How to set up recurring reminders on iphone and ipad

Benj Edwards is an Associate Editor for How-To Geek. For over 15 years, he has written about technology and tech history for sites such as The Atlantic, Fast Company, PCMag, PCWorld, Macworld, Ars Technica, and Wired. In 2005, he created Vintage Computing and Gaming, a blog devoted to tech history. He also created The Culture of Tech podcast and regularly contributes to the Retronauts retrogaming podcast. Read more.

It’s not always easy to remember when to do important things. Luckily, your iPhone or iPad can easily remind you about a repeating task or event using the Reminders app. Here’s how to set it up.

First, launch the Reminders app on your iPhone or iPad. The interface will vary slightly between the two platforms, but the options are basically the same. Tap the “Today” button, then add a new reminder by tapping the “New Reminder” button at the bottom of the screen.

When a reminder entry appears, type in whatever name you’d like—for example, “Check the Smoke Detector Batteries” or “Feed the Goats.” After that, tap the “Info” button just beside the reminder name. (The Info button looks like a small circle with the letter “i” inside.)

In the Details pane that pops up, select an initial date and time for the reminder. To make the reminder repeat, tap the “Repeat” option.

You can have the reminder repeat daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, every 3 months, every 6 months, yearly, or at a custom frequency. Using the “Custom” option, you can choose to have the reminder repeat on certain days of the week, certain weeks of the month, or certain months of the year. Choose the option that works best for you.

After setting the repeat interval, you can also select a date when the repetition will end using the “End Repeat” option. Or you can have the reminder repeat forever.

When you’re finished, tap “Done,” and the reminder entry will be saved. You’ll know it was configured correctly if you see it listed in your Reminders app.

If you need to add more repeating reminders, just tap the “New Reminder” button again. You can add as many as you’d like. Good luck!

Khamosh Pathak is a freelance technology writer who specializes in tutorials. His work has also been published on Lifehacker, iPhoneHacks, Zapier’s blog, MakeUseOf, and Guiding Tech. Khamosh has nearly a decade of experience writing how-tos, features and technology guides on the internet. Read more.

If your work requires you to be in the field during the Coronavirus quarantine, you might want a reminder to clean your hands or the surfaces around you. You can set up hourly recurring reminders on your iPhone or iPad.

How to Set Recurring Reminders Using the Reminders App

With the release of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, Apple redesigned the Reminder app, bringing many new enhancements and features. One of them is the new addition of hourly recurring reminders.

The system is quite simple. When you get a notification for the reminder, mark it as complete. When you go back to the Reminders app, you’ll see that the reminder is still there but now has a due time of one more hour.

If you don’t mark the reminder as complete, it won’t recur the next hour. You can choose to set an end date for the recurring reminder, or you can simply delete the reminder.

Open the “Reminders” app on your iPhone or iPad and choose a list. Here, tap on the “New Reminder” button.

From the text box, give the reminder a name, something like “Wash your hands.” From there, tap on the “i” button from the right edge of the screen.

Tap on the toggle next to “Remind Me On A Day” option if it’s disabled and then select the toggle next to the “Remind Me At A Time” option. From there, tap on the timing option and choose a starting time. Next, select the “Repeat” option.

Here, choose the “Hourly” option.

Note: If you don’t see the “Hourly” option here, be sure to tap “Time” and give the reminder a time. The Hourly option won’t appear unless the reminder is associated with a specific time.

In the Details screen, you’ll see that a new option shows up. Tap on the “End Repeat” button to pick an end date for this option.

By default, the repeat cycle goes on indefinitely. You can choose to end it on a specific day from this menu.

Once you’ve customized the reminder, tap on the “Done” button.

If you want to delete a reminder, simply swipe left on it, then tap on the “Delete” button.

How to Set Recurring Reminders Using the Hourly Chime App

If you don’t have iOS 13, iPadOS 13, or later installed on your device, or if you don’t want to use the Reminders app, try the Hourly Chime app.

The app is a simple utility that alerts you at any hour that you choose. After installing the app, enable notifications, then select the hours that you want to reminded for.

Give the reminder a name and select the days of the week when you want it enabled.

At the given time, the Hourly Chime app will send you a notification.

Try Setting Up Multiple Recurring Alarms

If you don’t want to involve a third-party app, you can go super simple and just set up multiple alarms. You can set up 10 to 12 alarms for different times of the day and repeat them for all the days of the week.

The added benefit here is that an alarm is much harder to miss. Even if your iPhone or iPad is on Do Not Disturb or silent mode, the alarm will still bug you.

Open the “Clock” app on your iPhone or iPad and then tap on the “+” button in the Alarm section. From there, configure the time, the repeat cycle, then tap on the “Save” button.

Once you’ve set the alarm, follow our guide to learn how you can change the alarm sound.

It’s not always easy to remember when to do important things. Luckily, your iPhone or iPad can easily remind you about a repeating task or event using the Reminders app. Here’s how to set it up.

First, launch the Reminders app on your iPhone or iPad. The interface will vary slightly between the two platforms, but the options are basically the same. Tap the “Today” button, then add a new reminder by tapping the “New Reminder” button at the bottom of the screen.

When a reminder entry appears, type in whatever name you’d like—for example, “Check the Smoke Detector Batteries” or “Feed the Goats.” After that, tap the “Info” button just beside the reminder name. (The Info button looks like a small circle with the letter “i” inside.)

In the Details pane that pops up, select an initial date and time for the reminder. To make the reminder repeat, tap the “Repeat” option.

You can have the reminder repeat daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, every 3 months, every 6 months, yearly, or at a custom frequency. Using the “Custom” option, you can choose to have the reminder repeat on certain days of the week, certain weeks of the month, or certain months of the year. Choose the option that works best for you.

After setting the repeat interval, you can also select a date when the repetition will end using the “End Repeat” option. Or you can have the reminder repeat forever.

When you’re finished, tap “Done,” and the reminder entry will be saved. You’ll know it was configured correctly if you see it listed in your Reminders app.

If you need to add more repeating reminders, just tap the “New Reminder” button again. You can add as many as you’d like. Good luck!

If your job requires you to be in the field during coronavirus quarantine, you may want a reminder to clean your hands or the surfaces around you. You can set up recurring reminders every hour on your iPhone or iPad.

How to set recurring reminders using the Reminders app

With the release of iOS 13 and iPadOS 13, Apple has redesigned the Reminder app, bringing many new improvements and features. One of them is the new addition of hourly recurring reminders.

The system is quite simple. When you receive a notification for the reminder, mark it as complete. When you return to the Reminders app, you will see that the reminder is still there but is now an hour older.

If you don’t mark the reminder as complete, it won’t happen again the next hour. You can choose to set an end date for the recurring reminder, or you can just delete the reminder.

Open the “Reminders” app on your iPhone or iPad and choose a list. Here, press the “New reminder” button.

In the text box, give the reminder a name, something like “Wash your hands.” From there, press the “i” button from the right edge of the screen.

Tap the toggle next to the “Remind me a day” option if it’s turned off, and then select the toggle next to the “Remind me at a time” option. From there, tap on the sync option and choose a start time. Then select the “Repeat” option.

Here, choose the option “Every hour”.

In the Details screen, you will see that a new option appears. Press the “Repeat End” button to choose an end date for this option.

By default, the repeat cycle continues indefinitely. You can choose to end it on a specific day from this menu.

Once you have personalized the reminder, press the “Done” button.

If you want to delete a reminder, just swipe your finger to the left and then tap the “Delete” button.

How to set recurring reminders using the Hourly Chime app

If you don’t have iOS 13, iPadOS 13 or later installed on your device, or if you don’t want to use the Reminders app, try the Hourly Chime app.

The app is a simple utility that alerts you at any time of your choosing. After installing the app, turn on notifications and then select the times you want to remind.

