lists
The search function has been improved to also search within action titles and shows actions also inline in search results

In addition, we added some other practical smaller features such as, e.g., the possibility to add notes and actions via the task list context menu.

2017

July 21, 2017

Firetask Pro Takes GTD® Task Management To New Levels for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch

Elemental Tools released Firetask Pro, the next generation of Firetask, the leading project-oriented GTD® task management app for Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. The new app provides tons of new features based on end user feedback including project portfolios, actions for subdividing tasks, iCloud syncing, a new iOS Today widget, and Apple Watch support. Firetask Pro is available immediately from the iTunes and Mac App Store.

NOTE: Firetask Pro is a new, completely rewritten app based on Apple's latest technology providing tons of new features and requires OS X 10.12 Sierra and iOS 10 respectively. We will continue to provide support for Firetask 3 and our previous cloud syncing until end of this year; on December 31, 2017 our own cloud-syncing will be discontinued in order to focus on Firetask Pro and iCloud syncing.

For more information on Firetask please visit https://www.firetask.com.

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