Comparison

Tasks vs Live Shortcut

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Tasks

Personalize your lock screen and Dynamic Island with to-do lists. Customize appearance and hide tasks as needed. Track progress with a 12-hour timer for up to 5 tasks.

Highlights
  • Lock Screen task display
  • Dynamic Island integration
  • Customizable appearance
  • Hide tasks option
  • 12-hour timer
  • Up to 5 tasks
Read full description

Tasks - Create Live Activities lets you personalize your lock screen like never before. Display your tasks on the Lock Screen and have them always showing above notifications - and also on the Dynamic island. Change the text and background appearance, and choose to hide the tasks. Add up to 5 tasks at a time. Underline and strikethrough tasks, and keep track with a 12 hour timer - all tasks end when the timer ends. If you have any questions or feedback, I'm all ears. Tasks - Create Live Activities was created by an individual in his free time, and I’d love to know what you think. I’m available through Twitter @elohohel.

About

Live Shortcut

Easily integrate your existing automations with Live Activities. Display reminders and important information on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island to ensure you never miss a thing.

Highlights
  • Integrate automations with Live Activities
  • Display reminders on Lock Screen
  • Utilize Dynamic Island for notifications
  • Easy setup for existing shortcuts
  • Customizable display options
Features
Read full description

Turn your shortcuts into Live Activities on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. Live Shortcut puts the information from your automations where you can see it. Create a quick note in the app, or use Apple Shortcuts to display text from your own workflows. YOUR SHORTCUTS, AT A GLANCE Keep a reminder in sight, show a workflow result, or display a message when an automation runs. BUILT AROUND YOUR ROUTINE Choose what appears and when using your own Shortcuts automations. For example, display a garage-door reminder after your shortcut checks whether the door is open. MAKE IT YOURS Personalize your Live Activities with icons and color themes. Support for triggering another shortcut helps connect the next step in your workflow. MORE WITH PREMIUM Unlock additional customization, custom and built-in icons, multiple Live Activities, and control over which activities to end using identifiers. Create your first Live Activity and put your shortcuts in sight. Requires iOS 16.4 or later. Dynamic Island requires a compatible iPhone. Live Activity duration and visibility are managed by iOS. Some features require Premium. Privacy: https://andrewbfang.com/privacyPolicy.html Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Tasks4 screens
Live Shortcut4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Tasks at none against Live Shortcut's shown. Tasks also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months). Live Shortcut's advantage is review sentiment (70% vs 57%). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Tasks sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Live Shortcut sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tasks ships an update every 2 days, Live Shortcut every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Tasks versus Live Shortcut: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTasksLive Shortcut
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (54 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews57.1% of reviews70.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings54 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.1 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRihab MehboobAndrew Fang

Customer experience

Tasks

All ratings54 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral3.7%
Negative13.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative42.9%

Live Shortcut

Written reviews10 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative20.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Tasks

One-time1
  • Tasks Unlimited$2.99
2 purchases

Live Shortcut

Subscriptions1
  • Premium (Yearly)$0.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium Lifetime$6.99

Questions

Is Tasks free?
Tasks is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Live Shortcut free?
Live Shortcut is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Tasks or Live Shortcut have ads?
Live Shortcut shows ads; Tasks does not.
Which is updated more often, Tasks or Live Shortcut?
Tasks ships an update every 2 days, and Live Shortcut every 2 months. Most recently, Tasks was updated on November 3, 2026 and Live Shortcut on November 4, 2026.

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