iOS 26 introduces a lot of big changes to how the iPhone software looks and feels, but there are plenty of updates for system apps too, including Notes, Maps, Photos, and more. Apple’s Reminders app gets a variety of new features too, here’s everything coming to Reminders in iOS 26.
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Apple’s Reminders app has become a powerful task manager in recent years, and there’s one highly versatile feature that helps me stay sane when my to-do list grows out of control: Smart Lists.
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I used to change up task managers often, always looking for a new app that could make keeping up with todos just a little bit better. But for years now I’ve stuck with Apple’s Reminders app, and a tiny new iOS 18 feature has turned out to make a big difference for me.
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After years going mostly unchanged, Apple’s Calendar app has started improving quickly over the last few months. And there’s one recent feature in particular that I’ve long wanted, and it’s made a big difference for me: integrating Reminders with the Calendar app.
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Apple’s Reminders app has steadily grown from a basic list tool into a versatile task manager, including with its recent iOS 18 feature upgrades. Here are seven power user features worth checking out.
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Today DoorDash announced a variety of new features and improvements timed for the holiday season. One such change: a new integration with Apple’s Reminders app.
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iOS 18 is one of the biggest software updates ever for the iPhone. The forthcoming Apple Intelligence features are the headliner, but there are also powerful new customization tools and big changes to the apps you rely on every day, like Photos, Messages, and Notes. A key productivity tool being improved is the Reminders app, which includes a variety of new features in iOS 18.
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Apple’s Calendar and Reminders apps have long been core pillars of the company’s productivity offerings on the iPhone, Mac, and more. In iOS 18, Apple is supercharging these tools by integrating them—optionally—into one interface.
Now, you can view and manage all your reminders right alongside your calendar events inside the iOS 18 Calendar app.
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Reminders has been my one true shopping list since it landed on the iPhone in iOS 5. In iOS 17, the app fully embraces that part of its identity.
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The Reminders app is a fantastic tool developed by Apple that is free and easy to use. Underutilized by many, this app can be a game changer for those looking for help in the organization department. Through iCloud’s capabilities, you can use the Reminders app across Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Here are some tips on how to better use one of Apple’s popular organization tools.
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Along with the other changes Reminders received with iOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina, there’s a useful new way to get a nudge about a reminder you’ve set when using the Messages app. Follow along for how to use the “Remind when messaging” feature on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
The Reminders app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac got a big upgrade with iOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catalina. One of the handy new features is the option to create nested to-dos (and lists, too). Follow along for how to make subtasks and sublists with Reminders on iPhone, iPad, and Mac with the latest software.
I made the decision a few weeks ago to install the beta of macOS Catalina. It’s still pretty buggy, but since I enjoy testing out new features (and writing about them), I am willing to deal with the crashes and incompatibility throughout the summer. One of the biggest surprises for me has been the changes in the Reminders app. Over the years, I used several to-do/GTD/project management/task apps. From Kindless GTD, Omnifocus, Things, and Todoist, I’ve used a lot of them. I’ve always looked at the Reminders app with interest, though. It’s hard to beat the advantages of a built in-app. With macOS Catalina and iOS 13, the Reminders app is finally ready to take its place alongside the rest of the task apps on the Apple ecosystem.
I’m a big fan of the “Getting Things Done” methodology from David Allen. I’ve been following it for most of my professional career, and I attribute it to being able to stay organized and on task with my full-time job and writing here at 9to5Mac. With that being said, I don’t put everything in my GTD app. There are a lot of items like grocery lists, home repair plans, or even simple weekend tasks that end up in a list app. I want it to be easy to add to, easy to mark off, easy to organize, and simply get out of the way. It’s the heaviness of my GTD app that allows my simple list app to be light. I’ve tried a bunch of apps, so here’s my round-up of the best list apps for iPhone.
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Apple’s Reminders app is decent if you want to quickly form a list for later. One of the more hidden functions of the app is when you’re done with the list and no longer need it. Follow along to learn how to delete lists in Reminders on your iPhone or iPad.
Apple’s Reminders app is one of their apps that has the most potential in my opinion. While it didn’t receive much of an update with the announcements of iOS 12 and macOS Mojave, I believe that with some additional features, it could become the go-to GTD/task/productivity system for most people.
