Google Tasks failed to take off, and Google has no one to blame but itself

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There is nothing that Google developers love more than making new messaging and task / to-do / reminder management apps. When Google Tasks was announced over three years ago, we thought it would be the only solution to rule them all, at least for task management. Except that Google’s strategy with this app, as it has been for years, has remained as rambling as ever. So it’s no surprise that Tasks surpassed the 10 million download mark on the Play Store.

10 million might seem like a big number for any other developer and app, but Google is playing a whole different field on a whole different scale. 10 million is tiny compared to the installed Android base and three years is far too long to reach that milestone. For reference, Android Auto took 2.5 years to get there and this app was geo-restricted to a few countries and was only for people who drive. In comparison, Tasks is available everywhere and is aimed at people who have things to do – that is, anyone over the age of three. Another sad reference, Google Allo, which reached 10 million in 3 months, and it was Google Allo.

The saddest thing about this story is that Tasks isn’t that bad. It’s simple and straightforward for managing basic tasks. Sure, it launched with a lot of limitations, but it fixed several over time. Plus, it’s now integrated with Gmail and Calendar, so there’s a little bit of effort behind it. The real problem is that Google has no strategy to manage your tasks and that means users have no idea where exactly the tasks are.

Between appointments and calendar reminders, assistant reminders, and keep notes and lists, Google Tasks seems like a redundant solution. And we don’t even know what the problem he is trying to solve is. If it’s supposed to be a place to add things we need to do, why can’t we use it with Assistant on our phones, speakers, and smart screens? If it’s supposed to be a place where we store notes and lists, why isn’t it part of Google Keep? And anyway, why is there something separate from Google Reminders, which has nothing to do with Google Tasks?

So I guess I commend the Google Tasks development team for hitting the 10 million mark, but do better next time. I’m sure there will be one.

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