An Ode to Cultured Code (and Things 3)
I know this isn’t technically an ode, but it rhymes and evokes pleasant memories of simpler times…
After years in the making, Things 3 is out for Mac, iPad and iPhone + Watch.
It’s a phenomenal product built and tailored for each platform, and you should check out everything that’s new. With that said, I’m most impressed with the Mac app, of which this post is focused.
I love the Mac. And I love the independent companies making apps that take full advantage of everything the platform has to offer.
For lots of reasons, we don’t see many great, native Mac apps these days (although lately we’ve been spoiled). That’s why Things 3 has me excited. I’m a super nerd 🤓 for this kind of stuff (if you can’t tell) and the attention to detail, level of polish and nuanced animation/behaviour/interaction has me drooling on a daily basis:
Delightful details can be found everywhere you look:
- The rubberbanding effect when attempting to resize windows and panels past their limits (in hindsight this seems so obvious and makes the default system resizing behaviour feel static and abrupt).
- The improved Help Tags that animate in, provide feedback and context and display keyboard shortcuts.
- The smooth animation accompanying the drag flocking behaviour when reordering multiple to-dos.
- The simple, intuitive and efficient Keyboard Shortcut UI in the Tags panel (that makes other implementations look and feel 🤢).
These are small details. In fact, they’re all simply improvements to standard system implementations and behaviours. But it’s this trait, of questioning even the smallest details and then making them better, that gives me such admiration for the team at Cultured Code.
Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.
—Steve Jobs
To say that Cultured Code influenced my approach to designing software and the work I do now is an understatement.
It was through Cultured Code that I was originally attracted to UI design and the indie Mac scene. They instilled the concept that software could be enjoyable and fun to use. That it should have character and be opinionated about about the workflow, features and user experience (this was 2008 and we’re talking about personal task management software).
It’s refreshing to see a small company stick to their values, charge real money and continue to build sustainable, independent software. I’m convinced that small teams of passionate, like minded people build the best products. I can only hope to follow suit in my own endeavours.
You can purchase Things 3 on the respective App Stores:
Major props, Cultured Code 👊
Update, January 28, 2017—I seem to uncover more details of Things’ superb UI frequently and figured I might as well up date this post to include them.
Custom Sheet UI
To better harmonize with the custom title bar, Things implements a custom sheet UI, with rounded corners (that are consistent with all the other menus—of course) and a soft shadow. I had noticed this before but it just blends in so well I didn’t even think about it (the epitome of good design):
Compare and contrast with some other apps that use custom toolbars:
These are all good apps, but the fact that Cultured Code goes to these lengths (I’m sure it takes a ton of work and time to customize such a fundamental piece of AppKit—otherwise why isn’t everyone doing it?) is evidence of their craftmanship mentality towards software: that every detail matters.
If you’re curious about the silky animated GIFs, I use another great indie Mac app, Claquette from Thomas Zoechling. Find it on the Mac App Store.
In the sake of full transparency, the App Store links used are affiliate links. I am not sponsored or endorsed by either of these products, however if you purchase them using the links in this post, I get a small kickback.
