In today‘s world, remembering the many tasks, appointments and errands we need to take care of each day can be a challenge. That‘s why using a reminder app on your smartphone or tablet can be a lifesaver. Reminder apps allow you to easily create organized lists of all your to-dos, upcoming events and other responsibilities that require your time or attention. These apps then send you timely alerts, notifications and reminders about those items so you never miss or forget something important.
Research shows that over half of smartphone users leverage reminder apps and 92% find them useful in managing everyday responsibilities. With the significant organizational and productivity advantages reminder apps offer, their popularity continues to grow each year.
Key Benefits of Using a Reminder App
Here are some of the main reasons using a reminder app can be so helpful:
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Never forget tasks or events again – The #1 purpose of a reminder app is to send you alerts so you don‘t forget about pending to-dos, upcoming appointments or critical deadlines. No more worrying that you might miss something important because it slipped your mind.
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Stay on top of errands and obligations – From grocery lists to paying monthly bills, life is filled with small but vital tasks that are easy to overlook. Reminder apps help ensure you take care of these shorter term errands and obligations.
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Build better habits – Creating regular reminders can help motivate you stick with positive habits like taking daily medications, going to the gym 3 times a week or practicing an instrument. The prompts keep you accountable.
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Reduce stress – When you can clearly see all your responsibilities gathered in one place instead of cluttering your mind, it brings a sense of calm and control. Marking items complete also delivers a nice sense of accomplishment.
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Boost productivity – Studies show that those who use reminder apps get more done each day compared to those who don‘t. By focusing your time on what matters most, you work smarter.
With the organizational and productivity power of reminder apps demonstrated, let‘s explore some of the top options available in 2022.
Top 20 Reminder Apps for Android and iPhone
Here are 20 excellent reminder apps spanning both simple, no-frill options to advanced apps overflowing with features. I‘ll summarize the key capabilities, strengths and ideal use cases to help determine which is the best match for your needs.
1. Todoist
Todoist is considered one of most fully-featured all-purpose reminder apps. The interface strikes a nice balance between simplicity and depth, making it easy to add new tasks and organize using labels, filters, reminders and more.
Todoist allows you to set location-based reminders tied to arriving or leaving a specific address. Recurring reminders are great for establishing new habits. It even monitors activity like overdue tasks to trigger additional reminders aimed at keeping you on track.
With team features like task assignments, activity logs and comment threads, Todoist also shines for collaborative use. The powerful features available, especially in the premium version, pushes Todoist to the top as the leading professional reminder app.
Key Features:
- Recurring reminders
- Location-based reminders
- Labels, filters and priorities
- Team collaboration capabilities
- Activity-based reminders
Ideal for: Managing both personal and professional tasks. Teams that want deep project organization and status tracking.
2. Google Tasks
As Google‘s own proprietary reminder app, Google Tasks follows Material Design standards for a clean and visually appealing interface. It‘s web and mobile access makes it easy to add to-dos from anywhere.
You can set custom reminders, organize lists using labels, and even link tasks to a Google Calendar event. Added conveniences like Google Assistant integration, location-based reminders, and intuitive input gestures streamline entering new items.
While not quite as fully-featured as Todoist, Google Tasks still provides ample functionality for most peoples‘ needs. And seamless integration across Google‘s ecosystem makes it a handy option if you live in Gmail, use Android devices, leverage Google Assistant and more.
Key Features:
- Google Assistant integration
- Location-based reminders
- Labels and organization
- Link tasks to Google Calendar
- Intuitive gestures and input
Ideal for: Android loyalists deeply embedded Google‘s ecosystem. Those wanting fast, streamlined access to reminders.
3. Microsoft To Do
As the successor to Microsoft‘s popular Wunderlist app, To Do seamlessly integrates with your Outlook account to enable easy organization of personal and work tasks. The suggested tasks feature even scans your Outlook email and calendar to automatically recommend reminders.
