AI tools often promise an almost magical experience write down your tasks, or let the tool track your life minute by minute, and voilà! The assistant will seemingly take care of everything: buying plane tickets, optimizing your schedule, or somehow streamlining your day-to-day. While this vision is enticing, the reality often falls short, leaving users with tools that overpromise and underdeliver.

The team behind the app Twos takes a more practical and genuinely effective approach. Twos is a simple yet powerful app designed for taking notes, managing tasks, and organizing lists of all kinds. Its creator, Parker Klein, describes it as “a place to write things down.” After nearly a decade of development first as a personal project and later as a startup Twos has emerged as a standout in the crowded productivity app space. I’ve used Twos periodically over the past few years, and its simplicity and usefulness set it apart from other tools.

The AI feature in Twos, called “smart suggestions,” reflects the app's pragmatic ethos. Instead of attempting to automate your entire workflow, it focuses on helping users take the first step toward completing a task. For instance, if you jot down a movie title, Twos might suggest a JustWatch link or the IMDb page for that film. If you note someone’s name and phone number, the app can save the contact with a single tap. Creating a grocery list? Twos might provide quick links to Amazon, Walmart, or Instacart for easy purchasing.

These suggestions are powered by straightforward logic: Twos identifies key words or phrases in your notes and matches them to relevant integrations. You can customize which suggestions appear, too if you never use a service like Uber Eats, for instance, you can turn off related prompts entirely. While the system isn’t perfect (typing “bake blueberry muffins” might bring up a helpful recipe link alongside a less relevant Google Maps search for nearby muffins), it’s surprisingly effective even in its current form. Compared to the overambitious and often clunky AI features in other productivity tools, Twos' focused approach feels refreshingly practical.

Another useful feature in Twos is its built-in chatbot, which allows users to interact with their notes in conversational ways. If you use Twos as a journal or all-purpose note app, this can be incredibly handy. Like similar tools in apps like Notion or Dropbox, the chatbot works best when you fully commit to using the app as your primary note repository. The more you use Twos, the better these AI-driven features work, making it a worthwhile companion for heavy users.

Ultimately, Twos stands out by keeping things simple and focused. Rather than trying to reinvent productivity with lofty promises, it offers practical tools and thoughtful AI features that genuinely enhance the note-taking and list-making experience. For those tired of overcomplicated systems, Twos provides a refreshing alternative.