reminders
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Fantastical 2 for iPhone wants to be your all-in-one calendar and reminder app
From its humble beginnings on OS X, Fantastical's contextual input changed the way plenty of people set appointments and reminders. When it arrived on the iPhone last November, the app became the first calendar software to reach number one on the App Store. Almost a year later, and Flexibits is looking to build on that success with Fantastical 2, a $2.99 upgrade that offers a new design and plenty of iOS 7 specific features.
Daily iPhone App: Knot reminds you of tasks and gives your memory a workout
The iPhone is usually the item you have at hand when you need to make a quick note, and Knot takes advantage of this by making it as easy as possible to leave yourself a reminder -- tying the proverbial piece of string around your finger. Knot goes a step further from basic reminders by utilizing associative memory to prompt you to actually remember what you have to do. You choose where or when your phone will alert you that you have a task to accomplish, type it in and then hit the home button to close the app. When you reach the location or time of the task, Knot will remind you that you needed to do something -- it's up to your brain to supply the missing information. If you actually remember your task, acknowledge it in the app. You can cheat; Knot keeps a list of active tasks you can access at any time. But at the bottom of that list is a memory score letting you know how much you actually remember or shaming you into trying to work those memory skills. It's great for exercising your brain, but Knot is best used when you're busy and need to jot down a reminder for something that will be done in the next couple of hours, not the next few days. Knot isn't good for long-term planning or GTD gurus, but it's great for remembering those little one-off tasks that pop up during the day. Knot is US$0.99 on the App Store.
Google gives search a new engine and card UI for mobile, reveals new iOS search app
Google's feeling a bit nostalgic lately: in fact, today is the company's 15th anniversary. However, its look at the past is a fleeting thing, and Big G is very much focused on the future. To that end, Senior VP of Search, Amit Singhal just revealed a host of new features for search. First up, tablet and mobile users will be seeing a new card-based UI that's been making its way across all of Google's services, and has defined the look of Google Now since its inception. In addition to providing a consistent brand appearance, the new look arrives in tandem with an improvement to the Knowledge Graph that delivers an easier way for folks to drill down on answers to their queries. For example, when searching for a particular band, a card will pop up at the top with a list of songs that you can scroll from side to side. In another example, search answered a comparison query with an expandable, columned chart card that displayed pertinent info about the two things asked to be compared. Plus, you'll be able to see other cards with web and other results at the same time, instead of needing to navigate between pages to see all the results. In keeping with the updated aesthetics on Android, Google's also rolling out a new-look version of its iOS search app. The new app version will put users directly in a Google Now interface that'll feel familiar to Android users, and brings notifications, reminders and hotwording to Apple-philes. Furthermore, the search app is now cross-platform, so if you add a reminder in iOS, it'll show up on Android and vice-versa.
Google Keep code hints at future Drive and video integration
Google Keep stores its content in Drive, but it doesn't pull content from Drive. That may change, however, as Google Operating System has spotted some unused Drive integration code within the Android app. They suggest that users could attach Drive files to their notes and either view them directly or open them in third-party software. Media hounds wouldn't have to upload video, though -- there's mention of embedding YouTube clips. The code doesn't guarantee that Keep will be file-savvy in the near future, but it does show that Google is at least considering such an upgrade.
Readdle ships Calendars 5, smart calendar for iOS
Calendars 5 (US$6.99, available now at an introductory price of $4.99) was released today by Readdle, Inc. We'll have a full review of the new app soon, but suffice it to say that Calendars 5 is billed as a "smart calendar that understands human language and supports tasks and iOS reminders." Check out the video below for an idea of how the natural language processing of Calendars 5 works, and be sure to grab the app while it's on sale.
