Apple’s Reminders app has steadily grown from a basic list tool into a versatile task manager, including with its recent iOS 18 feature upgrades. Here are seven power user features worth checking out.
#1: Sections inside lists
Lists need headings, but in many cases they also benefit from subheadings.
Fortunately, Apple’s Reminders app lets you create such subheadings with a feature called ‘Sections.’
Open a list, then hit the three dots in the top-right corner to find a menu option labeled ‘New Section.’
Sections provide a way to organize your tasks into different categories. There isn’t technically any metadata being changed in the tasks, but sections are a great way to visually differentiate between different reminders.
After your sections are created, you can quickly drag and drop different tasks under the subheadings where they fit best.
#2: View as Columns
On a related note, Reminders also lets you view your tasks in a Trello-like column view.
If a single endless list is unwieldy, hit that three-dot icon in the corner and tap ‘View as List.’
Before you have sections set up, this view won’t look all that different. But in a list containing sections, column view lays those sections out side by side. It’s a nice visual aid and makes it easy to move tasks between different sections too.
#3: Location-based reminders
One of my long-time favorite Reminders features is the ability to get reminded when I arrive at a certain place (usually home).
Most of the time I accomplish this with Siri, by saying something simple like: “Remind me to do X when I get home.”
You can also, alternately, open a reminder’s details view (hit the ‘i’ button) and configure a location-based alert from there.
#4: Sharing lists and assigning tasks
Reminders lets you share your lists with other users for collaboration. Some task managers charge for this kind of pro feature, but Apple throws it in free for all users.
Once you have a shared list set up, you can assign certain tasks to your collaborators. They’ll get notified that you added them to the task, and this simple division of responsibility can provide clarity and accountability for team projects.
#5: Templates
Depending on your work, you might have projects that include a standard set of tasks to be completed.
For situations like this, Reminders supports Templates.
Templates are basically lists of reminders that you can save for convenient re-use later.
So if there’s a set list of tasks you always need to do for whatever reason, you can turn that list into a template, then create a new list from the template with just a couple taps.
To save a list as a template, open it, hit the three dots in the corner, and tap ‘Save as Template.’
#6: Smart Lists
When Reminders first added the concept of Smart Lists, they weren’t actually user configurable. Fortunately, Apple later changed that by giving the feature a lot more power.
The next time you create a new list, you can modify its List Type to be a ‘Smart List.’ From here, you’ll be able to configure the list to include tasks based on seven different filters:
- Tags
- Date
- Time
- Location
- Flag
- Priority
- and Lists
Your Smart List can use ‘any’ or ‘all’ parameters for these various filter categories, giving you a lot of flexibility to create the exact list you need.
I don’t really use tagging, but I know a lot of power users rely on the feature for task management, file management, and the like. And Reminders offers full tagging support.
If organizing your tasks into different lists and sections doesn’t provide enough flexibility, you can add tags then set up a Smart List based on the tags you want included or excluded.
What are your favorite power user features in Apple’s Reminders app? Let us know in the comments.
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