User Guide

Tikski is an offline-first checklist app. Everything works on your device before any account or network connection is involved. When you’re ready, sync and sharing extend that experience across devices and with people you trust — without compromising the privacy or speed of the core app.

On first launch you’ll see a short welcome explaining that offline use is the default, and that sync is optional via Settings when you want it.

This guide covers the features most likely to need a walkthrough.

Your data stays on your device

Before anything else, it helps to understand how Tikski works at its core.

Every list, tab, and task you create is saved directly to your device in an encrypted local database. There is no server call on save. Everything is readable instantly — offline, in flight, underground, or anywhere without a signal.

Sync is optional. Sharing is optional. Accounts are optional. The app is fully functional without any of them.

When you do enable sync, your device stays the source of truth. The server is a copy, not the original. If you delete your account, your local data remains on your device until you choose to remove it.

Lists, tabs, and tasks

Tikski organises your work in three levels:

Lists are top-level containers, like “Work”, “Groceries”, or “Home Reno”.
Tabs sit inside a list and let you split it into sections. A shopping list might have tabs for each supermarket.
Tasks live inside a tab. Each task can have a title, notes, a due date, and subtasks.

Creating a list

On the home screen, tap the + button or the New list action.
Give the list a name and confirm.

The list is saved immediately to your device.

Adding tabs to a list

Open a list.
Tap the + tab button next to the existing tabs.
Name the tab.

Each list starts with one default tab. You can add as many as you need.

Renaming or deleting a tab

Long-press a tab label to open tab options. From there you can rename, delete, or duplicate the tab.

Duplicating a tab copies every task and subtask inside it into a new tab — useful for recurring checklists.

Moving a tab to another list

Long-press the tab and choose Move tab.
Select the destination list from the picker.

The tab and all its tasks move immediately. This works even if the destination list has never been synced.

Adding tasks

Open a list and select a tab.
Tap Add task (or the equivalent action on your platform).
Type the task title and confirm. You can also add notes and a due date.

To add subtasks, use Add subtask on a top-level task (or open the task editor). Subtasks nest one level deep.

Moving a task

From a task’s overflow menu you can:

Move it under another task in the same tab (or back to top level).
Move to another tab within the same list (when the list has more than one tab).

Filtering and sorting a tab

In a list view, use the filter and sort controls in the app bar:

Filter: All / Open / Done.
Sort: List order / Oldest first / Title A–Z.

List order is the manual order you create by dragging. The other sort modes temporarily rearrange the view; drag-to-reorder is only available in All + List order.

Settings can also change how the list is ordered — see Sorting and list behaviour.

Reordering tasks

Tap and hold the drag handle on the right side of a task row to drag it to a new position. Reordering is independent per tab.

Reordering turns off when:

a filter other than All is active,
sort is not List order, or
Prioritise due dates is enabled in Settings.

The app can prompt you to switch back to a reorderable mode when needed.

Completing tasks

Tap the circle checkbox to the left of a task title. The task dims and is struck through.

Useful Settings options:

Move ticked tasks to bottom — completed tasks sink below open ones.
Hide completed tasks — open tasks only (including nested subtasks).

Deleting tasks

How delete works depends on Settings → Task delete mode:

Menu — delete from the task overflow menu (default).
Button — show a delete control on each row.
Swipe — swipe a row to delete.

You can also delete all ticked tasks in the current tab from the list overflow menu.

Sorting and list behaviour

These Settings options apply across Android, iOS, and Linux:

Move starred items to top

When enabled, starred lists and tasks float above unstarred ones. Completed grouping still wins over starring: a starred completed task does not stay pinned above incomplete work.

Prioritise due dates

When enabled, due dates override starred pinning and the menu sort (list order / oldest / title):

Tasks with due dates rise above tasks without one.
Among dated tasks, the soonest date is highest.
Overdue tasks stay at the top (they sort by how far past due they are — oldest overdue first).

Use this when you don’t want overdue items lost mid-list. Drag-reorder is disabled while this is on.

Where new tasks are inserted

Settings → New tasks appear controls whether new items go at the top or bottom of the list. This applies in List order / Recent mode.

Compact task list

Settings → Compact task list tightens row spacing so more tasks fit on screen — useful for long shopping lists. Compact mode stays denser than the normal card layout, with a bit more breathing room than the earliest compact release.

Stars and favourites

Tap the star icon on any list or task to mark it as a favourite. Starred lists float to the top of the home screen when Move starred items to top is on, sorted alphabetically among themselves. Shared lists you have received stay in their own Shared with me section.