Give the reminder a name and select the days of the week you want to activate it.

At the specified time, the Hourly Chime app will send you a notification.

Try to set up multiple recurring alarms

If you don’t want to involve a third party app, you can go really simple and just set up multiple alarms. You can configure 10 to 12 alarms for different times of the day and repeat them for all days of the week.

The added benefit here is that an alarm is much harder to miss. Even if your iPhone or iPad is in do not disturb mode or silent mode, the alarm will still disturb you.

Open the “Clock” app on your iPhone or iPad, then tap the “+” button in the Alarm section. From there, set the time, repeat cycle, then hit the “Save” button.

Once the alarm is set, follow our guide on how to change the alarm sound.

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Everyone has weekly, monthly or yearly events that they want to remember, maybe the monthly payment of a certain bill, maybe an anniversary. As it should be, the Reminders app is capable of creating recurring reminders. To set a recurring reminder on your iPhone or iPad, after creating a reminder and setting a date, simply tap “Repeat” and choose if you want the reminder to repeat daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, every three months, every six months . , annually or for a certain period of time. We can all be forgetful. Whether it’s a shopping list, tasks for a big project, or just sending emails and making calls, sometimes we forget important items on our to-do list. Fortunately for all of us, the Reminders app in iOS 14 is perfect for reminding you of tasks you want to do.

Reminders is more than just a to-do list. You can set scheduled times for your iPhone to remind you of certain tasks, you can have your phone remind you of a certain task when you leave or enter a place, and you can even set Reminders to repeat so you can remind yourself of something monthly. weekly, or even daily. Once you learn how to create tasks in the Reminders app, your best iPhone will be even better! Learn how to create all that and more in Reminders here!

How to set up recurring reminders on iPhone and iPad

• Launch the Reminders app on your iPhone or iPad.
• Enter a title for your reminder as you normally would.
• Tap the info button to the right of your new reminder.
• Turn on the Remind me one day option.
• Choose when you want to be reminded, and then tap Repeat.
• From here you can choose many options, including Custom.
• Set the desired frequency (eg Daily), then select Every.
• You will now be able to set how often you want to be reminded (eg every 4 days, etc.).

Final words: How to Set Up Recurring Reminders in iPad/iPhone

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This guide is about How to Set Up Recurring Reminders in iPad/iPhone. So read this free guide, How to Set Up Recurring Reminders in iPad/iPhone step by step. If you have query related to same article you may contact us.

• How to Set Up Recurring Reminders in iPad/iPhone – Guide
• how to set up Recurring Reminders on iPhone and iPad
• Final note

How to Set Up Recurring Reminders in iPad/iPhone – Guide

Everyone has weekly, monthly or yearly events they want to be reminded of – maybe the monthly payment for a certain bill, maybe a birthday. As it should, the Reminders app is capable of creating recurring reminders. Per up a recurring reminder on your iPhone or iPad, once you create a reminder and set a date, simply tap “Repeat” and choose whether you want the reminder to repeat daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly, every three months, every six months, annually, or for a specified period of time. We can all be forgotten. Whether it’s a shopping list, tasks for a big project, or just sending emails and making phone calls, we sometimes forget important items on our to-do list. Luckily for all of us, the Reminders app in iOS 14 is perfect for reminding you of tasks you want to get done.

Reminders is more than just a to-do list. you can set up scheduled times for your iPhone to remind you of certain tasks, you can phone remind you of a certain task when you leave or enter a location, and you can even set Reminders to repeat so you can remember something monthly, weekly, or even daily. once you learn how to create tasks in the Reminders app, your best iPhone will look even better! Learn how to create all this and more in Reminders here!

how to set up Recurring Reminders on iPhone and iPad

Final note

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You have so much going on. Why bother remembering it all? Whether it’s your personal life or career, we’ve got you covered. Add one-time, recurring or location-based reminders and Any.do will make sure you always reach your deadlines.

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“Amazing (: Love this app! Has so many features and functions. It links up with my calendar on my ipad really quickly so I can view all my events and tasks in one place. It also syncs up with my alexa so I can set reminders through that! It has a very simple but stylish layout and it is so easy to use.”

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“Makes it fun & easy to get stuff done. You always remember to use the app, which keeps you stuck to the team’s awesome new developments (like location-enabled task reminders, or recurring tasks). Ability to forward tasks directly from your email without ever opening the app is a huge time saver. And built-in integration with time tracking apps like Pomodoro or other Google Chrome extensions would have you think there was no way this app could be so fun, quick, customizable or nimble. It’s gangster!”

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“Life saver! I’m a senior in college and I’ve suffered from severe ADD all my life. I have tried countless organization type apps over the past four years. This one takes the cake! I love the simplicity and the fact that I can sync my tasks between all three of my Mac devices. The alarms are versatile and I like the feature that allows you to not only pick a time, but a specific location to be reminded its so so helpful. This app may not have all the “”bells and whistles”” but that’s what makes it perfect for me. It’s short, sweet, and to the point.”

The reminder app is such a useful app as it allows you to stay in schedule and reminds you to attend to your activities and meet up with events on time. For the reminder on the iPhone and iPad, you can set or customize your reminders quite extensively with the interesting features that it comes along with. There are some activities we engage in for different purposes, like self-development, that is continuous, hence we need to kept reminded about these activities. Since these activities are recurring, we would also need to prepare our reminder to work with our schedule. This article would guide you on how to set recurring reminders on your iPhone and iPad.

For Your iPhone

First, go to your reminder app and open it. Next, type in the title you want to save your reminder with. Tap on the “Info” icon at the top right of your screen. Next, tap on the toggle for “Remind me on a day”. After selecting the day or days you want to be reminded, don’t leave it at that, remember you’re setting up a recurring reminder, hence tap on “Repeat”. At this point, you can further customize the reminder to your preference as would be described later on in the article. You can also set the interval you want the reminder to recur. Tap on “Done” when you’ve finished setting up.

For Your iPad

First, go to your reminder app and open it. Next, type in the title you want to save your reminder with. Tap on the “Info” icon at the top right of your screen. Next, tap on the toggle for “Remind me on a day”. After selecting the day or days you want to be reminded, don’t leave it at that, remember you’re setting up a recurring reminder, hence tap on “Repeat”. At this point, you can further customize the reminder to your preference as would be described later on in the article. You can also set the interval you want the reminder to recur. Tap on “Done” when you’ve finished setting up.

Sync Your Reminders on Your iPhone And iPad

To ensure that you have your reminders wherever you go, it would be safer to sync both your iPhone and iPad, just in case you forget or lose one of them, you can always meet up in your appointments regardless.

Go to your Settings and tap on “Reminder”, next tap on “Sync”. You would be shown some options for the duration you want to sync, from 2 weeks to 6 months, or all reminders. Choose the duration you want and the reminders that would be synched would be the ones you set during that time. Remember that your both devices must be signed in with the same iCloud ID to have them synched.

Frequent hand washing is one of the best ways to protect yourself against harmful germs. So why not make this a habit and set hourly reminders on your iPhone and Mac. Although Apple Watch offers a quick solution with some third-party reminder apps, you might not wear your smartwatch while working from home. Plus, you’re probably deeply engrossed in some task or the other, which is why digital reminders can come to your rescue and help keep you healthy. So let’s check out the steps involved.

How to Set Hourly Reminders on iPhone and iPad

1. Open Reminders app on your iPhone or iPad
2. If you have created several lists of reminders, choose anyone.
   On my iPhone, I have four lists: Family, Office, Friends, and Relatives. I have selected Family.
3. Next, tap on New Reminder from the bottom left corner.
4. Give a suitable name to this reminder; an obvious choice is Wash Hands
5. Now tap on (i) next to the reminder
6. Turn on ‘Remind me on a day’.
7. You can now see ‘Remind me at a time’ option; you need to toggle this switch ON. And, then tap on ‘Repeat’
8. Select ‘Hourly’ → Tap on Done button from the top right corner.

