Lists
Emoji, background, and cover photo
A list can carry an emoji, a background and a cover photo.
Why you'd care
This is not decoration for its own sake. In a Lists view with thirty entries, an emoji is the difference between reading and recognizing, and recognition is roughly ten times faster.
Where to set it
All three live in one place: List settings.
Open the list, then open the list's actions from the ... menu in its header. List settings is the first item.
Web, Mac, Windows, and Linux
⌘⌥, opens it directly from inside the list, without the menu.
What you can set
| Part | Where it shows |
|---|---|
| Emoji | Next to the name, everywhere the list appears |
| Background | Fills the whole list. Pick a color, a gradient or a photo, or leave it blank |
| Cover photo | A banner at the top of the list, and on the list's card in the Lists view |
Defaults for days
Days are lists too, so you can dress up a single day. To give every day the same look without setting each one, use the defaults:
- Settings Appearance & accessibility Default Day Emojis sets the emoji for today, past days and future days.
- Settings Appearance & accessibility Default Today background sets the background for days. Plus
- Settings Appearance & accessibility Default day cover photo sets the cover photo for days. Plus
See dressing up a day.
Going further
Emoji and cover photos do the recognizing. In the Lists view, the emoji sits next to every list's name, and the cover photo shows on its card: as a thumbnail in Cards, and filling the tile in Gallery unless the list has a background, which comes first. See the Lists view.
Colors group as well as decorate. Giving every work list the same background color makes the Lists view scannable without any tagging.
Text follows the background. On a dark background the text turns light, and on a light one it stays dark, so the list stays readable whatever you pick.
Tips
- Pick emoji that are visually distinct rather than semantically perfect. Two similar-looking emoji defeat the point.
- Keep backgrounds quiet on lists you use daily, and save the striking ones for lists you visit occasionally.
If it's not working
I cannot find where to change it. It is not in the app's Settings. List appearance belongs to the list, so it lives in that list's own settings, behind the ... in its header.