Google Keep update adds location and timed reminders, improves photo attachment
Google's Keep still isn't quite as robust as competitors like Evernote, but an update rolling out today is narrowing the gap slightly. Mountain View is bringing both location- and time-based reminders to its note-taking app, dramatically increasing its utility as a task management tool. Sure, it won't let you set recurring events or assign duties to people, but it can nudge you to take care of the seating chart for your wedding or pop up your grocery list when you walk in to a Western Beef. Adding a reminder is as easy as tapping the "remind me" button at the bottom of any note, selecting the type of reminder then punching in the appropriate location or time. Any alarms can be snoozed or changed if it turns out to be an inopportune time. Google has also finally added an option to attach an existing photo when creating or editing a note -- a feature that clearly should have been included on day one. Lastly, there's a bit of a UI shuffle, with the now nearly ubiquitous sliding navigation drawer being added to the left-hand side. As is usual with these sorts of things, the update is rolling out in waves, so just keep checking the Play store for updates.
Give Apple's reminders a boost with AppleScript
Reminders is one of those apps that most Mac users probably don't touch, and the vast majority of those who do are likely not getting the most out of it. But with a little added functionality thanks to some basic AppleScript tweaking, Reminders can transform into a more useful tool, allowing you to save browser tab information to your reminder list with just a tap and even instantly bring up a quick reminder entry field for notes whenever you need it. The process is rather simple and involves creating a pair of very basic scripts via OS X's AppleScript utility. You can then map these scripts to your keyboard using any number of launchers -- such as Alfred or Keyboard Maestro. MacStories has the full rundown on the scripts, which you can simply copy and paste into AppleScript in order to give them a test drive.
Evernote finally remembers to add Reminders to Android app (update: Windows Phone also)
Two weeks after Evernote added Reminders to its Mac, iOS and web applications, the highly anticipated feature has arrived for Android as well. As with the other platforms, you can now set up an alarm just by tapping the clock icon in a note. You'll be able to configure due dates, times and whether you want to be alerted via an in-app notification or email. The Reminders are then attached to each notebook, allowing you to organize them in a to-do list if you so choose. You can permit friends or colleagues to subscribe to them too, which could be useful if you want note collaborators to keep track of project deadlines. Aside from helping you memorize things, Evernote also added a few other improvements to the Android app. They include improved copy and paste in note view, corrected photo order in the multi-shot camera, more functional shortcuts and better Japanese language support. There's no need to remind yourself to download this update -- just head on over to the Google Play link and get it right now. Update: We've learned that Evernote on Windows Phone has been updated to include the Reminders feature too -- we've added a link to the Windows Phone Store app below.
Evernote introduces reminders to Mac, iOS apps
One of the reasons that I've never been a super-user of Evernote is that while it's a great place to save your notes, scans and other materials, it's never had the ability to simply let you know when you need to get something done. Instead, it has always relied on another app to give you a heads-up that you need to work on something. Today, Evernote released updates for the Mac and iOS clients that introduce a built-in reminder function. In a beautiful writeup of the feature over at MacStories.net, Federico Viticci details his experiences testing the reminders capability prior to release, saying that "reminders are a good addition that fit well with Evernote's focus on remembering everything through a unified, polished interface." As Viticci notes, this update doesn't add the level of reminder functionality that you'll find in Due or OmniFocus. Instead, the reminders are there to associate a reminder with an Evernote note. On the Mac app, reminders are accessed with a click on a small clock icon that displays a popover for adding a date. Should you clear a Reminder, the note it is attached to is untouched and remains for future reference. Viticci says that he was quite surprised with the lack of a natural-language input method for reminders, since both Due and Fantastical allow entries like "next Thursday" or "today at 8." But the main point of the new feature is that you don't create a reminder -- instead, you're creating a note that just happens to have a reminder attached to it. Be sure to check out Federico's detailed post about Evernote's new reminders; in the meantime, here's a video from Evernote VP of Marketing Andrew Sinkov about the addition.
