The arrival of iOS 5 last fall brought with it the ability to manage your to - dos in the form of the build up - in Reminders app . Reminders wo n’t imperil the many task direction utilities available from the App Store — Apple ’s built - in tool is really pitch more toward storing simple lists for shopping , wadding , and the corresponding . But there are some time- and location - based trick you’re able to master with Reminders on your iPhone , iPad , and iPod trace . Here ’s a quick guide on how to make the most of the app .
Lists
When you first launch Reminders , you ’ll see , by default , a vacuous listing ; the name of that listing , appropriately enough , is Reminders . you’re able to make multiple , separate lists in reminder , and allot individual job to any one of them . On the iPad , your lists are always visible on the left - hand side of the screen . On the iPhone , but bug the lists picture — the three parallel horizontal bars at the upper left — to let on your lists .
To add a new inclination , tap the Edit clit . Then , bug the Create New List radio link and start type your raw leaning ’s name . Tap Done when you ’re finished . While in Edit way , you could also rename listing , or employ the handles to reorder your lists . exploit the Done push button at the top lead to exit Edit modality wholly .
On the iPad , switch between lists is bare : Tap the list name at remaining , and that list ’s contents will forthwith appear on the rightfulness . iPhone substance abuser have a couple of options for listing - switching . The first is to tap the leaning icon at the top leave , and then tap the specific lean you ’re after . The quicker root , however , is to hook horizontally across the current tilt to leaf to the next one . Pagination dots at the bottom of the sieve indicate how many lists you may swipe through ; the leftmost inclination is your Completed inclination , which aggregate all the tasks you stop off as done .
On the iPad, Reminders shows your available lists at all times.
Tasks
Now that you ’ve mastered lists , it ’s meter to start adding labor — reminder , in the app ’s nomenclature . There are two elbow room to lend a chore : you could beg the plus ( + ) icon at the upper right , or tap in the topmost blank space on the practical seamed paper . ( If your inclination is empty , that means solicit the top distance to start typing . If you have three introduction on your list , tap where the twenty-five percent would go . )
Your task can take whatever form you ’d like . Your groceries list might contain first appearance like Eggs , Milk , and Peanut Butter Cups ; your Reminders inclination might instead include detail like Get a natal day Present For Uncle Jim and Take Out The Recycling Cans .
When you ’re complete typing in your task , it ’s not exclusively obvious what precisely you should do next . As is so often the case in Reminders , you get two choices : you may rap the Return key on the virtual keyboard , or you may exploit the Done button at the upper rightfulness .
You can schedule Reminders to alert you at a specific time, when you arrive or depart a specific place, or a combination of both.
Scheduling reminders
If you want to save other details for your reminder — add together a specific fourth dimension or localisation at which the reminder should be actuate , schedule a recur monitor , move it to another tilt , or supply other notes — you take to tap your newly - added entree . From the Details screen that appears , you may intercept the Remind Me clitoris to schedule a time- or location - based reminder . To limit a time - base monitor , slue the On a Day switch to on , and then choose the appointment and time your monitor should sound . Only task for which you have scheduled admonisher times can be localise to recur , reduplicate the reminder again at daily , weekly , biweekly , monthly , or yearly intervals .
Slide the Location slider to On , and you’re able to schedule your alert to sound when you arrive at or depart from a specific locating . Reminders , by nonpayment , assumes you want your reminder to relate to your current position . If you want it to remind you when you arrive at ( or leave ) somewhere else , pink Choose Address .
You ’re limited to address in your Contacts leaning . Thus , you may end up impart some redundant touch , like body of work or School — complete with their addresses , of course of action — so that you could more easily get Reminders to alarm you to blame up sure point when you ’re near those establishments .
Siri integrates quite well with Reminders on the iPhone 4S.
Here ’s how : Launch the Contacts app , and then tap the Plus ( + ) picture at the upper rightfield . you may put the name of the school , workplace , store , or any frequently visited website in the Company sphere , add together a telephone set number or vamoose it , and then scroll down to the field marked Add New Address . rap that , and then typecast in the address of your frequently see place . When you ’re finish , intercept the Done push button at the upper right field . From now on , you ’ll be able to use your just - added business as a location for such a admonisher . If you do n’t mind a slenderly cluttered Address Book , it ’s a great means of score sure you remember to buy lightbulb when you ’re near Home Depot .
If you arrogate your admonisher a priority , the Reminders app commemorate that , but does nothing with that info — you ca n’t reorder your labor , and higher priority ones do n’t move to the top of your list . You will see those priorities reflected only if you review your todos atthe iCloud website .
Reminders with Siri
If you use an iPhone 4S , you could also tote up monitor through Siri . Hold down the rest home push to bring up Siri , and then speak education like these :
To change which number Siri puts unexampled reminders on if you do n’t specify one , steer over to the configurations app .
Reminders settings
reminder preferences are , confusingly enough , determine in the Mail , Contacts , Calendars division of the preferences app . You get only two options : Sync and Default List . Sync determines how far back your reminders are sync . you’re able to select to synchronize reminders from two calendar week to six month back , or to sync all reminders . The default value is a single month .
Default List determines which lean new admonisher that you summate outside of the Reminders app will go to . In trueness , however , at this penning we ’re not cognizant of anything that this setting affectsotherthat monitor you add with Siri , when you do n’t specify a specific inclination to put them on as you speak .
Reminders in the cloud
As we ’ve covered before , you’re able to set up portion out list in Reminders using iCloud . To congeal up a partake list , you need to go back to the iCloud internet site . When other folks take your shared list , anyone can bestow , delete , or moderate off reminders on that list ; the full instructions are in the associate news report .
divided up lists are a big help for certain kinds of list . You and your pregnant other might prefer to create a shared shopping list ; that way , you’re able to each add items to the share list , and whoever hit the supermarket first can see off any buy item .
Even if you do n’t end up create a shared list , iCloud syncing for Reminders include an append benefit : If you use multiple iOS devices , iCloud keeps your reminder in sync on every iPhone , iPad , and iPod touch you use .
[ On Macworld staff author Lex Friedman ’s to - do list : Write a pithier one - line bio . ]