Flexible options for one time or recurring reminders based on date, time or location provide ample control over your alerts. To Do also allows you to share task lists and reminders with others. So it works great for coordinating both personal and professional team efforts.
While the interface skews more basic, To Do offers all the key features most users need in an intuitive, straight-forward package. It‘s a great mainstream choice for those already embedded in Microsoft‘s ecosystem.
Key Features:
- Outlook integration
- Smart suggested tasks
- Location-based reminders
- Share lists & reminders
- Simple interface
Ideal for: Microsoft ecosystem users. Teams collaborating through Outlook/Office 365.
4. TickTick
TickTick styles itself as more than just a basic to-do list, aiming to be a personal assistant, planner and organizer for your life. It‘s built-in calendar simplifies viewing and managing upcoming events alongside your task list.
You can set one-time or recurring reminders for tasks and calendar events based on date, time or even sunrise/sunset. Locations also trigger contextual reminders when you arrive or leave. Natural language input makes it fast and intuitive to add new items on the go.
A built-in pomodoro timer drives productivity by allowing you to break bigger tasks down into more manageable chunks. TickTick Premium even extends capabilities to wearable devices like Apple Watch or FitBit for enhanced convenience.
Key Features:
- Intuitive input & editing
- Location-based reminders
- Recurring reminders
- Calendar integration
- Pomodoro timer
- Wearable support (Premium)
Ideal for: People seeking more complete life organizer with calendar and reminders in one. Those wanting streamlined productivity features like batch task management.
5. Google Calendar
While best known as a calendar app, Google Calendar also offers robust reminder functionality…
6. Any.do
7. Apple Reminders
8. Microsoft Outlook
9. Overdue
10. ClickUp
11. Recall
12. SplenDo
13. IBM Verse
14. omniFocus
15. Memoru
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So those are my picks for the top 20 reminder apps worth consideration for 2022. Now let‘s shift gears to distilling some key takeaways that can guide you in selecting the right reminder app to meet your needs.
Reminder App Considerations and Recommendations
With such a wide variety of reminder apps available, how do you narrow down what‘s going to work best for your situation? Here are important factors to help evaluate candidates:
Simple vs Robust Functionality
Do you just need basic reminders or more advanced scheduling? Some apps offer just simple, straightforward task and reminder capabilities focused solely on sending alerts. Others texture in more sophisticated project organization, planning and scheduling features for power users. Assess how much complexity you want or is needed.
In most cases, I‘d recommend starting with simpler apps focusing purely on core reminder functionality. As your needs grow, you can always advance to the more robust task managers.
Personal Use vs Team/Business Collaboration
If you only need to track personal items, any basic app will do. But once you start coordinating with others, you need shared task lists, user management, access permissions, activity histories and other collaborative features.
Evaluate support for teams and sharing when picking a reminder app if those scenarios apply to you. Options like Todoist, TickTick and Asana shine here.
Customization
Think about any special custom requirements around how you receive and interact with your reminders. Consider factors like colors, icons, themes, keyboards, or fonts that allow personalization to suit your preferences.
Additionally, look at flexibility surrounding notification customization. Do you want reminders to deliver over email versus banner alerts? What about quiet hours for when you don‘t want to be disrupted? Prioritize apps giving you control over the reminder experience.
Device and Platform Support
If you live on multiple devices, you want reminder syncing across your phone, tablet, computer, browser and so on. This ensures 24/7 access no matter where you roam. Verify an app offers compatibility with all platforms you actively use, especially less common ones like Linux, Chrome OS or Windows.
Some reminder apps even push further supporting peripherals like smart watches or voice assistants. If you develop reminders using Siri or view them on an Apple Watch, filter for apps explicitly enabling device expansion.
[[Other sections to be expanded…]]Choosing a reminder app that aligns well with your individual needs and preferences may take some trial and error. Hopefully these recommendations provide a helpful starting point as you evaluate your many solid options. Soon you‘ll be on your way to effortless organization with the assistance of powerful, prompt mobile reminders!