Starring syncs across devices when sync is enabled.

Due dates and reminders

Open any task and set a due date.

Notifications (Android and iOS)

With Settings → Due date reminders on (default), Tikski schedules a local notification on the due date at your chosen Reminder time (default 9:00). No network is required for reminders to fire.

If a task is already overdue when the app opens, Tikski can surface an immediate reminder so it isn’t skipped.

Quiet hours (optional) suppress reminder notifications between the hours you set.

Desktop (Linux) uses in-app reminder alerts rather than OS push notifications.

Overdue bell on the home screen

Overdue tasks contribute to the home-screen overdue count. Tap the overdue bell to see which tasks are past due (and what’s due today), then jump into a list.

App icon badge

On supported platforms, the home-screen / dock icon can show a small badge with the number of overdue open tasks (capped at 99; clears at zero):

iOS — numeric badge (notification/badge permission required).
Android — numeric badge on many OEM launchers (Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and similar). Stock Pixel/AOSP often shows a notification dot rather than a number.
Linux — numeric dock badge on docks that support the Unity Launcher Entry API (for example Ubuntu Dock, Dash to Dock, KDE Plasma). Stock GNOME Shell without a dock extension usually won’t show a number.

The badge updates when overdue counts change, when you return to the app, and after midnight.

Private locked lists

You can lock a sensitive list with an optional PIN:

Open the list menu on the home screen.
Choose Lock list and set a PIN.
Opening that list later requires the PIN until you unlock it (or unlock for the session, depending on how you use the lock).

Locked lists still sync if sync is enabled — the lock is a local access control for the device UI.

Sync: one account, every device

Sync is the feature that makes Tikski feel like a single coherent tool across your phone, tablet, and desktop.

What sync does

When sync is enabled, Tikski continuously pushes and pulls changes between your device and the Tikski cloud service. Changes made on one device appear on every other signed-in device — usually within a few seconds when both are online.

Sync covers everything: lists, tabs, tasks, subtasks, stars, due dates, completion status, and notes.

Setting up sync for the first time

Open Settings and tap Enable sync (or Sign in).
Enter your email address. A six-digit code is sent to that address.
Enter the code. Your account is created (or resumed) automatically.
If you already have data on another device, you will be offered a merge option. The safe default is Merge local + cloud — this combines both without losing anything.

That is all. Sync runs continuously in the background from here.

If you use sync, Tikski also syncs when you start or finish relevant work in the app so devices stay aligned.

Signing in on a second device

Repeat the same steps on the second device. After you enter the code, the device joins your account and the full sync history pulls down automatically.

You do not need to pair devices to each other. Everything routes through your account.

How conflicts are handled

If two devices edit the same task while one is offline, Tikski uses a last-write-wins rule: the change with the most recent timestamp is kept. This is reliable for the vast majority of real-world edits. If you frequently edit the same task on multiple devices simultaneously, just review after syncing.

Sync status indicator

A small indicator at the top of the home screen shows the current sync state:

Up to date — all changes are synced.
Syncing — a sync run is in progress.
Pending changes — edits are queued and will sync as soon as there is connectivity.
Error — something prevented the last sync; tap the indicator for detail.

Tap the indicator for diagnostics (state, pending work, last run). Re-sync now forces an immediate sync attempt.

Offline behaviour

Tikski never blocks you from using the app while offline. All reads and writes go to the local database. Queued changes sync automatically when connectivity returns — no manual action needed.

Sharing lets another person access one of your lists in real time. They can view and edit tasks as if it were their own list, but the list remains yours.

Who can be shared with

Sharing requires both people to have a Tikski account with sync enabled. If the person you want to share with has not set up an account, they need to do that first (it only takes a minute — see the sync setup steps above).

Open the list you want to share.
Tap the share icon or open the list menu and choose Share list.
Enter the email address of the person you are sharing with.
Confirm.

An email is sent to them immediately. The list appears in their Shared with me section after they next open the app.

Both people can now add, edit, complete, and reorder tasks. Changes appear in real time when both are online.

Shared list indicators

A list that you are sharing with someone shows a shared icon in the list row. If you have received a shared list, it appears in the Shared with me section on the home screen, visually separated from your own lists.

Editing tabs on a shared list

The owner of the list can create, rename, move, and delete tabs. Recipients can add and edit tasks within the existing tab structure, but cannot change the tab layout of a list they do not own. This keeps the structure under the owner’s control.

