Is there a Things 3 for Linux? What works

TL;DR: No. Things 3 runs only on Apple devices, and Cultured Code lists Linux as unsupported. Things is a Mac app built on Apple frameworks, so Wine can’t run it either. To keep Inbox through Someday on Linux, you need an app that ships those views. Done Bear has a Linux desktop app, a browser app, and a Things importer.

Cultured Code doesn’t build Things for Linux

Cultured Code’s device list is Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. Linux, Android, Windows, and the web are listed as unsupported.

Wine cannot run Things 3

Wine is the first thing most people try, and it fails for a structural reason. Wine translates Windows API calls into Linux ones. Things is a macOS app written against Cocoa, AppKit, and Core Data, so Wine has nothing to translate. Darling, the equivalent project for macOS binaries, only has experimental support for simple graphical apps.

That leaves a macOS virtual machine. Apple licenses macOS virtualisation only on Apple hardware, it’s slow, and it means booting a second operating system to look at a to-do list. For something you check many times a day, it won’t survive the week.

Things has no web app to fall back on

Things Cloud syncs Apple devices to each other and has no browser interface to sign into. Is there a Things 3 web app? covers the details.

From Linux, the one route that works is Mail to Things, the private email address that drops messages into your Things Inbox. It’s capture only. You can add tasks, but you can’t see, organise, or complete any of them.

What a Linux replacement needs

• A native package: a browser shortcut with an app icon doesn’t count.
• Offline-first: an app that waits on a server for every keystroke can’t replace one that opened instantly.
• Keyboard-driven: that’s why Things felt fast.
• A terminal path: on Linux, capturing without leaving the shell decides whether you keep using the system.
• The five views built in: if you rebuild Today and Someday out of saved filters, you end up maintaining a task system instead of using one.

How Done Bear works on Linux

Done Bear has a native Linux desktop app alongside the macOS, Windows, and iOS builds, all on the downloads page. The browser app covers a machine you don’t control, or one you’d rather not install anything on. Sync is local-first: tasks live on the device and sync in the background, so views open instantly. The Linux app loads the web app when it starts, so it needs a connection to open; after that, edits save with no connection and sync when it returns.

The CLI adds a task from any terminal with donebear task add "Fix the build" and prints JSON for scripts. A GraphQL API sits underneath. The hosted MCP server lets an AI assistant triage the list. Things’ supported automation (the URL scheme, Shortcuts, and AppleScript) runs on Apple devices, which is why the Things 3 MCP options mostly need a Mac.

Who should stay on Things 3

Stay on Things 3 if your Linux machine is a work box and the rest of your life runs on a Mac and an iPhone. Things is excellent, and keeping your personal system there is fine when you only visit Linux for work.

Moving your Things data to Linux

On a Mac with Things installed, the importer finds the database itself:

donebear import things

Areas, projects, and tasks come across with their dates, then sync down to Linux. The web importer takes main.sqlite, or a zip of the .thingsdatabase folder, copied from a Mac. If the Mac is already gone, Things on an iPhone or iPad can send a copy of its database through its Diagnostics settings, and the Done Bear iOS app imports that file. The import guide has both routes.