Glossary
Every Milestones term, explained.
If you're new to Milestones — or comparing it to another planner — here's exactly what each word means in this app.
- Project
- A long-running effort with a goal — like "Ship v2" or "Write thesis." Projects hold milestones and tasks, and have their own progress, color, and (optionally) a custom icon or hero image.
- Milestone
- A meaningful checkpoint inside a project — usually a phase, a deliverable, or a deadline. Each milestone groups its own tasks and rolls them up into a single completion percentage.
- Active milestone
- The milestone you're currently working on. Milestones surfaces it on Today and on the project header so the next concrete win is always one tap away.
- Task
- The smallest unit of work — what you actually check off. Tasks live inside a milestone (or in a project's backlog), can have due dates, tags, notes, and subtasks.
- Backlog
- A project's holding area for tasks that aren't yet attached to a milestone. Pull from it whenever you scope the next milestone.
- Tag
- A reusable label you apply across projects and tasks — for context ("deep work"), area ("client A"), or type ("bug"). Tags drive Smart Lists.
- Smart list
- A saved filter that returns every task matching a rule — e.g. "all tasks tagged #review across all projects." Smart Lists update live as you work.
- Today
- The home screen. Shows what's due today, your active milestones, and the few tasks you should actually do right now — not the whole backlog.
- iCloud sync
- Optional end-to-end Apple-encrypted sync via your personal iCloud account. Your data goes from iPhone to iPad to Mac without ever passing through a Milestones server.
- Local-first
- Milestones stores your data on your device first. The app works fully offline; sync is an add-on, not a requirement.
- Archive
- Where finished projects go to live without cluttering your active list. Archived projects keep their full history and can be restored at any time.
- Progress
- The completion percentage of a project or milestone, calculated from the share of finished tasks. Used in headers and on the Today screen.