You have successfully set an hourly reminder on your iOS device. From now on, your device will remind you to wash your hands every hour.

Use Siri to Set Up an Hourly Reminder on iOS Device

In case you don’t want to run through this manual method, you can invoke Siri to quickly set a reminder on your iOS device.

Now, use this single command: Hey Siri, remind me to wash hands every hour starting at 12 o’clock. Alternatively, you can ask: Hey Siri, set a reminder to wash hands every hour.

Siri will set an hourly reminder by picking up a suitable time.

How to Set Up a Recurring Reminder on Mac

1. Open Reminders app on your Mac.
2. Now, Select the list and click on the plus icon to add a new reminder.
3. Fill in the name of reminder
4. Next, Click on (i).
5. Check On a Day.
6. Then check At a Time.
7. Click Repeat → Custom.
8. Click Frequency and choose Hourly. Make sure it is 1 for hourly reminder. Click OK.
9. Click on (i) or anywhere at the blank space in Reminder’s app. You will see the word ‘Hourly’ below the reminder.

Summing up…

I think using Siri is a better way to quickly set hourly reminders on your Apple devices. Once you have done it successfully, keep washing your hands every hour to stay healthy.

You may also check out this post How to Use Reminders App on iPhone and iPad

Skip ahead to

• How to create a recurring card
• How to edit a recurring card
• How to mark a single instance of a recurring card complete
• Use cases

Your Trello board can be full of repeating tasks: a weekly report, monthly meeting, daily standup and more. They are important to remember, easy to forget and crucial to miss.

As Trello doesn’t offer recurring tasks out of the box, things can get very complicated.

With Planyway power-up for Trello there is no need to manually update dates anymore or use other apps like Trello Card Repeater which duplicates cards on your board and makes it super crowded.

All you need to do is just set the recurrency within a card once and get it on your schedule automatically whenever you want.

How to create a recurring card

You can set how frequently a Trello card will repeat in your calendar.

To make a card repeat:

1. Open the card editor in the Planyway calendar or in Trello.

1. Click the repetition drop-down list to open it.

1. Set how often the card should repeat by choosing the best option from the list.

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The list contains several preset recurrences, such as:

• Every day
• Every week on a certain day of the week
• Every month on a certain date
• Every weekday
• etc

Additionally, you can create a card with custom recurrence settings.

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Choose how often and for how long the card should repeat.

Cards can stop repeating:

• Never
• On a certain date
• After a given number of occurrences

Examples of custom recurrence settings:

• Every other week on Tuesday
• The 25th of every month
• Every four days

Some extra tips for you:

• To make a Trello task repeat on a quarterly schedule, choose custom recurrence settings. Then, set the task to repeat every three months.
• To make a task repeat twice a year, choose custom recurrence settings. Then, set the task to repeat every 6 months.

After customizing your recurrence settings, a series of tasks will appear in your Planyway calendar.

How to edit a recurring card

You can edit all events in a series, one event and all subsequent events, or just a single occurrence. To do so, click the recurring card and choose which events in the series you want to edit before making changes.

Each time you change a single task in the series, a new card will be created in Trello. It will reflect all the changes you make: a due date, assigned team member, description, etc.

For example, you may need to add supplemental information to each instance of a recurring card. To do so, choose This card each time you click a recurring task to add a specific description. A new card with this description will be added to Trello. You can create as many exceptions as you need.

How to mark a single instance of a recurring card complete

Right-click the relevant copy of the card in the Planyway calendar and choose Mark as complete.

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Then, choose This card in the editing dialog that appears.

This entry will be treated as an exception, so you can mark it complete without affecting other entries.

Important: All exceptions you make are still part of a single recurring Trello card. If you later choose to edit All cards, all exceptions will be removed and replaced with regular entries.

Use cases

Here are some cases where the recurring task feature can help to free up your time for more important things:

Editorial calendars for content creators

The recurring card feature can be very useful for marketing teams that manage their publishing schedule in Trello. Email newsletters, blog posts, social network posts, and many other kinds of content that need to be sent or published on a regular basis. The ability to create repeating tasks makes planning in Trello quicker and easier.

Meeting scheduling

This feature is also handy for teams that track their meeting schedules in Trello. Business consultants, HR managers and financial advisors can plan regular meetings with clients and recruiters using recurring cards.

Periodic reports for financial teams

There’s no need to create a separate Trello card each time you need to prepare the same type of report. Just set how frequently your reports should repeat with custom recurrence settings in the Planyway card. Read more about how financial teams can use Trello to track reports in our blog.

Education calendar

Free up your time creating repeating class schedules for school. Plan repeating tasks to manage your course workflow. Make your learning process fun and easy by planning recurring lessons on your calendar. The recurring card feature makes these and many other educational tasks in Trello simple and straightforward.

Check and manage all your notifications and reminders in the Planyway notification center

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Easily see what’s ahead today, this week or month

Calendars does a great job planning your day, week, and month. User experience was crafted to give you the most from using it on both iPhone and iPad.

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Get more done with the intelligent task-manager and organizer

Organize your work tasks, movies, or shopping list. Add the due date or make your task recurring. Calendars will gently remind you in advance to get it done.

We have a powerful iPhone calendar app on our hands here – meetings, locations, notes, tasks…everything under one roof.

Easily manage overpacked schedule

Drag and drop to reschedule

Just drag and drop your tasks and events to reschedule an appointment. You can do that both online and offline. Or, ask Siri instead.

Set up recurring events

Build good habits that stick

Some events are happening regularly – like visiting gym or Spanish classes. Create an event that repeats every week, month or even every 3rd Tuesday of a month.

Set up reminders to be always on time

Don’t ever forget birthdays and important events

Whether it’s a business meeting, family dinner or a birthday, set up up to five reminders to be notified by alarm or an email in advance. It’s a super reliable Reminders app, too.

Over 12 million people rely on Calendars app

For those looking for a well-rounded planner to replace the iOS Calendar, Calendars app is an excellent choice.

This is, by far, the best iPad calendar app I’ve ever used.

Readdle’s new iOS smart calendar app packs a punch, supporting Google Calendar, Tasks, Reminders and more.

Сalendars app is an impressive calendar app for iOS that looks terrific and offers easy-to-use features.

Calendars gets close to being my ideal iPhone calendar app for the current state of calendar and Reminders clients.

When it comes to combining both task lists and calendar events into one, the Calendars app currently does it best.

No, this is not a built-in feature.

By Sandra Gutierrez G. | Published Dec 2, 2021 6:00 PM

You’d think something as easy as recurring reminders or alarms would be a built-in smartphone feature. And although you can easily set up your device to ring at the same time every day, you still can’t have it vibrate, say, every two hours without creating 12 different alarms. That is, unless you have a third-party app.

Whether you need to take medication three times a day or just want to make sure you have a sip of water every 60 minutes, these apps for Android and iOS will help you reach your goals.

What you can do with your phone

Chances are the shortest interval you can set between alarms on your device’s built-in clock, calendar, or reminder app is 24 hours. But there are some haphazard workarounds.

On Android, you can tweak your phone’s snooze duration to have an alarm sound as often as every 30 minutes. To do this, go to the Clock app and set up a regular alarm by tapping the big plus button at the bottom and adding your desired parameters. When you’re done, tap the three dots at the top right corner of your screen and go to Settings. Scroll down, find Alarms, and tap Snooze length. There, choose the last option, 30 minutes, which is the longest time you can snooze an alarm for. Keep in mind that Android’s features differ greatly depending on your device’s manufacturer, so don’t be surprised if this option doesn’t exist or if you can actually set up recurrent alarms (lucky you).

