Apple, as we know it, is very consistent in its updates (obviously not hardware) and it is constantly innovating its own ecosystem, to deliver its own custom experience in which connectivity among one's devices is seamless, and makes working easier. Not to forget, this connectivity is not just for a single user's devices, but this ecosystem makes it easier for one to connect, communicate & collaborate with his or her friends & colleagues.
This Apple-ecosystem offers us connectivity among various applications & services, one of which is Reminders - an app that people generally overlook, and gets close to zero attention.
What really is Reminders?
Yes, it is quite self-explanatory and quite common too. We all know what it does, yet most of us fail to use it to its full potential. Obviously, we are happy to forget but not to spend two seconds to add a simple reminder.
Basically, Reminders is a simple app that comes pre-installed in your apple devices and serves you the purpose of a virtual assistant that reminds you things you wanted to be reminded of, for example, things you want to pickup from the grocery store, or an appointment you have with your dentist. Reminders is not the best app out there, but it is the best when it comes to using a reminder app on Apple devices, as it is integrated into the software and serves you right and better, plus you don't need to install an additional third party application on your devices or pay a subscription fees.
Get things done with Reminders!
An important part of getting things done is - not forgetting them. Using Reminders can be great for you, no matter for what aspect of your life you use it, be it your work, home, studies, training or all of them at once. Significant or insignificant, every thing has a place here.
Apple Reminders can also send you location-specific reminders - For example, you can add a certain reminder so that you will get a notification to buy required items when you go to the grocery store next time. Then there are person-specific reminders, you can add a reminder associated to a person and it will remind you the next time you are talking to that person on iMessages. Great, isn't it? There's more.
Lists
Reminders offer you a simple way to categorise your reminders or tasks as you like. When we create a new Reminder, it has to be mandatorily categorised to a list which we can select. The idea behind this is so that one can separate the reminders or tasks and put them in specific lists, and then access (and edit) any list and check out the upcoming or completed tasks of that specific list. For example, one can create different lists for Work, Grocery, Household chores, Study or anything else.
In the Reminders widget in Apple devices, you can select a particular list for that widget and it will show reminders assigned to that list only.
A list can also be shared with one or more persons, thanks to Apple's connectivity. In a shared list, members can add new reminders or edit the existing ones, and each member of the list will be reminded on their device whenever a reminder of the shared list is triggered.
Scheduling
A reminder may or may not have a date & time, however you like. When creating a new reminder, you can choose to be notified "Today", "Tomorrow", "Next Weekend" or select a particular date. If you want, you can only schedule a reminder by the date & not provide a specific time.
Location
Location specific reminders could be great for tasks you want to be reminded about when you are at a certain place, regardless of date & time. While creating a new reminder, you can choose to add a location, and then choose if you want to be reminded when you are arriving at that location or when you are leaving that location. Also, you have the car reminders, you can select any one of "Getting in Car" or "Getting out of Car", Simple yet great. It has to be kept in mind though that car specific reminders can only work if your phone connects to your car's bluetooth, as that is the only way the Reminders app will know you are in your car.
Messaging
Do you have a certain thing you want to discuss about with your friend the next time you text them? The iMessage trigger for reminders can be useful in many number of cases, be it with your colleagues, friends, relatives or just anyone you talk to on iMessage. When creating a new reminder, you can turn on the "When Messaging" switch and then choose a person from your contacts. The selected person won't know that you have created this reminder so no worries about that. You will get reminded about this the next time you are texting this person on iMessage. Simply great.
Subtasks
You can add multiple subtasks to a reminder and mark them off as you complete them. Subtasks can be added while creating a new reminder or while editing an existing one.
Images, notes & URL
More additions to a reminder can be done while creating or editing later, such as adding Images or scanned documents for reference or adding notes for a task. A URL (link) can also be added to your reminder, so that you are able to visit that link directly in a single click.
If you decide to start using Reminders for your profession or general life, remember that this change should be a slow process so that you aren't overwhelmed in the beginning. Integrating Apple reminders to your life could prove out to be very beneficial & increase your productivity as an employee, student, professional, homemaker and as a person.
Just as humans, technology can make mistakes too, so never be too dependent on it for important tasks.
There's more to reminders, like flags, tags, priority levels that I am skipping for right now & concluding this blog post.
Keep adding value to your life, checkout our other blogs here.
Signing off, SoberWriter.
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