Apple has slowly been adding more features and functionality to Reminders. For years it was little more than a simple checklist app. Now Reminders is competing with massive to-do list apps in the App Store. So let’s take a look at what’s new in iOS 16.
Pinned Lists
Like Notes and Messages, you can now pin reminders, allowing you to pin important and frequently used lists to the top for easy access, but only for your iCloud account. So it won’t work if you use Exchange, Yahoo, Outlook, or others.
To Pin a List from iCloud or My Lists section:
- Tap and hold the list or smart list you want to pin
- The Quick Actions menu will appear
- Choose Pin
The list will now move up to the top position where Today, Scheduled, All, Flagged, Completed, and Assigned for Me smart lists appear.
You can also use swipe options to pin lists and smart lists:
- Swipe right on the list and tap the pin icon or
- Continue to swipe right until the list disappears off the screen.
You can even tap the more icon (the circle with three dots) at the top of the screen:
- Choose edit lists
- Now drag and drop the list or smart list to the top section.
To Unpin a List:
- Long press on the list until the Quick Action menu appears
- Tap on Unpin
Create and Use List Templates
You can reuse a list by converting it to a template:
- Open an existing list
- Tap the more icon
- Choose Save as Template
- Rename it if you want
If you have completed reminders in the list and want to save them as part of the template, toggle on Include Completed Reminders. When done, hit Save.
When you open the list you saved as a template, a new icon will be next to the share button that allows you to make a new list. Tap it, choose the template you want, rename the new list, and hit Create. The new list will appear under iCloud or My Lists.
You can also access all of your templates from the list view:
- Tap the more icon
- Choose Templates
- Tap the (i) next to each template to edit, share or delete it.
You can also swipe left on a template to delete it or right swipe to share it.
New Section for All Completed Reminders
A new smart list called Completed is now located among the pinned list area. Here you’ll find all the reminders (from all your lists) you’ve marked as completed. The reminders are sorted by date, so you’ll see sections like Today, Previous 7 Days, Previous 30 Days, and older completed reminders by month.
Hide the Default Smart Lists
To easily hide any of the default smart lists:
- Push and hold on the card and choose Hide from the Quick actions menu.
Unhide Default Smart Lists:
- Tap the More icon in the top right corner
- Choose edit lists
- Tap on the empty circle next to the Smart list you want to be unhidden.
- Go back to the main screen, and it will be there.
Format Text in Notes Section of Reminders
Adding a note to a reminder is not a new feature but formatting the text inside the note is. The formatting options include bold, italic, underlined, bulleted, dashed lists, and numbered lists. You can apply formatting to a work or the whole note.
To add a note:
- Tap the reminder
- Choose the Add Note field below the title.
Another option:
- Tap the reminder
- Select the info button (i) to the right and select the Notes field
One more option:
- Left-swipe, the reminder, tap Details and select the Notes field
You can format a note while typing it or after adding it. To format while typing, tap on the cursor and choose Format from the menu. Next, select your formatting option now. For example, if you choose Bold, everything you type will be Bold until you disable it.
Suppose you format after typing select a phrase, word, or whole note. If the format menu doesn’t appear, tap the selection. Then choose Format.
Note: While there is no shortcut to bold, italicize or underline text. You can create lists without opening the format menu. Use an Asterisk to start a bulleted list, a dash for a dashed list, and a number for a numbered list.
Today and Scheduled Smart Lists Are Organized
When you open the Today smart List, your reminders will be organized in sections. The top section is for all-day reminders, while Morning, Afternoon, and Tonight are for reminders with specific times. Previously everything was in one group. When you use the sort option, they apply per section.
Scheduled smart lists come in categories like Past Due, Today, Tomorrow, and Rest of the Current Month, and by each month after that. Previously it was just one extensive list.
Add Badge Count to Today’s Items
In iOS 15, the badge count only applied to overdue reminders. That still applies in iOS 16, but you can add items due today to that count:
- Open the Settings app
- Scroll and tap Reminders
- Toggle on Include Due Today under Badge Count
New View in List Groups
If you have groups of multiple Lists, a new feature is available. If you’ve never created a group, here’s how:
- In the list view, tap the more icon,
- choose edit lists,
- Tap Add Group.
- Give it a name, and decide which lists you want to include
Now when you tap the group you created, you’ll get a combined view of the lists it contains and the reminders from those lists.
Receive Notifications from Shared Lists
Now you can choose to receive a notification for newly added or completed tasks in the Shared list:
- Long press the shared list in list view and tap Manage Shared List
- Now, toggle notifications on or off for when someone adds or completes a reminder.
Filter Reminders by Tag
From the tags browser at the bottom of the lists view, tap a tag or All Tags to filter the reminders. Now choose any other tags you want. In the dropdown below the selected tags, change all to any to see reminders with one or more highlighted tags, not just all.
Filter Out Reminders with Certain Tags
Also new is the ability to choose tags you want to omit from the search. When you tap a tag from the list, it highlights the tag. But when you tap a highlighted tag, it puts a line through it, indicating that filtered reminders should not have that tag even if they have another highlighted tag.
Conclusion
So that’s what’s new in the Reminders app with iOS 16. If you have questions or comments, let me know.
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