If you do have to use this strategy, hit snooze every time the alarm goes off and you’ll technically get alerts every half an hour. Other than the fact that this is a limited trick, the biggest downside is that because the snooze becomes the actual alarm, you’ll have to do the task right then and there, or risk forgetting about it until the alarm goes off again.

Apple doesn’t let iOS users change its default 9-minute snooze duration, so you can’t use this trick if you have an iPhone. What you can do is set a timer in the Clock app and hit Repeat from your phone’s lock screen every time it goes off. But this only works if your phone is locked when the alert hits. If it’s not, your best bet is to open the Clock app and simply set a new timer. This, of course, is barely automated and less than ideal.

But there are third-party apps up for the task.

Apps for setting recurring alarms on iOS

Hourly Chime may be one of the simplest recurrent alarm apps available. All it does is offer alarms that’ll go off every hour, on the hour. But you can choose which alerts sound on which days and add notes to each one so you know what you have to do every time. What you can’t do is edit the times. Hourly Chime hasn’t been updated in five years, but considering how basic it is, this should not be a problem.

If you want more settings and options, Repeat Timer is a more complete alternative. Reminders can go off as frequently as every second (why would you do that?!) or as far apart as an entire day. A basic account will get you only five repeats for a single timer, but you can set a new timer to repeat five more times when that runs out. For $5 you can get 99 repeats per timer, plus 35 more sounds and the ability to have up to 10 timers running simultaneously.

Finally, there’s Alarmed, which may be the most feature-rich app on this list. You can set up alerts by using preset times or adding the exact moment you want it to go off. You can also name your reminders, add notes, color-code them, and put them in a particular category. Alarmed is also the only app on this list that has a nagging function, which can relentlessly remind you of what you need to do until you actually do it and dismiss the alert. The platform also has one of the biggest sound libraries on this list, so if you want to be able to recognize each reminder just by listening to it, you’ll find dozens of options including simple chimes, “frog symphony,” and growling zombies. Just like Hourly Chime, Alarmed has not been updated in a while (six years), so its looks and functions may not be optimized for newer iPhone models.

Apps for setting recurring alarms on Android

If you ever thought your alarm should have a social aspect to it, Galarm is for you. This free app lets you share alerts with your friends and family, so you and your siblings will never forget your parents’ anniversary ever again. Galarm also lets you set a reminder for someone else, and notifies you when it goes off, so you can check in to see if the other person did what they were supposed to. Other than that, this app lets you create recurring reminders that go off as often as one hour, and premium users ($0.99 a month or $6.99 a year) can shorten that to 45-minute intervals. You can also add a note to your alarm, determine the sound it’ll make, and even the amount of times you’re allowed to snooze it.

An equally capable app is To Do Reminder. It’s definitely not as social as Galarm, but this platform lets you schedule alarms to go off as often as every minute. You can even set up a notification to remind you the alarm is imminent. To Do Reminder is flexible and can be helpful whether your goal is to give your dog their medication as indicated by the vet, or leave your desk for a minute every hour.

Ever wanted to create a reminder on the iPhone that is on a unique repeating interval? Maybe of alternating days, like a reminder every other day, or a reminder every 3 days? Oddly, this option isn’t available natively in the Calendar or Reminders apps of iOS, but these custom repeat reminder options do exist on the iPhone and iPad, you just have to use Siri to create them.

Like almost everything with Siri, it’s actually quite easy to do, and once these custom reminders have been created they will sync across to your other iCloud equipped devices to their Calendars and Reminders just as you’d expect.

How to Create Custom Interval Reminders in iOS with Siri

Summon Siri as usual with a long press on the Home button, or by initiating Hey Siri, and then use the following verbiage:

• Remind me to [task] [custom interval]

Here are some practical examples using real language that works with Siri:

• Remind me to water my plants every 3 days
• Remind me to take a pill at 10:30am every other day
• Remind me to eat potato chips every Thursday and Friday
• Remind me to do something every two days when I get home

Each repeating reminder of this sort will be added to your list as a “Custom Repeat”, and they will sync across all of your iCloud-connected devices:

Note the location-based repetitions must use locations that have been defined in Contacts or otherwise, for your home, work, etc.

Inconsistencies with Custom Reminders & Calendars Apps in Mac OS X and iOS

Now here’s where things get a bit strange, because there is an inconsistency in how these apps and reminders work in iOS versus Mac OS X, and how they’re accessed through Siri or their respective apps after they’ve been created with Siri. Ken H., who sent in the tip, explains:

In Calendar on the iPhone, you can’t customize a repeat – you have only a handful of choices, like every day, every week, etc. But you can in Calendar on the Mac (iMac, MacBook); for example, the third Thursday of every month. And strangely, when you do this on the Mac, it syncs to the iPhone, although you couldn’t do it there directly.

In Reminders, you can’t customize a repeat either on the iPhone or the Mac; you get the same handful as I mentioned above.

So why can we create the custom reminders on the iPhone and iPad through Siri, or through Calendar for Mac OS X, but not natively in the iOS apps? It’s likely just oversight, and something that will be resolved in a future version of iOS. These type of custom reminders aren’t even included in the giant Siri commands list from the assistant’s info panel, but that will likely change soon too. In the meantime, using Siri is easy and syncs the same as other Reminders, so there’s little harm to not directly including them.

Learn how you can create reminders that will show in the Reminders app. With alarms and recurrences.

In this EventKit post let’s go over reminders represented with the EKReminder class and see how we can create reminders (programatically) that are then displayed in the Reminders app. This can be very useful when you are not building a reminder app but still want to offer reminder functionality to the users.

With EventKit the frameworks and Apple’s Reminders app do all the hard work for you. Including sending notifications, handling time and more if you configure recurring events or alarms.

Modifying Info.plist

Same as with calendars for working with user’s reminders we need to first request permission. Start by adding the key NSRemindersUsageDescription to Info.plist and explain why do you need the permission.

Requesting permissions

We also need to prepare an instance of EKEventStore which will manage saving events and getting default calendar.

Then we can call method to request the permissions.

This is simplified example. In a real app we would also have code to handle case when user did not grant an access. Maybe even some error handling but docs don’t specify any errors that could occur.

Creating reminder

Assuming we got access we can proceed to actually create the reminder. The code below belongs to the grantedAction closure but I am not nesting it here for better readability.

EKReminder needs associated calendar instance otherwise saving will throw an error. We can get the default one like this:

If you wanted to let user select which calendar to use, EventKitUI has solution named EKCalendarChooser exactly for this.

Now let’s create reminder and set its title and calendar:

Saving reminder

This is the absolutely minimal setup we need to save the reminder. You can try it by calling save method available on the EKEventStore

I am using try! since this is an example and it immediately alerts me to a problem. I would not recommend it in a real app. If you were to save multiple reminders then it would a good idea to set commit to false and as a last step call commit on the EKEventStore to save them all.

More reminder options

We can provide lots more information about the reminder. For example notes which is suitable for longer text and we can also set a priority although this is a bit cumbersome as you will see.

The priority is a simple int but the Reminders app has three priorities available and we can get those using the EKReminderPriority enum whose rawValue is UInt because I guess a negative priority does not make sense and the final code would look like this:

Not the most elegant code but it works well enough. There is also isCompleted property we can use to mark the reminder as done. Don’t forget to save the reminder afterwards.

By default reminders don’t have a due date but we can set one ourselves. The EKReminder uses DateComponents to allow to set a date plus timezone in one go. If you don’t specify a timezone it will default to the system one which is nice. Apple also notes in the docs that the components should be created with Gregorian calendar otherwise you will get an error.

The example above will set the due date three days into the future. Since we are not specifying hours and minutes the event will be all day.

Alarms and recurring reminders

And lastly let’s briefly look at setting an alarm and recurring reminders. Alarm (represented by the EKAlarm class) actually sounds really simple but it offers a lot of options. The simplest is firing the alarm exactly at the due date. We can either supply the Date itself or set zero time offset. The relativeOffset can also be of course used to fire the alarm like 15 minutes before the due date.