Daily Update for May 23, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Evernote adds Reminders to Mac, iOS and web applications (video)
Sure, Evernote is great for jotting down recipes and syncing notes to the cloud, but users lacking in the memory department still had to rely on external alarm apps to remind them of their to-do lists. That all ends today with the introduction of Evernote's Reminders feature for Mac, iOS and web applications. Simply tap the alarm clock icon on each note and set the desired date and time you want to be reminded of it. You'll then get an in-app alarm or an email reminder sent to you if you've set it up that way. That particular notebook will also now have a Reminders section on top to help you keep track of your various projects. Sadly, there's no word on an Android implementation just yet -- perhaps we should ask Evernote to set a Reminder for that.
Daily iPhone App: ListBook: A list app with location based reminders and more
NoIdentity's ListBook (US$1.99) is a straightforward list compiler that looks great and has some well-implemented features to help you get on top of all those lists and things to get done. The list maker lets you compile numerous lists and add items (or to-dos / tasks) to those lists. To create a list, add one and give it a title, like "groceries" or "personal," and categorize it by assigning one of 15 images to it, to help differentiate what kind of list it is. Within a list, just pull down to add a new item to that list. This takes you to a detailed view of the item. The first line of text you enter becomes the title of that item. If you add more text on a new line, that appears as a note underneath the title of that item when viewed in its respective list. Items can be assigned or tagged a specific color, to help identify certain items within a list. Items can also have reminders set by date and time as well as location-based reminders, similar to Apple's Reminders app. So when you leave or arrive at a specific location you'll receive a reminder. Recurring reminders can also be set. To complete, check or finish an item, just tap it and it is marked with a tick and becomes slightly faded, or you can set completed items in individual lists to be hidden. There's no way to view all items in one list, but that's not the point of ListBook. ListBook is about making lists, categorizing them and helping you to remember to complete them. Unfortunately there's no cross-platform syncing, which would be nice considering ListBook is a universal app for iPhone and iPad. But if you're looking for a reminders / list app with a bit more flare and power than Apple's Reminders app, but no desire to dive into the depths of pro-organization, then ListBook is worth checking out.
Managing Notification Center annoyances
Reminders is either one of the most useful apps in OS X 10.8 or one of the most annoying, depending on who you talk to. I use Reminders on my iPhone a lot, but not so much on my Mac. Part of the reason is because I assumed that once a Reminder notification popped up on screen my only options were to leave it there, close it (thus disabling the reminder for good) or "snooze" it. But there's actually a hidden option I never knew about. As Lex Friedman points out in a new OS X tips video over on Macworld, you can actually click and hold on a Reminder notification and then flick it off to the side of the screen. Doing this will tell the reminder to reappear in 10 minutes' time. It's a great option when you want to clear a reminder from your screen -- say, to access a window the the desktop underneath -- but don't want to totally forget about the Reminder. Lex shares several other Reminder tips in his video, so be sure to check it out.
The Soapbox: Stop reminding me that I'm playing a game
To me, the most amazing part of a video game is the way that it can steal you away from the real world in a way that nothing else quite can. A good book or film will take your focus for several hours, but you're still aware that there's a layer between you and the media. A good game blurs that, lets you creep into the game world for a while and experience things you never would otherwise. There are moments of wonder and joy that you can feel from a few hours in games that are simply unmatched. So please, stop ruining it. MMOs in particular have gotten bad about this. It's ironic, as the genre as a whole lends itself to people taking a step into another world. But what's changed isn't a matter of systems or mechanics, just a sense of what designers feel are completely acceptable breaks between in-game reality and the real world. It's annoying. So stop reminding me that I'm playing a game, will you?
