The capture bar

The capture bar is the input that is always one gesture away, wherever you are in Twos.

Why you'd care#

The gap between having a thought and writing it down is where notes die. If capture takes four taps, you will not bother, and the app slowly becomes a place you visit rather than a place you use.

The bar exists to make that gap as close to zero as the platform allows. On a laptop that is one chord. On a phone it is already on screen.

The 60-second version#

Whatever you write lands on Today, unless you are inside a list, in which case it lands there.

Step by step#

Opening it#

Writing more than one thing#

Press Enter after each one. The bar stays open and the things stack up in order, so you can empty your head in one go rather than reopening it five times.

If you would rather Enter insert a line break inside one thing instead of starting a new one, that is a setting. It is worth knowing about because it surprises people either way round.

The Add button#

The + in the bar opens the Add menu, for when you want more than a plain line of text:

• To-do, to make the thing a checkbox before you write it
• Reminder, to give it a time
• Photo, from the camera or your library. On iPhone and iPad your recent photos sit along the top, one tap away.
• Template, to drop in a list you reuse
• Divider, to split the list into sections
• Sublist, a list inside the list

These sit next to the microphone and the Ramble button, so the bar covers text, voice and everything else from one place.

Choosing where it lands#

The Add to chip in the bar always shows which list you are writing into. Tap it to pick a different list or day, and your next things go there, without you having to open that list first.

By default, capture goes to Today. Two things change that:

• Being inside a list. Whatever list you have open is the destination.
• A default list. Set one in Settings → Appearance & accessibility → Default add to list and everything captured from outside a list goes there instead.

When the chip points somewhere other than the list on screen, it picks up your colour, so you can tell at a glance that what you write is going elsewhere.

Slash commands#

Type / at the start and a menu appears. It is the fastest route to a to-do, a photo, a reminder, or a divider without leaving the keyboard.

Going further#

Write into another list without leaving this one. Tap Add to and pick the list. It is faster than navigating there, writing, and coming back.

Capture without opening Twos at all. The bar is the in-app route, but it is not the only one. Quick Capture puts the same input on your lock screen, in your menu bar, or behind a system-wide hotkey, so you can write a thing down without switching apps. On desktop that is ⌘⌃␣.

Dictate instead of typing. The microphone in the bar transcribes as you speak. For anything longer than a sentence or two, Ramble is the better tool: it listens continuously and turns what you said into separate things rather than one long paragraph. Plus

Paste a list in. Paste several lines at once and Twos offers to split them into separate things, one per line. This is the quickest way to move a list in from a message or an email.

Write a date in plain words. "Call the dentist Thursday at 3" is understood as a reminder while you type. See set a reminder.

Shortcuts and gestures#

Settings that change this#

• Settings → Appearance & accessibility → Default add to list sets where captured things land when you are not inside a list.
• Settings → Lists & things → Default thing type decides what a new thing is before you touch it. It is a dash unless you change it.
• Settings → Lists & things → Default photo size controls how a photo captured from the bar is displayed.

Tips#

• Write it badly. The bar rewards speed, and a half sentence you can search for beats a tidy note you never wrote.
• Enter twice in a row is the fastest way to dump several things. Do not reach for the mouse between them.
• If you capture the same kind of thing all day, set a default list once and stop thinking about destinations.
• On a phone, the bar is easier to reach than any menu. It is usually faster to capture and then move than to navigate first and capture second.

If it's not working#

The bar is not on screen. On mobile it hides while you are editing an existing thing. Tap Done or tap away, and it comes back.

Enter makes a new line instead of a new thing. That is the return-key behavior setting, working as configured. Change it under Settings → Lists & things.

Everything is landing in the wrong list. Look at the Add to chip in the bar, which names the list your things are going to. Tap it to change it. If it keeps pointing somewhere unexpected, you probably set a default add-to list a while ago. Check Settings → Appearance & accessibility → Default add to list.

The Add to chip is amber with a warning icon. You are looking at a list you can only view, not edit, so what you write goes to Today instead. Ask the owner for edit access, or pick another list from the chip.

⌘K does nothing in the browser. Some browser extensions claim that chord before the page sees it. Rebind capture to something free in Settings → Help & about → Keyboard shortcuts.

Related#

• Today, where most captured things land
• Thing types, for turning what you wrote into a to-do
• Set a reminder, for capturing something with a time attached