Reminders app allows users to set alarms for specific location and we can do that too. We can create instance of EKStructuredLocation and set it to alarm’s structuredLocation property.

There is also proximity property which lets us set whether we want the alarm to fire when user enters the location or leaves it.

Once you have an alarm instance you can use addAlarm on the EKReminder to add it.

Finally let’s look at setting up recurring reminders. This is done by creating an instance of EKRecurrenceRule we can further configure. It is pretty flexible. For example this one sets weekly recurrence and it will end after 10 events:

And like with alarm we can use addRecurrenceRule to add it to our reminder. There is also a method to remove it and hasRecurrences to quickly check if any exists. This is a bit tricky because together with the recurrenceRules array it implies we can set multiple but you can have either none or one.

If you were to add second rule the first one gets removed automatically. From the docs:

The implementation only supports a single recurrence rule. Adding a recurrence rule replaces the single recurrence rule.

There is still a lot more we could go into but I wanted something akin to short overview than exhausting documentation on EKReminder and all the options. If you liked the article and want more on EventKit you can check the whole series or let me know on twitter – @nemecek_f – if anything is missing.

Thanks for reading!

Uses: Xcode 12 & Swift 5.3

iOS blogger and developer with interest in Python/Django. My recent projects include IndieAppsCatalog and ImpressKit.

iOS blogger and developer with interest in Python/Django. My recent projects include IndieAppsCatalog and ImpressKit.

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I would like to configure an alert for a recurring reminder in Reminders.app on Mountain Lion. Currently the only options I have for repeating the alert are “Every Day”, “Every Week”, “Every 2 Weeks”, “Every Month” and “Every Year”.

Is there a way to get more fine-grained control on the repeat schedule? For example I’d like to be reminded for something on Mon-Tue-Thu-Fri? The only way I found to accomplish that is creating 4 seperate reminders with a weekly interval, which I want to avoid.

7 Answers 7

This bugs me too. It isn’t possible to do in Reminders, but you can achieve the same thing by creating a repeating event in Calendar, which has a “custom. ” item in the Repeat menu:

Then you can specify exactly when to repeat the event:

It seems like an oversight that Reminders doesn’t have the same feature (it would be just as useful), especially since the event/reminder detail UI is the same.

I found out you can accomplish this with BusyCal, which has iCloud support.

Unfortunately it comes with a $49.99 pricetag, which I am hesitant to pay for the sole purpose of adding custom intervals to reminders. I also prefer not to install a 3rd application in addition to Calendar and Reminders just for managing my tasks.

That’s why I did some digging and found an alternative (though very cumbersome) way to accomplish this specifically for iCloud reminders, but probably for other CalDav accounts too. You’ll also need to be comfortable with editing raw iCal files.

By: Waseem Patwegar

You can end up missing important appointments and suffer in other ways, if Reminders are not working on your iPhone. You will find below the steps to fix this issue on iPhone.

Reminders Not Working on iPhone

In most cases, the problem of Reminders not working on iPhone is usually due to reminder alerts being muted, incorrect reminder notification settings and unexplained iCloud glitches.

In a few cases, the problem could be due to Reminders App or the System Files on your iPhone being corrupted.

1. Check Reminder App Settings

First make sure that you have selected an Alert Tone for Reminders on your iPhone.

1. Go to Settings > Sounds and tap on Reminder Alerts .

2. On the next screen, make sure an Alert Tone has been selected for the Reminders App.

Note: If the Alert Tone is set to None, iPhone won’t be able to alert you using sound.

2. Check Notification Settings for Reminders

1. Go to Settings > Notifications > Reminders .

2. On the Reminders screen, make sure Allow Notifications option is enabled, Alert options are selected and tap on Sounds (if it shows as None).

3. On the next screen, select an Alert Sound that you would like to use for Reminders on your iPhone.

3. Install Updates

Make sure you are using the latest version of iOS and Reminders App on your iPhone.

1. Go to Settings > General > Software Update .

2. On the next screen, tap on Download & Install (If an Update is available).

4. Enable/Disable iCloud Access to Reminders App

Apple’s iCloud service can sometimes become glitchy, leading to Reminders not working on iPhone.

1. Open Settings and tap on your Apple ID Name .

2. On the next screen, tap on iCloud and move Reminders toggle to OFF position.

3. On the confirmation pop-up, tap on Delete from My iPhone option.

4. Wait for 5 minutes and move the Reminders toggle back to ON position.

5. Remove Reminders App Widget

Removing Reminders Widget from Home screen has helped some users to fix the problem.

1. Access Widgets screen by Swiping right on the Home screen of your iPhone.

2. On the Widgets screen, scroll down and tap on the Edit option.

3. Tap on the Red – icon next to Reminders > tap on the Remove option that appears.

4. Tap on Done to save this setting and Restart your iPhone.

6. Reinstall Reminders App

The problem might be due Reminders App being corrupted. This can be fixed by deleting Reminders App and Reinstalling it back on your device.

1. Locate Reminder App Icon on the Home screen of your iPhone.

2. Tap on Hold on the Reminder App icon and select Delete App option.

3. After deleting Reminders App, Restart your iPhone.

4. Open App Store > Search for Reminders App and Install Reminders App back on your iPhone.

7. Reset iPhone Settings

Note down the Password for your WiFi Network and follow the steps below to Reset All Settings on your iPhone.

1. Go to Settings > General > Reset > tap on Reset All Settings option.

2. On the next screen, enter your Lock Screen Passcode .

3. On the confirmation pop-up, tap on Reset All Settings to confirm.

Note: This method Resets all the settings on your iPhone to Factory default settings, you Photos and Data won’t be deleted or impacted in any way.

8. Restore iPhone

The last option is to Erase All Content and Settings from your device and Restore iPhone using an iCloud or iTunes Backup.

You can try this option if you have a recent Backup of iPhone on computer or on iCloud and you believe that Reminders were working properly, when you made this backup.

If a Backup of iPhone is not available, you can only Restore your iPhone as a New Device, which means loss of all your Data.

Peter writes: When using Calendar in iOS 8, is there a way of setting repeat for a specific day of the week, or month, or year? Like: the first Thursday of each month, or the third Wednesday?

Hi Peter! So, I was all set to explain that creating recurring Calendar events on your iPhone or iPad that hit precisely on, say, the first Thursday of every month could be a bit tricky.

But after a little more digging, I found that it’s actually pretty simple—indeed, in a few taps, you can create an event in the iOS Calendar app that lands on the first Thursday of each month, the second Wednesday, the third Friday…you name it.

You can also create an event that recurs, say, once every four weeks on a Thursday (but not necessarily the very first Thursday of the month), or once every two (or three, or four) months, or even once every two (or three, or thirty) years.

Here’s what you do…

• Launch the Calendar app, create a new event, tap the Repeat setting, then tap Custom.
• Choose the “frequency” with which you’d like the event to repeat: daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. For your particular question, Peter, let’s pick Monthly.
• Next tap “Every,” and make a selection—say, once a month, in this case. (You could also choose twice a month, three times a month, and so on.)
• Now, tap “Each” if you want to create an event that repeats on a certain day—like, say, the tenth—of each month, or tap “On the…” to pick a specific day of the week—such as the first Thursday of every month.
• Daily events can be set to repeat every day, once every two days, once every third day, and so on. Weekly events can happen once a week, twice a week, etc., and you can pick the day of the week (Thursday, for example) on which you want the event to hit. Yearly events follow roughly the same pattern, and you can choose the day of the year (like June 16) on which you’d like the event to begin.
• All set? Once you’ve made your selections, just back up to the New Event screen, then tap the Done button when you’re finished editing.

