These three annotations are made of items, not of a single text. They start from the same mechanism — a list of rows you fill in — and differ by what each row carries and by what the total means. All of them start minimal: just a title and items. You switch the extra fields on under "Edit fields", one at a time, so the annotation doesn't start out full of blanks.
Which of the three to use
| Annotation | The question it answers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Checklist | What is done and what is left? | Loan paperwork; moving checklist; the month's shopping list. |
| Budget | Among the options I gathered, which one do I pick? | Three painting quotes; two laptop models at different stores. |
| Detailed list | How much will all of this add up to, item by item? | Building materials with quantity and unit; a trousseau; a parts list. |
Checklist
The checklist is the most direct one: a title and a list of tickable items. You don't need to click "add item" — as soon as you fill the last row, a new blank row appears below, so you can type the whole list in one flow.
Under Edit fields you can add, per item, an amount, a quantity and a link, plus an extra notes field for the annotation as a whole. A shopping list that started as "milk, bread, coffee" becomes, without changing type, a list with a price and a quantity for each thing.
Budget
The budget exists to compare. Each row is an option — "Store A — model X", "Store B — model Y" — with that option's amount and, if you turn the field on, the link it came from. Instead of jotting three quotes in three places, they sit side by side inside the category they belong to.
The expected amount field is optional. Turned on, it holds how much you expect to spend in total; combined with sum item values, it stops being typed and becomes the sum of the options — useful when the "budget" is really the composition of several parts rather than a choice between alternatives.
Detailed list
It is the most complete of the three. Each item can have a description, quantity, unit, amount, link and a done toggle — and you choose which of those fields to see. When two or more extra fields are on, the app reflows each item into two lines so nothing gets squeezed on a phone screen.
The total that adds itself up
Both the budget and the detailed list offer the sum item values option. Turning it on makes the total field read-only and recalculated on every item change. Because that only makes sense if the fields involved exist, the app turns on whatever is needed alongside it — use total value and, in the detailed list, use value on items. And turning the total value off turns automatic summing off too.
If the rows are alternatives — three quotes for the same job — summing makes no sense: you will hire one of them. Leave summing off and use the total value to record how much you actually expect to spend.
Currency and conversion
The currency is chosen once for the whole annotation, and applies both to the total and to each item's amount. When it differs from your main currency, the app shows the conversion calculation under the fields — typed amount × rate = converted amount — using the rate in effect on the annotation's reference date.
A workflow that works well
- Start with the budget. Gather the options, each with an amount and a link, inside the category that will receive the expense.
- Once you've chosen, create a pre-transaction. With the expected amount and date, it counts as planned spending until it becomes a real entry.
- Use a checklist for the execution. What needs to happen before the expense materializes — paperwork, scheduling, deliveries.
- And a detailed list if there are many parts. With automatic summing on, you watch the real total grow item by item.