Reminders

Introduction

Reminders can be used in several different ways.  For the full story see the Reminders section in the iPhone and iPad User Guides.  I focus here on two types of reminder - those that trigger notifications at specified dates and times and those that can be used for lists like shopping lists or to do lists. I have deliberately excluded location based reminders such as "remind me to water the plants when I get back home" to keep the page to a reasonable length. Timed reminders are particularly useful for things like regular medications, putting out the bins and much more. Many reminders can be created using Siri; it may sometimes be simpler to use the Reminders app for complex reminders but Siri can usually do the job simply and effectively. The Siri instructions on this page apply to both sighted users and users with sight loss. Siri will speak all the details for VoiceOver users and sighted users will be able to read Siri responses on screen. All other instructions are for VoiceOver iPhone users but non-VoiceOver users and iPad users will probably be able to use the instructions with a little interpretation.

What's the difference between reminders and calendar notifications?

It's possible to set up the calendar to give notifications of upcoming events so why not just use calendar notifications? Here's my personal view.  Calendar events are perfect for appointments and meetings of all kinds. You can check your calendar using Siri every night to hear what is coming up tomorrow and, if you have set up notifications, they will trigger on or before the appointment according to your instructions. That's fine for appointments and meetings.  After all, if you miss a meeting, there's little point in being prompted again tomorrow. It can be different for tasks. You might, for example, want to be reminded to renew your passport three months before it expires.  If you enter that as an event in your calendar, you will probably spot it on that day but you may be too busy that day to do the job.  The calendar isn't going to remind you again unless you scan back through your calendar.  That's where reminders can help.  If you set up a reminder to renew your passport on a specific date then you will get a notification on the date.  If you aren't able to renew your passport on that date, the reminder will be marked as overdue and will remain in your list of reminders for the current day until you mark it as completed or delete it. When a reminder notification triggers you also ave options to ask to be reminded again later today or tomorrow. As an added safety net, reminders set for a specific time and date will be placed by default in your calendar. If you prefer not to have scheduled reminders in your calendar, open Calendar and use the Calendars button at the bottom of the screen to view all the calendars you are displaying in the app. Make sure that "scheduled reminders" and "show completed reminders" are both unselected.

Setting and checking timed reminders using Siri

iOS 18 seems to have reduced Siri's abilities reliably to set up complex reminders. I think the commands below should work on all recent versions of Siri and I'll keep checking. 

Here are some examples to show how Siri can set both simple and more complex reminders.

"Hey Siri, remind me to post the letter to Jim tomorrow";

"Hey Siri, remind me to collect Mandy from school at 3pm on th 5th of December";

"Hey Siri, remind me to go for a swim every Saturday at 2pm"';

Siri can also be used to check reminders scheduled for a particular day:

"Hey Siri, what are my reminders for today?" will list all your reminders scheduled for today.

"Hey Siri, what are my reminders for Friday?" will list reminders scheduled for the upcoming Friday. 

Unfortunately I haven't found a Siri request that lists overdue reminders and you will probably need to use the Reminders app for this.

What happens when a reminder notification is triggered

When a reminder is triggered, your phone or tablet will play the reminders sound.  You may like to go to Settings / Sounds and Haptics  and change the reminder alert to a sound that suits you.  I use  "telegraph" from the classic group, which is three rapid beeps. VoiceOver users will also probably hear the reminder spoken. Recent reminders will be displayed on your lock screen. If you don't catch it first time, go to the lock screen by clicking the side or top button. Alternatively you can check your reminders in the notification centre by touching the status bar at the top of the screen and swiping down with three fingers.

Reminders that were set with a date but no time will trigger at a time which is set in Settings / Apps / Reminders.  I think it will be set to 9am by default.

When you hear a reminder notification spoken by VoiceOver you have four choices.

You can choose to do nothing on your iPhone or tablet.  The reminder will remain active and will show up in the app as one of today's overdue reminders until the day you choose to mark it as complete or delete it. 

You can delete the reminder; this is the most appropriate choice for one-off reminders that you have completed.

You can mark the reminder as completed. This is what you should do for repeating reminders on which you have taken action.  This ensures that you aren't reminded again about this particular instance of the reminder but you will still be reminded of future repeats.