Hope that helps, Peter. Still have questions? Let me know!

Boomerang for Gmail lets you take control of when you send and receive email messages.

For Firefox 38+, Chrome 5.0+, Safari 5.1+, Opera 15+, and Edge 39+. Works with Gmail and G Suite (Google Apps) email.

“Seriously in love with Boomerang for Gmail! You can schedule emails to be sent at anytime.”

“Ugh. Boomerang by @baydin is awesome. Finally have the elusive Inbox Zero within my grasp..”

“If you write a lot of emails, then the Boomerang plugin for Gmail is your new best friend. ”

“I use @boomerang to make people think I get up early to write emails (And also to sleep on things I’m not sure about)”

“@baydin’s Boomerang for Gmail is hands down my favorite productivity tool. I use it 20+ times daily, SO HELPFUL.”

Send an email later

With Boomerang, you can write an email now and schedule it to be sent automatically at the perfect time. Just write the messages as you normally would, then click the Send Later button. Use our handy calendar picker or our text box that understands language like “next Monday” to tell Boomerang when to send your message. We’ll take it from there.

Remind you if you don’t hear back

There are times you need to make sure you follow up within a specific time frame after sending a message. You can select to only be reminded if nobody replies, or regardless. This way you won’t let messages slip through the crack and will never forget to follow up with people.

The best follow up reminders

Want a cleaner inbox, but don’t want to lose track of important messages? Use Boomerang to take messages out of your inbox until you actually need them. Just click the Boomerang button when you have an email open, and choose when you need it again. Boomerang will archive your message. At the time you choose, we’ll bring it back to your inbox, marked unread, starred or even at the top of your message list.

For iOS and Android!

Have you ever been out at dinner and remembered that you need to do something when you get to the office tomorrow morning? Now you can write an email while you’re on the go, and have it arrive exactly when you need to be reminded – like 8AM the next morning.

One-click calendar scheduling without leaving your email

Boomerang’s scheduling features save you and your guests time by eliminating back-and-forth emails, double bookings, and missed meetings due to typos.

Best of all, you don’t even have to leave your email, and our patented technology works no matter what email and calendar apps your guest uses.

• Suggest Times: schedule a meeting in a single email – no more back and forth!
• Share Free/Busy: Share your availability without giving up your privacy, even across domains!
• Turn emails into events: Add meeting details to your calendar, right from your Inbox!

Respondable: write perfect emails

Add an assistant that uses artificial intelligence to help you write better, more actionable emails in real time. Based on data from millions of messages, Respondable makes every email you send more effective:

• Get more responses to your emails
• Always strike the right tone
• Get insight into how you write

Get things done with Inbox Pause

Inbox Pause stops new email from coming into your Inbox until you’re ready for it. Studies show that checking email only a few times a day reduces stress and boosts productivity.

• Remove interruptions so you can finish important projects
• Block off times for deep focus work
• Reclaim hours of lost productivity

One of the features of the Reminders app that I use most frequently is customized repeating events. With this I can, for example, set a reminder for myself that repeats on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Or configure one that pops up on the first weekend day of every month, whenever that happens to fall. Come check this out with me! Maybe you can become as organized as I am.

That’s obviously a self-deprecating joke. Did I need to point that out? I really hope you guys know me better than that by now.

Anyway, you can do this on either macOS or iOS, but I’m going to be covering how to do it on the Mac (the steps are very similar, though). To get started, you’ll open the Reminders app and click on a blank line to type in the title of your item. Hover your cursor over your new reminder afterward, and you should see a small “i.” Click there…

…and you’ll see the options for how you’ll be reminded. To set up a custom repeat, select “On a Day,” and then click next to the “Repeat” section.

When you do that, the drop-down menu will offer you a “Custom” choice.

Under “Custom” is where the magic happens. This is how you’ll set a frequency for your repeated reminder—daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. Every frequency type has its own options; for example, “weekly” will let you pick multiple days of the week on which to get your notifications.

You can do the same thing with “Monthly”; choose many specific days for reminders…

…or use the drop-down menus at the bottom to get reminded on, say, the first weekend day of every month.

Spend some time going through all of your choices! There’s a ton of ways to use this. But once you’re satisfied, click the “OK” button, and Reminders will put what you selected into plain text so you can be sure things are set up correctly.

Then you can just click “Done” and move on with your life. In my case, now I know I’ll at least eat three vegetables a week! Whoo! My mom would be so proud.

Amazon’s Alexa will aid you with reminders, alarms, timers, and to-do lists via any Echo device as well as many third-party Alexa devices.

Do you need help juggling the many events, appointments, and other items in your life? Alexa is at your service.

With your Echo device, you can set up reminders so Alexa will notify you when a task or appointment is due. Create an alarm and use Alexa to wake up in the morning or alert you when a message arrives. Set up a timer for everything—from an egg to a race. You can even add items to a to-do list or shopping list.

Alexa will aid you with reminders, alarms, timers, and to-do lists via any Echo device as well as many third-party Alexa devices. You can also accomplish some of these feats through the Alexa mobile app on your mobile device. Let’s start with reminders.

Reminders

Reminders serve as short-term alarms that can help you remember certain activities or events. When a reminder comes due, Alexa chimes out “Here’s your reminder,” and then she tells you twice.

The one downside is that the reminder only sounds off on the Echo device on which you set it. So if you have more than one Echo, make sure you set the reminder on the one you use the most frequently. As a backup, the reminder also appears on your mobile device via the Alexa app.

Here’s how to set up a reminder on your Echo device and in the Alexa app.

Set Up Reminders on an Echo Device

There are several ways to set up a reminder with Alexa. Say: “Alexa, create a new reminder,” at which point Alexa will ask you what the reminder is for.

Tell her what it is, such as “go to the dentist,” “start the laundry,” or “begin cooking dinner.” Alexa then asks you for the date and time. You can say something like: “Today at 3pm,” “Tomorrow at 4pm,” or “July 10 at 10am.”

You can also give all the details of the reminder in one shot, like: “Alexa, remind me to go to the dentist today at 2:30pm.”

Set Up Reminders in Alexa App

Create Reminders in Alexa App

Check a Reminder

You can check your own reminders at any time. Say: “Alexa, what are my reminders?” and she’ll read them to you. You can also check the Reminders section in the Alexa app to see them.

Remove a reminder by saying, “Alexa, delete [name of reminder]” or all reminders by saying: “Alexa, delete all reminders.”

Alarms

Set an Alarm

You can set an alarm for a specific day and time. Say: “Alexa, set an alarm.” Alexa asks you for the day and time and then sets the alarm after you provide the details. You can also include the information in one shot. Say: “Alexa, set an alarm for 10:45 am today” or “Alexa, set an alarm for 8am tomorrow.”

You can ask for a recurring alarm to sound off every day, specific weekdays, or every weekend. Say: “Alexa, set a recurring alarm for 7am every Monday.”

View and Edit Alarms

You can keep track of your alarms by asking: “Alexa, what are my alarms?” Check the Alarms section in the Alexa app to review your existing alarms, or create new ones. Tap a specific alarm to alter its time, change its sound, modify its interval, or delete it.

You can even set an alarm to trigger a certain piece of music instead of the typical alarm sound. Delete an alarm by saying: “Alexa, delete [time of alarm]” or remove all alarms by saying: “Alexa, delete all alarms.”

Timers

Set a Timer

You can create a named timer to juggle multiple timers at one time. Say: “Alexa, set an egg timer for 3 minutes” if you’re boiling an egg or “Alexa, set a laundry timer for 30 minutes.” Your timers appear in the Timers section of the Alexa app, where you can pause or cancel each one, or change its volume.

You can also ask: “Alexa, what are my timers?” and she’ll give you the names and countdowns of your current timers. Want to delete a timer? Tell Alexa to cancel or pause a specific timer or cancel them all in one command.

