iOS 18 is one of the biggest software updates in iPhone history. The upcoming Apple Intelligence feature is the highlight, but there’s also powerful new customization tools and big changes to the apps you use every day, including Photos, Messages, Notes, and more. The main productivity tool being improved is the Reminders app, which includes a variety of new features in iOS 18.
Calendar app reminders
One of the biggest changes to Reminders this year is that you can now create and manage reminders completely within the Calendar app.
By combining your calendar events and reminders into one app, you can provide a clearer overview of your day. Reminders apps aren’t going anywhere because their full feature set isn’t available within Calendar, but integrating ToDos into your daily schedule makes a lot of sense.
Subtasks in smart lists
If you’re like me, most of your use of reminders happens within smart lists. These include Today, Scheduled, Flagged, etc.
Smart Lists in iOS 18 finally support displaying subtasks. Previously, if you created a subtask, you could not view the subtask directly from within the smart list.
In iOS 17, if you have a task with three subtasks in the Today view, you won’t see those actual subtasks, just a line of text warning you that they contain subtasks. If you want more details, you need to tap on the Info button, scroll down and tap on subtasks. It hurt.
However, when viewing the same task in an assigned list (non-smart list), you can view all subtasks in an ordered hierarchy within the list at once.
iOS 18 adds the same simple view to smart lists. Whether you’re working within Today or Scheduled, you can see all your subtasks at a glance.
Sort today’s list
The second notable upgrade to Smart Lists in iOS 18 is the ability to change the order of different sections of the Today list. By default, Today sorts your reminders in the following ways:
Overdue reminders are listed first, then all-day reminders, and finally timed reminders, categorized into morning, afternoon, and evening.
With iOS 18, you can reorder these three different sections to view them in the way that makes the most sense to you. So, if you don’t want an overdue task to appear right away, you can move it to the bottom and prioritize another task.
New automation features for shortcuts
Apple has added new shortcut actions for Reminders to the Shortcuts app in iOS 18, including options to show/hide completed reminders or show/hide specific smart lists.
recently deleted list
Have you ever deleted a reminder and then regretted it? Apple knows this happens, so we’re introducing a new Recently Deleted list in Reminders. Similar to how iOS handles the deletion of apps like Notes and Photos, deleted reminders will be available for another 30 days before being permanently deleted.
iOS 17’s nifty grocery list feature now works in additional languages of your choice. If you go to (Settings) ⇾ (Apps) ⇾ (Reminders), you’ll see a new (Additional Languages) menu option that lets you set a second language for detecting items on your grocery list.
Coming soon: Apple Intelligence for Reminders
Reminders will benefit from a number of Apple Intelligence features coming next year. One big way is that the new and improved Siri will now be able to create reminders with a deeper understanding of the context of what’s on your screen at any given time.
For years, Apple’s Assistant has had limited ability to say “remind me about this,” but in some cases it has figured it out and created useful reminders. For example, in iOS 17, this works when you’re viewing an email message, so Siri can create a reminder that links to that message.
Future updates to iOS 18 will make Siri more aware of your screen than ever before and will be able to offer these kinds of features.
Siri will now be able to go beyond just knowing that an email is on your screen to understanding its content, including flight information, contact information, calendar event information, and more. In theory, you could just say “Add this to a reminder” and Siri would do it, with no further instructions needed.
Another area where Reminders could benefit from Apple Intelligence is its priority notifications feature. This could potentially enable more timely and intelligent reminder notifications in iOS 18.1.
iOS 18 Reminder Summary
While iOS 18’s Reminders updates may not be on the same scale as other apps, I especially like the integration with Calendar. All other changes provide meaningful quality of life improvements that support all types of use.
What are you most looking forward to in the iOS 18 update for Reminder? What features are still on your wish list? Let us know in the comments.
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