If it's not convenient to respond to the reminder right now, you can request to be reminded again later at one of several choices offered by the app.

If you want to delete a reminder, double tap on its notification and the Reminders app will normally open focused on that reminder.  Swipe up or down until you hear delete and double tap.

If you want to mark a reminder as completed, double tap on its notification and the Reminders app wil normally open focused on that reminder.  Double tap to mark the reminder as completed. VoiceOver may speak an intermediate stage but don't worry, the double tap will have done the job.

If you want to be reminded later, double tap and hold or triple tap on the reminder's notification and then swipe right through the menu that appears to locate your preferred choice and then double tap.

The Reminders app with VoiceOver

Viewing and managing reminders

The main Reminders screen begins with a set of standard reminder lists followed by any lists of reminders that you have created. The standard lists include Today, Scheduled, All and Completed. The Today list will include all overdue timed reminders that haven't been marked as completed or deleted as well as reminders set specifically for today.

Double tapping on one of the lists will display that list. "All" is probably the safest place to work until you are confident with reminders.  On the All Reminders page that opens, there will be a "lists" back button at top left to take you back to the main lists page. At the top right, there is a "more" button which displays a menu which includes an "edit lists" button for managing lists you create.

You can swipe right through the list of reminders and double tap any that you want to mark as completed. If a reminder is no longer needed, swipe up or down until you hear delete and double tap to delete it.

As you swipe up with VoiceOver focused on a reminder you will also hear "enter detail". Double tapping here will let you edit the reminder. This will be similar to creating a reminder in the app which is described below.

Reminders that you have marked as completed will be removed from the original list and placed in the Completed list. If you need to look back on completed reminders or wish to delete them to keep things tidy, return to the main screen and open the Completed list. You can review and delete completed reminders here if you wish. 

Creating a new reminder

The main page of the Reminders app has a toolbar at the bottom of the screen with a "new reminder" button at the left and an "add list" button at the right. Use the "new reminder" button to create a new reminder.

Enter the title of the reminder. Next swipe right from the title to locate the "details" button and double tap.

The first two options here are date and time. To set a date, double tap on date. This will turn dates on and allow you to select the desired date.

Use the calendar to set the date. 

If you want to set a time explore the screen below the calendar to locate the "time" button.

Double tap to turn on time.  

Swipe right to a picker for the time and set the desired time.

Swipe right to locate the repeat button. This shows a menu with many standard choices and a final custom choice.

Make your choice.

There are other buttons, but date, time and repeat are sufficient for many purposes. Having set all three, locate the add button at top right of the screen and double tap.

Creating and using Reminders lists

Reminders lists can be used for all sorts of things including shopping lists and task lists. Items can be added to lists using Siri and the contents of the list can be checked using Siri. It will be necessary to use the app initially to create a list and subsequently either to delete items or mark them as completed. Here's how it's done.

Open the Reminders app. You need to be on the lists page in order to create a new list. Feel near bottom right of the screen. If you find an "add list" button then you are on the right page and you can double tap to begin to create your new list. If you hear "new reminder" button then you will need to find the "lists" back button at the top left of the screen and double tap in order to return to the lists screen where you will find the "add list" button at bottom right. 

After double tapping on the "add list" button you will be editing a text field. Enter the list name using your preferred text input method and then locate the "done" button at top right of the screen and double tap. Let's assume you created a list called shopping.

Siri can now be used to add items to your list using instructions like:

"Hey Siri, add apples to shopping list".

Siri can speak the contents of the list; say something like"

"Hey Siri, what's in my shopping list?"

When you go shopping, you may prefer to open the Reminders app and double tap on the shopping list to have it displayed on screen. You can then swipe right to progress through the list and, when you have found an item, swipe right to the next item and repeat until you reach the end of the list.  That way, you'll have the list waiting ready for your next shop. You can delete unwanted items and add new items using Siri if you need.

Alternatively, if you don't usually repeat previous shopping items, then you may prefer to delete the list, which deletes all its items, and then create a new list for your next shop. Delete a list by locating it in the lists screen of the app and then swiping up to hear "delete" and then double tapping.

You can also mark items as completed or delete them individually as you shop. Experiment to discover what works best for you.

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