Checkmark 1.1 adds recurring reminders, snooze reminders, more
Checkmark is a reminder app from Snowman that we've reviewed before. In many ways, it's faster than using Apple's Reminders app, especially once you've created favorite locations and reminders. Version 1.1, released today, adds recurring reminders, snooze reminders and more, making a handy utility even better. I'm liking recurring reminders for simple things like "go meet the school bus." Believe me, forget that once and you hear about it. I could also see using this if you have a time-sensitive medication schedule, provided that you'll be sure to have your phone with you at med time. You can schedule a reminder to recur hourly, daily, weekly or monthly. Snooze reminders let you put off a reminder if you can't do it when originally scheduled. Swipe to delay by a minute or an hour. The "Add to Map" feature has also been improved with new satellite and hybrid views. It's a nice update to a handy app. Checkmark 1.1 is available in the App Store now for US$1.99, requires iOS 5.0 or later and is ready for the iPhone 5.
Apple iCloud adds iOS-style notification bar, Notes and Reminders web apps
The iCloud's web interface has been updated with a new drop-down notification bar. Alongside badge notifications, it offers up browser-based notifications across Mail, Calendar, Reminders and Find My Phone -- which still remains powered by Google Maps, for now. An earlier update also bundled Notes and reminders into the web app, both mimicking the looks of their iPad versions. Now we just need a big enough reason to keep iCloud's site constantly open. [Thanks Austin]
New iCloud.com Notes and Reminders web apps now live
Apple has just activated new web apps on iCloud.com that have been, until now, only available to developers. The new feature adds the Notes and Reminders web apps along with improvements to the Mail and Find My iPhone web apps. The new Notes and Reminders web apps look exactly like their matching apps on the iPad. The new Mail web app features include VIP lists. Apple has also added new web notification settings to iCloud.com. Clicking on your iCloud user name and then selecting Notifications allow you to toggle notifications for Mail, Calendar, Reminders, and Find My iPhone. Apple says that up to 1.1% of users were experiencing iCloud email outages earlier this week. No word yet on if these iCloud.com upgrades had anything to do with the service outage, although we hear service has been restored. iCloud users can log into www.icloud.com to see the new web apps in action.
Mountain Lion 101: Reminders and Notes
Two more iOS apps that made their way to OS X Mountain Lion are Reminders and Notes. Let's take a quick look at how both of the new apps work on the Mac and how they integrate with their iOS counterparts. Reminders Reminders is one of the iOS apps that I was waiting for on OS X, and now that it's here I am dumping my many other to-do apps. Why? Well, it's not that I don't like buying a lot of apps, but if I can get something that is integrated into my operating systems and free, I'm going to go for it. The OS X Reminders app looks a lot like the iPad version in landscape orientation, but there are some differences. The iOS version has a list of Completed reminders; that's not visible on the Mac version. One of the big advantages about having Reminders on all of your Apple devices is that adding, editing, or removing a reminder on one device synchronizes the changes to all devices. The sync times vary depending on how busy things are, but I've usually seen updates on all devices within a few minutes. Clicking on the info "i" for any reminder allows you to edit the details, including visual/alert reminders and geofencing. I love being able to look up an address for a place in Safari, then pasting that location into the "custom location" field so that I'm reminded of something on my iPhone when I arrive there. While many OS X users may bemoan the simplicity of Reminders, that's what I personally love about it. I plan on using this app with the iOS counterpart a lot. Notes Unfortunately, Apple decided to make the Notes app for Mountain Lion look a lot like the iOS version. It uses the same mock legal pad, the same default Noteworthy Light font, and is pretty minimalistic in nature. On the plus side, that makes the Notes app extremely easy to use. You'll get a "notebook" for every email account that you enable in the "Mail, Contacts, and Calendars" System Preference -- checking the "Notes" box adds that feature to a particular account. For simplicity, I chose to disable all except iCloud, so that's where all of my notes are. Or should I say, were. I had some notes that were associated with a specific Gmail account that I am no longer using. This morning, I saw them. Later, they were gone, because I had deleted that Gmail account. Having one account for notes makes life a lot easier. As with Reminders, synchronization of Notes is crazy fast -- if you don't see an update immediately, close out of the app on another device and then re-open it, and it will reflect any changes you've made on the Mac. I found a bit of a bug with Notes, however. As I was trying to write a long note on the Mac, Notes kept showing an "Updating" message in the title bar of the note, and it would lose my insertion point. Others were not seeing the issue, so perhaps it is a conflict with another app I have running. Still, Notes for OS X is going to make it easy to use an iPhone or iPad equipped with Siri as a dictation device, and then transfer the text to a Mac automatically. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Apple tests new iCloud beta features