To-Do Lists

Create To-Do Lists on an Echo Device

Create To-Do Lists in Alexa App

You can check both your shopping list and to-do list in the Alexa app. Open the app, tap the hamburger icon, and then tap the entry for Lists. Swipe the item to the right to mark it as completed.

Items can also be moved between your shopping list and to-do list. In either list, swipe a specific item to the left and tap the More icon. You can now search Amazon for that item. Tap Delete to remove the item from the list. Add an item to either list by tapping the plus icon in the upper right.

Third-Party To-Do List Skills

Want more options and power for maintaining a to-do list? You can tap into third-party to-do services, such as Any.do or Todoist, which are more robust than Alexa’s built-in to-do skill. From the Alexa app, tap the hamburger icon and then select Skills & Games.

Conduct a search by tapping the search icon in the upper-right corner. Type in the word lists in the field for keyword or skill name. From the search results, tap lists skills or just lists. You can now browse the array of skills related to lists and making lists.

Add a Skill

With AnyList, Cozi Lists, or Picniic, you must enable the skill in the Alexa app. You then have to create or sign in with an account for that service to use the skill. With skills such as Any.do and Todoist, you’ll be asked to leave the Alexa app and set up access to the third-party app.

After you have set up an account with any of the third-party list services, you can tell Alexa to add an item to your shopping list or to-do list, and Alexa will use that service.

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This guide will show you how to complete tasks using NFC tags on Shortcuts for iOS using the Reminders app on your iPhone. This setup is great for daily pill reminders, dog walks, and any other recurring reminder you use, and allows you to check off the reminder by initiating the NFC connection with your phone.

This page contains affiliate marketing links which support fossguides.co.

Tools for checking off iOS reminders with NFC tags

Shortcuts comes with iOS, but you’ll need some NFC tags to stick onto things. NFC tags are inexpensive stickers you can stick onto surfaces and scan by holding your phone close.

In my case, I put an NFC tag on a pill case and set up a recurring reminder to remind me to take the supplements.

Adding a recurring reminder to iOS Reminders

If you already have your recurring reminder set up, you can skip this section.

Add a new reminder for a day, and add a time if you want the recurring reminder to trigger only at a certain time in the day. Then, set it to repeat daily (or whatever interval you prefer), and add the reminder to a Recurring list.

Now your reminder will come up every day to be checked off.

Adding an NFC tag in Shortcuts

Open the Shortcuts app on iOS by searching for it, and then select the Automations tab at the bottom-center.

Select Create Personal Automation and scroll down to find the NFC option:

Then, hold your phone near the NFC tag that you’ve applied to whatever you want to trigger the automation from:

Programming your daily reminder Shortcut

We want our shortcut to do two main things:

1. Find the recurring reminder
2. Mark that reminder as completed.

To find the recurring reminder, select ?Add Action and search for the Reminders app. Then, select Find Reminders.

Then we need to add filters to find today’s recurring reminder. Select ?Add filter and add filters for your Recurring list, Due Date, and Name (not Title!).

Hitting ?? in the lower right will bring up Reminders that match your search criteria below the filter panel. You will probably have to play with filters to make it find only your task of the day.

Now we want Shortcuts to mark that reminder as completed when the NFC tag is scanned. Use the ? under the filters to add a resulting action. Select Edit Reminder and set the fields so Shortcuts will Set Is Completed of Reminders to Yes:

Now when you scan the NFC tag, Shortcuts will find your daily, recurring reminder and mark it as completed.

The last option is to turn off Ask Before Running once your Shortcut is running consistently. If you have this option set to on, you’ll have to select Run from the Shortcuts notification every time to scan the NFC tag. Here’s my Automation:

Thanks

Now you can use an NFC tag to complete your daily pill reminder, dog walk, or anything else. If you found this guide useful, consider supporting fossguides.co.

One more thing

? Here’s a bonus tip for automating reminders with Shortcuts on iOS to accompany this guide.

Q: I’ve just upgraded to Mountain Lion, and discovered that the new Reminders app for the Mac is almost exactly the same as the one on my iPhone, with many of the same annoying limits. I’m glad I can create repeating tasks on my Mac finally, but it seems I can only choose from a very limited set of options like every day or every week. What do I do if I want to repeat a task at another interval, such as every three or four days? What about repeating after I complete the task, rather than from the original due date? Am I missing something here, or is this app really as stupid as it seems? I know there are other apps out there, but I do like the Reminders for the location features and that it works in the background without me needing to open it all the time to check for and sync my tasks.

A: Reminders is an odd sort of app on both the iOS and Mac side as it is capable of supporting more capability under the hood than Apple has actually provided in the limited user interface. In fact, if you’re using an iPhone 4S, you can create a Reminder via Siri that includes options such as custom repeat intervals that aren’t available from directly in the app. For example, telling Siri “Remind me to take the garbage out every three days” will create a Reminder with a “custom” repeat interval of three days.

By default, this Reminder will start the next day at 9:00 AM, but you can customize this further by expanding your command to Siri, such as “Reminder me to take the garbage out every three days starting Sunday at 9 AM.”

Siri also provides additional hidden functionality for the Reminders app, such as Setting Call Reminders.

Further, since both the Calendars and Reminders applications use the open CalDAV standard, you can actually create and manage items in your Calendars and Reminders lists (which are also just CalDAV calendars under the hood) from just about any CalDAV application.

For example, as you’ve observed, your choices in the app for repeat intervals are limited to Every Day, Ever Week, Every 2 Weeks, Every Month, and Every Year; however not only can you create a task with a different repeat interval using another CalDAV application, but Reminders will display this as a “Custom” repeat interval and honour the repeat interval appropriately.

BusyCal, for example, actually provides direct support for iCloud Calendars and Reminders, yet allows users to specify additional properties for Reminders that are not normally supported directly in the Reminders app. This includes both highly customizable repeat intervals and the ability to specify a due date instead of a reminder; the due date feature allows a task to appear in the Reminders app on a specific day without actually firing off a notification alarm.

Not only are these features handled by the Reminders app, but once you’ve created tasks with these settings, they’ll actually be displayed in the Reminders app accordingly, with a new “Due Date” field available for that particular task, and a “Custom” repeat interval that expands to show the specific repeat information.

Further, you can even use both BusyCal and the Mountain Lion Reminders app in parallel, since they both sync with the same iCloud data. Reminders can be useful for quick entry as well as providing a nice “today list” while BusyCal is great for more sophisticated management of both Reminders and Calendars. It’s unfortunate, however, that Apple requires users to purchase and use additional software to access functionality that is inherently built-in to the Reminders applications in the first place.

– Oct. 16th 2019 10:31 am PT

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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.

Apple’s Reminders app has become more and more capable over the years, and this fall it has taken another big step forward. One feature that makes some third-party to-do apps more powerful is the ability to create subtasks and sublists. With the latest software, Apple has brought these features to its Reminders app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

However, there are a few nuances and quirks with how Apple has implemented subtasks and sublists. We’ll start with how it works on iPhone and iPad, then finish up with what it looks like on Mac, covering how to make subtasks from new reminders, how to make subtasks from existing ones, and how to make sublists.

How to make subtasks with Reminders on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Make new subtasks on iPhone and iPad (option 1):

1. Open the Reminders app
2. Type in a new reminder as your primary task
3. Tap the “i” to the right of the task
4. Swipe down and tap Subtasks
5. Create your Subtasks

Once you’ve got your subtasks added, tap Details in the top left corner, then Done. You can see subtasks in an expanded or contracted view by tapping the arrow to the right of your main task.