Removing someone from a shared list

Open the list.
Open the list menu and choose Manage sharing or Shared with.
Find the person you want to remove and select Remove.

As soon as they are removed, the list disappears from their device automatically. Any changes they made before removal remain in the list (their edits are not erased).

Leaving a shared list (recipient)

If you are a recipient and no longer want access to someone else’s list:

In the Shared with me section, long-press the list or open its menu.
Choose Leave list.
Confirm.

The list is removed from your device. The owner still has their list and can re-share it later if needed.

Android

Tikski can receive shared text and URLs from other Android apps.

In any app (browser, notes, messages), use the system Share function.
Select Tikski from the share sheet.
Tikski opens and shows a prompt asking which list and tab to save the content to.
For URLs, Tikski fetches the page title to use as the task title. The URL is saved in the task notes.
Confirm and the task is created.

Linux

On Linux desktop, share actions are supported so you can send content into Tikski from the desktop share flow where available.

iOS

iOS share-extension support is in progress; Android remains the most complete share-in path today.

Export, backup, and data controls

Export the current tab

From a list’s overflow menu you can export the current tab as:

CSV
Markdown
Plain text (includes checkbox state, due date, notes, and star status)

Full database backup

Settings → Export full backup writes a portable JSON backup of your local database. This is for your own archives or moving data elsewhere — it is not a lock-in format.

Delete local data / delete account

Delete local data only clears data on this device without deleting your cloud account.
Delete account (when signed in) removes cloud-side account data. Local copies on each device are not automatically wiped — you control those separately.

Settings quick reference

Setting	What it does
Theme / font size	Appearance and readability
Move ticked tasks to bottom	Completed tasks sink below open ones
Hide completed tasks	Show only open tasks (including subtasks)
Compact task list	Denser rows for long lists
New tasks appear top/bottom	Insert position in list order
Move starred items to top	Starred lists/tasks float up
Prioritise due dates	Overdue/soonest due dates override other sorts
Haptic feedback	Vibration on complete / drag / swipe (mobile)
Due date reminders	Local notifications on due dates
Reminder time	Hour reminders fire on the due date
Quiet hours	Suppress reminders overnight
Task delete mode	Menu / button / swipe
Export full backup	Portable JSON backup
App version	Build number for support

Privacy and data ownership

Your data is yours. A few details worth knowing:

Local database is encrypted. The on-device SQLite database uses SQLCipher encryption. The key is stored in your device’s secure storage and never leaves the device.
Sync transport is HTTPS. All data moving between your device and the sync server is encrypted in transit.
You can use the app without an account. Sync and sharing require an account. Everything else does not.
Deleting your account removes cloud data. Account deletion wipes your cloud-side data permanently. Local data on each device is not automatically removed — you remain in control of that separately.
No behavioural tracking in the app. Tikski does not include analytics SDKs, advertising frameworks, or behavioural tracking. The app does not send data anywhere except to the Tikski sync service, and only when you have enabled sync.

For more detail, see the Privacy Policy.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need an account to use Tikski? No. Tikski is fully usable without any account. Lists, tabs, and tasks all work offline and locally without sign-in.

What happens to my data if I uninstall the app? Local data is removed when you uninstall the app. If sync was enabled, your data remains in the cloud and will restore when you reinstall and sign in again.

Can I have the same account on multiple devices? Yes. There is no device limit. Sign in with the same email on each device and they will all sync together.

Can two people edit the same task at the same time? Yes, though if they edit the same field at exactly the same moment on separate devices, the most recent save wins. In practice this is rarely an issue for checklist work.

Why can’t I drag to reorder tasks? Reordering needs Filter: All, Sort: List order, and Prioritise due dates turned off. Use the in-app tip/button to switch back when reorder is unavailable.

Why do overdue tasks jump to the top? If Settings → Prioritise due dates is on, dated tasks (especially overdue ones) override other sort options so nothing important gets buried.

What does the number on the app icon mean? That’s the overdue open-task badge. It clears when you have no overdue items. Support varies by platform and launcher — see App icon badge.

Is there an iOS version? Yes — join via the public TestFlight invite on iPhone or iPad while we prepare for App Store launch.

Which platforms can I download today? Android and Linux builds are on the Download page. iOS is available through TestFlight.

Where can I see what has changed recently? The Changelog page lists every release with what was added, fixed, and improved.

Have a question not covered here? Use the Contact page.