Developers who are enrolled in the iOS 6 beta are now able to see a new iCloud Beta portal at beta.icloud.com that is complete with new versions of Calendar and Find My iPhone, as well as two new iCloud additions -- Reminders and Notes. The expected timeframe for the general release of the new iCloud features is the same time that iOS 6 launches -- this fall. Changes that are apparent in the beta (according to a post on MacRumors) include a revision to Find My iPhone that shows the approximate battery life of the device you're trying to find, a web version of the iOS Notes app complete with yellow lined paper, a web version of the iOS (and soon OS X Mountain Lion) Reminders app. Apple announced during the WWDC 2012 keynote that more than 125 million people now use iCloud. It's good to see that all platforms -- OS X, iOS, and the Web -- will have nearly identical apps by this fall.
Beepocalypse: How Apple could improve multi-device reminders
Today, beloved leader Victor pointed me to this write-up over at Tidbits. Although Joe Kissel's experience with quite so many devices (nine, I believe) falls a bit into the extremes of iOS/OS X use, the problem of dealing with distributed alarms is a real one: a single reminder can set off alerts all over the home or office. Surely, there's got to be a better way to focus alert attention. Victor asked if I could brainstorm some geek solutions up that might help coordinate reminders with multi-device deployment (I won't even try to figure out "how to deal with bosses who remind you about too much stuff with shared calendars"). The idea is to let users choose reminder strategies across several devices: Macs, iPads, iPhones, etc. The strategy brought up by Kissel was to add "do not disturb" buttons and slight time offsets to alerts. The opt-in would allow you to disable alerts either per-device or per-Apple ID. The offsets would allow users to respond to a dialog, allowing them to accept the reminder and disable triggers on other devices. The only slight problem with the time offsets approach is determining which device gets priority. You can imagine being in bed, exhausted, sleepy and hearing a slightly long symphony of beeps that finally arrives at the iPhone on your bedside. Being able to prioritize a device (e.g. "always alert this iPhone first") would certainly help. I also started thinking about activity -- and, specifically, giving priority to any device experiencing touches and mouse and key interaction (e.g. "always alert active devices first"). An active use pattern generally links to a human presence -- the likely target of a reminder. It's an easy way to connect alert reception to an audience. Devices could trigger in order of most recent use, with the reminder ending once a user taps an acknowledge key. In the worst case, the reminder lasts 9 times longer than it did originally, but in the best case, only the most active device is triggered. Per Apple ID, of course. Your partner's devices would have its own alert chain. But that doesn't take location into account . If your devices are idle but in distributed locations, say one at home, and one at work, which takes priority? Perhaps you'd want both to ring because there's no a priori knowledge of your location. Or maybe you'd want it to alert at work first and then home (e.g. "prioritize work"). And at home? If you have a device downstairs and another upstairs, they may seem to be at the same location-to-detection algorithms, but you certainly would want to be reminded of lunch no matter which floor you're on. At the same time, you'd think devices could potentially figure out they're clustered together. What if Apple, in addition to slight time delays, could listen to hear alerts from triggers they know would happen on a related device in their Apple ID family (e.g. "listen for duplicate alerts")? You might be able to skip the active "Okay I get it" button then. Devices could actively suppress extra alerts by listening for ones in their vicinity. The problem again, would be if two Apple IDs were linked to similar reminders but didn't share calendars explicitly. For this, Apple could build in a "coordinate my alerts with..." option and harmony would once again reign in the land of the multi-device family.
