Four years after being acquired by Microsoft, Wunderlist’s inevitable shut down has finally arrived. In a blog post, the company announced that the app will no longer operate starting May 6th, 2020, to make way for Microsoft’s own app, To Do.
Despite its shut down date still being a few months away, Wunderlist will no longer be accepting new sign-ups starting today. Current registered users will still be able to access the app until then but it’s important to note that it will no longer be receiving new features and updates. Microsoft is urging Wunderlist users to migrate to To Do by presenting it as the best alternative and offering ways to easily import and export data from Wunderlist to To Do.
Microsoft supposedly first acquired Wunderlist in 2015 to help it move forward and develop its technology. But it became apparent that this was not the case as the To Do app was released not long after the acquisition. It was then announced that Microsoft To Do would eventually replace Wunderlist by adapting its best features and designs. Wunderlist founder and CEO, Christian Reber, left Microsoft shortly after discovering their plans and even offered to buy back Wunderlist just earlier this year to keep it from shutting down. Needless to say, the offer was not entertained by Microsoft.
Initially, the To Do app was poorly received and generally frustrated users. But after a couple of years in development, it’s now being presented as a “new home for your lists” boasting of a redesigned look and new features such as list groups (folders), steps (subtasks), file attachments, sharing, task assignments and color-coded lists that will be familiar to Wunderlist users. The integration between apps at the moment is seamless and can be easily done with a Microsoft account but Microsoft has indicated that this may no longer be the case after Wunderlist shuts down in May.