If the badge count doesn’t appear on the app icon at all, or the count isn’t up-to-date, here are a few tips to fix the problem.
No badge appears on the app icon
If you are missing the badge count from the app icon, please check these basic settings first to rule out common issues:
Mac
1. Is Things running?
Is Things running when you look for the red badge? Things’ badge will not show if the app isn’t running, the same as Apple Mail.
2. Is the badge count enabled?
Go to Things → Settings → General and select an option from the dropdown.
3. Check System Settings
- Go to System Settings → Notifications.
- Find Things in the list of apps.
- Toggle on Allow Notifications (if it’s on, turn it off and back on).
- Toggle on Badge application icon (if it’s on, toggle it off and on again).
iPad & iPhone
1. Is the badge count enabled?
Go to Things → Settings → General → Badge Count, select an option, and hit Done.
2. Check Settings app
- On your iPhone or iPad, leave Things and go to the Settings app.
- Tap Notifications.
- Scroll down to find Things and tap it.
- Enable the toggle for Badges (if it’s already on, toggle it off and back on).
3. Check for Focus modes
If you are using Focus modes, you might have disallowed badges for apps that are not explicitly included in your Focus mode. Turn off the Focus mode and check if the badge appears. If it does, modify your Focus mode to allow Things’ badge.
Do any to-dos meet the requirements?
Once you’ve confirmed that all the above settings are correct, and the badge is still missing, please check if there are any to-dos which meet the requirements.
For example, if the badge is set to only show to-dos from the Today list, you must have to-dos in it in order for the badge to appear.
Calendar events don’t affect the badge count
The badge on the app icon only takes into account to-dos and projects which you have created in Things. Calendar events do not count towards the badge.
On iPhone or iPad, the badge isn’t up-to-date
On your mobile devices, you might have to launch Things to update the badge. This is a technical limitation of Apple’s background app refresh.
This Apple feature learns your usage patterns (when you open which apps) and then anticipates when these apps need to be updated. The OS decides the frequency of the updates – it’s not something Things can force.
Here are a few tips that might also help:
- Do not force-quit Things.
This is an outdated practice, and if the app isn’t running, then neither the badge or widgets will update. - Make sure that background app refresh is enabled for Things.
Check in Settings → Things that the toggle for Background App Refresh is on. The frequency of background app refresh is also influenced by how busy other apps keep the OS, if you are in power savings mode or if your device is connected to a charger, etc. - Use Things regularly.
If you only open Things once every few days, Apple’s Operating System will not be able to recognize that you actually want to see the badge update for the app more often.