Waze, the popular Google-owned mapping app with a focus on community-based features, is today adding a new feature called “Planned Drives” for iOS users.
Today Google Calendar for both Android and iOS gains a handy new Reminders feature that works alongside the app’s to-dos feature.
With the Reminders feature, users will be able to keep track of to-do lists across Google platforms including Inbox, Google Keep, Google Now, and Calendar.
Here’s how the new reminders work:
You might already create calendar entries to remind you to call the doctor or pick up groceries on the way home. But while those entries come and go, Reminders stick with you over time so you can track them until they are actually done. If a Reminder isn’t completed, it will appear at the top of your Calendar the next day. And the next. When you do finally call the doctor or pick up those necessities, just swipe the Reminder away … and you’re onto the next to-do.
And since the reminders work across Google apps, you can create them from Inbox, Google Keep, Calendar, and even using Google Now voice commands: “Ok Google, remind me to buy birthday candles.”
The new Reminders feature for Calendar on Android and iOS is rolling out this week. Google says it will come to the web apps in the near future. The updated Google Calendar app for iOS also adds 3D Touch to create events or reminders.
Last month the popular Waze navigation app on iPhone got a major update with a new design and improvements to reporting traffic issues and sharing arrival times with others. Now Waze is out with its next new version which brings 3D Touch shortcuts to the Home screen icon for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users. Firmly press on the updated icon to quickly look up an address, share your location with other users, or get directions to your work or home address from your current location. Waze also says the update includes the usual bug fixes and improvements.
Fantastical already features 3D Touch shortcuts from its Home screen icon, and today the calendar and reminders app is adding more 3D Touch features for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users…
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Google today announced that it’s bringing its Google Keep note taking app to iPhone and iPad for the first time after originally releasing only for web and Android users a couple years back.
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Following Fantastical’s recent debut on the Apple Watch, which includes the full iCloud Reminders experience and more, Flexibits is delivering a neat new drafts feature to the intelligent calendar app and newly added support for another language.
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[Update: The issues seem to be resolved around 12:00 PM EST.]
[Update 2x: Apple has also acknowledged the outage on its system status page noting that it began last night and may still be ongoing.]
No word on Apple’s official iCloud system status page, but the Calendar and Reminders web apps on iCloud.com are currently down as several readers have pointed out. We’ve tested it here and the above error was returned. Apple’s iMessage service suffered a similar outage earlier this week with users reporting widespread downtime. Other iCloud web apps appear to be working properly. We’ll keep an eye on the outage and update if anything changes, but if you’re seeing the outage it’s not just you.
When Apple Watch and Watch OS 1.0 shipped in April, the definite omission of an Apple Reminders app on the platform was particularly surprising to me. The Apple Watch User Guide even highlights the app’s absence:
There’s no Reminders app on Apple Watch, but Apple Watch notifies you of reminders you create in the Reminders app on your iPhone—and on any other iOS device or Mac that’s signed in using your Apple ID. Also, you can create reminders using Siri on Apple Watch.
Creating and responding to reminders is fine, but my girlfriend and I use a shared iCloud Reminders list for our grocery list, and being able to glance at the watch as you walk through the supermarket without pulling out the iPhone is an ideal use case for Apple Watch. Fortunately, Flexibits has developed a new version of its Fantastical app for iPhone that brings the full Reminders experience to Apple Watch, fulfilling an important use case for the watch I had in mind before it arrived.
Fantastical for Apple Watch also brings the excellent streamlined calendar list view to the watch, complete with the app’s easy-to-use natural language parsing feature that sets it apart from Apple’s own calendar app…
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Flexibits, makers of Fantastical 2, just announced an upcoming version of the super useful calendar app coming to the Apple Watch. Included in the teaser is the above preview of Fantastical made for the Apple Watch. We’ll have a full hands-on review of the new app when it launches so stay posted for that. In the meantime, check out our review of the recently released Fantastical 2 for Mac, which takes the natural language parsing calendar from a menu bar app to a full fledged calendar with a complete Yosemite redesign. You can grab Fantastical 2 for iPhone from the App Store for $4.99 to be ready for the Apple Watch update.