Apple Productivity Tools: Tips on how to make best use of Notes and Reminders apps

Organiser apps such as--Notes and Reminders -- have been updated with several new features in recent months and offer value-addtion to improve user experience on Apple devices

Over the years, Apple has improved its native apps to deliver a better user experience across all its products. Among them, organiser apps such as--Notes and Reminders -- have been updated with several new features in recent months.

But, most Apple device owners are not aware of these tools and also iOS 16 enables users to interoperate between apps on Apple devices.

Here, we will list key features of Notes and Reminders that will surely help you organise things better than before.

Notes app
-- Now, Notes support Tags. Inspired by Twitter's hashtag, Apple now offers Tags on Notes. With this, users can categorise notes with #. For instance, he/she can mark a note containing a trip itinerary with #travel for easy search and access

Apple Notes Tags feature. Credit: Apple

-- Notes app also supports sharing and collaboration with friends and colleagues. He/she can set permissions for other collaborators (such as allowing them to edit notes, add attachments, and create subfolders) but others have to have Apple IDs too.

-- As said before, devices with iOS 16/iPadOS or the latest macOS allow users to use the 'Visual Look Up' or 'Live Text' feature on the Photos app to lift the subject of the images to the Notes app or any supported app

-- Notes app also allows users to scan a physical document and create a digital copy of it. To scan a document in the Notes app, tap the Camera symbol, then choose Scan Documents. Position iPhone/iPad so that the document page appears on the screen and it will be captured automatically.

--User Privacy: Notes offer protection against unathorised access. Here, users can lock the notes with a passcode or FaceID/TouchID. Just go to Settings > Notes > Password.

Reminders app
-- Creating a reminder is really easy. Users can simply summon Siri to ask it to set a reminder to leave home on time for an appointment in the next morning. Users can also set it manually too. He/she just has to open the Reminders app, tap the plus sign and start typing the reminder. The app now has improved natural language and this makes it possible to type more advanced phrases to create reminder settings. For instance, if you try something like 'feed the fish in the evening' and you will see a suggestion appear for a time and cadence.

-- Reminders app offers Today, Scheduled and Completed lists. This feature helps users view the most relevant results they need like seeing their time- and date-based reminders grouped by when they are due. Users can also pin a list for quick and easy access by simply swiping right on it and tapping the pin.

-- Did you know, Reminders offers a template option? He/she can reuse it for routines, packing lists, and more. Users just have to create an iCloud link to share and publish a template with others, or else they can download templates that others have shared. Also, links can be shared with anyone, or even added to a blog post or email for others to download and use.

-- Besides time and date, Reminders can be triggered by location. This is a very handy feature, as it will automatically pop up on the device's screen when you reach a place and remind you to finish a work or do an important task. It has helped me several times over last couple of years. Whenever monsoon season begins, at the early days, I usually forget put an umbrella in my backpack. The day when its raining while leaving the office, I used to put a reminder with the location set to home. Just when my phone connects to the house's Wi-Fi, a message pops up on the screen and this ensured me to put on the umbrella and don't get drenched the next day.

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