Reminders: Complete Guide to iOS 13

 In comparison with other notification and to-do apps available from the App Store, the Reminders app has never been one of the most common built-in apps, mainly due to its limited functionality.

Apple overhauled the Reminders app's interface in iOS 13, adding a fresh look and new features that could inspire more individuals to try it out. We'll go through all the latest features in the Reminders app in this guide and what it can do on iOS 13 and iPadOS.

Design

In iOS 12 and earlier, Reminders presented a basic list-style view of no-frills that organises things by list, but iOS 13 has an entirely new, more intuitive gui. There are four key categories of Reminders that contain all of your reminders from all your lists, so you can see what you need to do, whether it's for work or family, in one view.

There is a "Today" section for reminders that need to be answered immediately, a "Programmed" section for reminders with a date attached, a All" section for displaying all at once and a "Flagged" section for your reminders that have a flag added to distinguish them.

Along with the four main sections where you can access all of your reminders grouped into various views, using the "My Lists" section, you can also see your content organised per page. Reminders can be used in either dark mode or light mode, and for both, there are special looks.

Lists and Reminders

As in the previous edition of Reminders, the Reminders app allows you to make as many lists as you like. For family, friends, jobs, and whatever other topics you want you can have separate lists.

The Reminders app will handle this if you want to keep track of all the household tasks you need to do along with your shopping list and your job projects. It's as easy to add a list as clicking on the "Add List" button.

All of your lists are displayed individually in the "My Lists" section, while the individual reminders in that list are also available in the different sections of the Reminders app.

"It is possible to add a reminder to a list by pressing a list and then tapping the "New Reminder" button or by tapping the Today, Planned, or Flagged categories at the top of the app and then selecting "New Reminder.

In iOS 13, inserting, sorting, and accessing lists is essentially more intuitive than it was in iOS 12. Reminders are grouped by date and time in the Scheduled tab and the Today tab, but there are no manual sorting tools to allow for various organizations.

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• How to Create a New List in Reminders
• How to Create a Scheduled Reminder in iOS
• How to Add a Reminder to a List in the Reminders App
• How to Delete a Reminder List in the iOS Reminders App
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Customization

In iOS 13, the Reminders app adds new customization features to your list of Reminders. To colour code your lists, there are additional colours to choose from, and there are also new icons that you can allocate for a visual cue to each list.

There are all kinds of icons to choose from, including food, sports, work-related icons, shapes, and more.

• How to Customize the Look of Your Reminders Lists in iOS

Reminders Toolbar

There's a new easy access toolbar while making a reminder in the Reminders app on iOS 13 that allows you to add dates, places, and more to your reminders. There are four icons which are available, each with a different function:

• Clock - Lets you schedule a reminder for today, tomorrow, this weekend, or a custom date.
• Arrow - Lets you set a reminder to activate when you're arriving home, getting in the car, getting out of the car, or arriving to any custom location that you choose.
• Flag - Lets you add a flag to a reminder so it's easier to locate.
• Camera - Allows you to take a photo to add to a reminder, add a photo from the Photo Library, or scan a document. Adding attachments to Reminders is new in iOS 13.

To provide additional meaning, reminders can also be annotated with notes and URLs, and each reminder can also have subtasks associated with it. Reminders can also be set to repeat, and you can change the priority by selecting Low, Medium, High, or None for each.

you can adjust the priority for each one, choosing between Low, Medium, High, or None.

Access to all Reminder options can be done by tapping on the "Custom" button while setting a newly generated reminder time or date or by tapping the I icon on an existing reminder. In iOS 12, some of these choices were open, but the interface in iOS 13 is simpler and more intuitive, making it easier to use these resources.

• How to Create a Messages-Based Reminder on Your iPhone
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• How to Add Notes and URLs to Reminders in iOS
• How to Flag a Reminder on Your iPhone and iPad
• How to Change Reminder Priority in the Reminders App for iOS
• How to Add Sub-Items to a Reminder in iOS
• How to Organize Reminder Lists on iPhone and iPad

Reminder Settings

Using the toolbar and interface above, reminders can be set to activate in the following conditions:

• When arriving to a location
• When leaving a location
• At a certain time
• On a certain date
• When messaging a specific person in the Messages app

You can also combine these conditions when creating a reminder, so you can, for example, set a reminder to get milk on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. when you arrive at the grocery store.

Sharing a Reminders List

If you tap any list of reminders in the Reminders app on the three dots in the top right corner, you can add a person who adds that specific list to their smartphone too, letting them see adjustments made to the list. This is perfect for something like a shopping list that a partner or child would need to share with you. This feature isn't unique, but because of the redesign, its location has changed.

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• How to Share Reminders in iOS

Grouping Reminders

You can group them together in iOS 13 under a single heading if you have a lot of different reminders lists. So if you have a grocery list, a drugstore list, and a list for your favourite clothing store, all of them can be aggregated into a "Shopping" category in the "My Lists" section of the app that provides better organising.

Groups can be collapsed or extended, allowing for a deeper organisation of a tidier Reminders app than was possible in iOS 12. Tap the 'Edit' button to add a group, and then pick the 'Add Group' option on the bottom left. You may also use drag and drop movements to organise lists of your own.

Nested Reminders

You can drag and drop a reminder under another reminder using drag and drop movements to create a nested reminder in your list that effectively allows you to add smaller tasks under a larger reminder.

For example, if you have a reminder to do chores, for individual tasks such as vacuuming and washing, you could also add smaller, more detailed reminders underneath. To use drag and drop movements to rearrange your recall lists, you need to be in the "All Reminders" portion.

Share Sheet Deep Linking

You can import content from messages, mail, and other apps directly into the Reminders app as a new Reminder using the Sharing Sheet. Simply select the email, select the Sharing option, and choose Reminders as your destination.

Reminders saved this way will include a deep link to the Mail thread or Messages conversation so you can get back to it quickly.

Siri Improvements

In iOS 13, Reminders features improved Siri intelligence, which means you can type longer, more informative sentences that will be automatically understood and used by Reminders to provide appropriate suggestions.

For you, Siri will even recommend reminders. For example, when you're talking with someone in Messages, and someone mentions having lunch tomorrow at noon, Siri may give you a suggestion to create a reminder.

Mac App and Upgrading

In macOS Catalina, there is also a revamped version of Reminders for the Mac, with many of the same features. You can also create reminders on the desktop with the Mac app that are synced to the Reminders app on iOS devices. Below, we have some Mac-specific details about how to use the Reminders software on a Mac.

It's worth remembering that it restricts availability on other devices when updating the Reminders software on iOS 13 (which you'll be prompted to do after upgrading). Without MacOS Catalina, reminders on the Mac will not be functional, and without iPadOS, reminders on the iPad will not be functional.

iPadOS is available, but there's no specific launch date for ‌macOS Catalina‌, which is coming on an unspecified October date. Apple's support document has additional information.