Alcove in four minutes

Transcript

The full narration, grouped by chapter. Words in square brackets are notes added after the video was made.

0:00 · Meet Alcove

Meet Alcove, the calm to-do list and notebook that lives in your Mac's menu bar.

Most days are scattered across a reminders app, a notes app, a busy workspace, and a pile of sticky notes. It's too many places to keep checking.

0:16 · Quick add from anywhere

Alcove puts it all one keystroke away. Press Option-Space in any app, and type it the way you'd say it. Alcove picks out the day, the time, how long it takes, the list, and the tag, as you type. Press Return, and it's in.

0:33 · Today, lists and tags

Everything lands in one calm window. Today shows what's due, with counts for open, due, and overdue. Lists, folders, and tags live in the sidebar. Tag anything, and every tag gets its own view.

0:47 · Task details and repeating tasks

Open any task to set a time, a reminder, or a repeat, and to add notes, links, and files.

Tick a repeating task, and it rolls to its next date. Only the part that changes moves, and Undo is right there.

1:05 · Notes that do the maths

Notes are just as quick. Type a hash for a heading, brackets for a checklist, or a slash for any kind of block, code included. End a line with an equals sign, and Alcove works it out.

1:19 · Tables and budget rows

Tables keep their own totals, down every column and across every row, with a grand total in the corner. Mark a row as your budget, and Alcove shows what's left. Go over, and it turns red.

1:33 · Boards and calendar

Boards lay your tasks out in columns. Drag a card to Done, and it's finished everywhere, in its list and in Today too.

The calendar shows your month at a glance. Drag a task to another day to move it.

1:48 · The menu bar

Alcove lives in the menu bar, with today's count always in view. One click opens your day, right over what you're doing. Tick things off, open a list, glance at the month, or read a note.

2:01 · Floating windows and quick notes

Pop any list out of the menu bar into a floating window that stays on top of everything. Turn down the opacity, and keep it beside your work.

Option-Command-N opens a quick note, from anywhere.

2:17 · Search and the keyboard

Search finds anything, in tasks, notes, tags, and attachments. And it's all on the keyboard. Move through your list, set priority, and open any task, without touching the mouse.

2:29 · Themes and undo

Make it yours with six accents and five papers, in light or dark. Every window follows, widgets included. [From version 1.1, there are nine accents and eight papers.]

Changed your mind? Undo goes back a hundred steps, and every task keeps its history.

2:46 · Siri and AI assistants

Ask Siri to add a task to Alcove, or ask what's on today.

And AI assistants like Claude can work with your lists too. It's off until you turn it on, every assistant needs your approval, and every request is logged.

3:00 · Widgets, iPhone and iPad

Widgets put your day on the desktop, the Home Screen, and the Lock Screen. Tick a task right from a widget.

Alcove is on iPhone too, with the same tasks, notes, and boards, kept in step through your own iCloud. On iPad, it spreads out, with a sidebar, and tasks opening beside the list.

3:21 · The small details

And all the little things: previews for code and data, notes linked to tasks, lists you can tuck out of view, and export to Markdown whenever you like.

Try everything free for fourteen days. Then one purchase covers your Mac, iPhone, and iPad. No subscription.

Alcove. Your whole day, one click away. Coming soon, at alcovetasks.com. [Alcove has been on the App Store since 1 October 2026.]