Make new subtasks on iPhone and iPad (option 2):

1. Open Reminders and create a new task that you want as your primary reminder
2. Create a second one that you want as your first subtask
3. Tap away from the last task you made (to be able to drag it you can’t have the cursor active on a task)
4. Drag the second task on top of the first to make it a subtask (naturally, works for existing tasks)

Make subtasks from existing reminders on iPhone and iPad:

1. Like the process above, drag the existing task you’d like to turn into a subtask on top of what you want to be your primary task
2. Drag more existing tasks on top of the primary to convert others into subtasks
3. Keep in mind you can’t have an active cursor on a task that you’d like to drag, so you may need to deselect a task to make it draggable

Make subtasks from new or existing reminders on Mac (option 1):

Notably, using the tab key doesn’t work to create subtasks underneath a primary one. Here’s what to do…

1. Open Reminders on your Mac
2. Make a new task that you’d like to be your primary
3. Now create a second one below that you’d like to be your first subtask
4. Right-click on the task and select Indent
5. Create more subtasks by pressing return/enter

Now it will become a subtask. Hit return/enter to create more subtasks

Make subtasks from new or existing reminders on Mac (option 2):

1. Create or find your existing reminders
2. Drag the task you’d like to become a subtask below the one you want as a primary
3. Look for the blue indent line to indicate it will become a subtask when you let go

Here’s how this looks:

How to make sublists in Reminders:

Another great option is to make sublists for even more organization, or as Apple calls them in Reminders, “Groups.”

On iPhone, iPad, and Mac:

1. In Reminders, head to the all Lists view
2. Drag and drop a list that you’d like to combine with another
3. Create a sublist/group name
4. You can also opt to add more Lists to the new group

Here’s how it looks on Mac:

Now you’re all set to enjoy the improved organization of Reminders across all of your devices!

Read more 9to5Mac tutorials:

macOS Catalina:

iPhone & iPad:

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How To

A collection of tutorials, tips, and tricks from the 9to5Mac team helping you fix and get the most out of your favorite gear.

iOS 13

iOS 13 was announced at WWDC 2019. It was released on September 19th, 2019.

In our previous update, we added a handy menu when you hold the send button. Today we’re populating this menu with a new option that helps you plan ahead.

Hold the ‘Send’ button in any chat and select ‘Schedule Message’ to automatically send things at a specified time in the future (DeLorean not included).

Scheduling also works in your ‘Saved Messages’ chat, turning your planned posts into reminders. Be your own time-travelling secretary – whether it’s about a dentist appointment next week, or waking up in time for pizza delivery.

Whenever a scheduled message or reminder is sent, you get a special notification marked with a , so you don’t get caught off-guard by messages you planned in the past.

You could first customize Telegram’s appearance way back in 2017. Today’s update makes this easier than ever across all platforms, including our native desktop apps.

Choose a pre-set accent color or pick something unique from the color wheel, and the app will adjust all elements accordingly. See how it looks in your favorite color, blue – no, yellow!

You can now easily create new themes based on your color and wallpaper choices, then fine-tune them manually or share right away. Each theme has a sharing link which allows anyone to switch to your theme and wallpaper in just two taps.

When you change your theme, it gets updated for all its users. This way you can update your app’s looks to evolve as Telegram updates – or to change with the seasons.

To try out cloud themes, take a look at Sky Blue or Desert. These will work for both iOS and Android, and we solemnly swear to update them to acid green on orange when you least expect it.

On iOS, we have condensed message options into a single menu for forwarding, replying and more. You can now also select any portion of the message to copy or share, instead of only the full text.

Telegram groups can be public and may hold up to 200,000 members each. When launching them, we were thinking of campuses, conventions and spaces where you could properly brag about your cats. However, Telegram communities are also increasingly used by people to organize themselves in the face of oppression.

We believe that all people have a right to express their opinions and communicate privately. To further protect these rights, we‘re expanding Telegram’s arsenal of Privacy Settings today.

If you set Who Can See My Phone Number to ‘Nobody’, a new option will appear below, allowing you to control your visibility for those who already have it. Setting Who Can Find Me By My Number to ‘My Contacts’ will ensure that random users who add your number as a contact are unable to match your profile to that number.

If, like the majority of our users, you rely on uploading phone contacts to identify friends and family members on the app, this setting won’t get in your way.

Regardless of whether you‘re fighting for freedom or queuing for coffee, you’ll likely find a use for the new additions to our animated emoji family.

As before, send a single , , , , or to unleash their spirit in motion.

And that’s all, folks! While waiting for our next update, check out this brief history of Telegram. Or, if you’re not into reading, run a bath and enjoy these animated rubber duck stickers.

September 5, 2019
The Telegram Team

The app is buggy and syncing is broken until Catalina launches

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Share All sharing options for: Broken iCloud reminders are the latest reason to delay your iOS 13 upgrade

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Apple’s bumpy rollout of iOS 13 has hit another roadblock in the form of major iCloud Reminders issues. Since the release of Apple’s mobile OS update last week, some users have reported problems trying to sync notes to the revamped Reminders app, which Apple redesigned this year to feature a new look and feel and some more robust organizational features. Other users are reporting missing lists or entirely deleted reminders, names of lists resetting to defaults, dates and times not transferring properly, and other syncing errors.

Even Apple itself admits that reminders won’t sync across devices properly unless every single machine you use is running the latest software. Yes, that includes macOS Catalina, which isn’t out yet, in the event you want to check your reminders using the companion Mac app.

“Upgraded reminders aren’t compatible with earlier versions of iOS and macOS. If you upgrade your reminders on your iPhone with iOS 13, your iPad and Mac using the same iCloud account can’t access your reminders until iPadOS and macOS 10.15 Catalina are available,” reads Apple’s support page for the Reminders redesign. But Apple makes no mention of the other issues, which appear to be the result of bugs.

Apple says you’ll be able to access your complete Reminders list over at iCloud.com. The company also created a unique safeguard for users running iOS 13 that allows you to delay fully upgrading the Reminders app until after macOS Catalina is out. It looks like this:

Yet some users apparently did not heed the warning and are now running into serious sync errors, while others are reporting problems completely unrelated to cross-device syncing, like the above-mentioned missing reminders issue and even reminders no longer showing up on iCloud.com.

@tim_cook @AppleSupport @Apple
Please fix reminders already! It’s a complete mess. I haven’t been able to access my reminders since updating to iOS 13. Updated my iPhone to 13.1.1 and made it worst. won’t even show my reminders any more.

For a good time, try to set up a shared Reminders list in iOS 13.1. Totally broken in a bunch of different ways.

My fault I guess for ignoring the warnings when I upgraded to iOS 13 yesterday, but I can’t believe Apple actually shipped this.

I was able to sync my reminders between my iPhone 11 Pro running iOS 13.1.2 and my MacBook Pro running macOS 10.14 Mojave until I tapped “Upgrade” and went through the process to fully transfer my app to the new version. All previous reminders created before then disappeared, and any new reminders I’ve created in the mobile version of the app no longer show up on my Mac, as Apple warned.

For some reason, however, I too am no longer able to access newly created mobile reminders when I log into iCloud.com. So it looks like this issue may be eventually resolved only after Apple irons out the kinks with yet another iOS 13 update, on top of the macOS Catalina release that promises to fix syncing.

Although Reminders may not be the most popular native iOS app, it’s another bruise for Apple over its bug-ridden iOS 13 launch. The company pushed up the release of iOS 13.1 earlier this month, presumably to get a more stable version of the OS in consumers’ hands as fast as possible and to protect against a lockscreen exploit. (Apple doesn’t typically say why it’s releasing an update at a certain date, outside the very formal and terse release notes.) And since the 13.1 release on September 24th, Apple has updated the software two times — to iOS 13.1.1 and today’s iOS 13.1.2 — to continue squashing bugs.

Hopefully, given all these compounding issues, Apple moves quickly to continue patching up iOS 13. Until then, Reminders users are stuck without desktop syncing and potentially a whole host of other issues if they happened to go through the update process too early.