MacRumors

The Reminders app has never been one of the most popular built-in apps, mostly due to its limited functionality in comparison with other reminder and to-do apps available from the App Store.

In iOS 13, Apple overhauled the interface of the Reminders app, adding a new look and new capabilities that may encourage more people to check it out. In this guide, we'll go over all of the new features in the Reminders app and what it can do in iOS 13 and iPadOS.

Design

Reminders in iOS 12 and earlier offered a simple no-frills list-style view that organized items by list, but iOS 13 has an entirely new interface that's more intuitive. There are four main Reminders sections, which incorporate all of your reminders across all of your lists so you can see everything that you need to do in one view, whether it's for work or family.

There's a "Today" section for reminders that need to be addressed immediately, a "Scheduled" section for reminders that have a date attached, an "All" section for viewing everything all at once, and a "Flagged" section for your reminders that have a flag added to separate them out.

Along with the four main sections where you can access all of your reminders organized into different views, you can also see your content organized per list using the "My Lists" section. You can use Reminders in either dark mode or light mode, and there are unique looks for both.

Lists and Reminders

As with the previous version of Reminders, you can make as many lists as you need in the Reminders app. You can have separate lists for family, friends, work, and whatever other topics you want.

If you want to keep track of all the household chores you need to do along with your grocery list and your work projects, the Reminders app can handle that. Adding a list is as simple as tapping on the "Add List" button.

All of your lists are displayed individually in the "My Lists" section, while the individual reminders in that list are also available in the different sections of the Reminders app.

Adding a reminder to a list can be done by tapping into a list and then tapping on the "New Reminder" button, or by tapping into the Today, Scheduled, or Flagged categories at the top of the app and then choosing "New Reminder."

Ultimately, adding, organizing, and accessing lists is a more intuitive in iOS 13 than it was in iOS 12. Reminders located in the Scheduled tab and the Today tab are organized by date and time, but there are no manual sorting tools to allow for different organization.

• How to Create a Reminder in the iOS Reminders App
• How to Create a New List in Reminders
• How to Create a Scheduled Reminder in iOS
• How to Add a Reminder to a List in the Reminders App
• How to Delete a Reminder List in the iOS Reminders App
• How to See Your Completed Reminders in Apple's Reminders App

Customization

The Reminders app in iOS 13 adds new customization options to your Reminders list. There are additional colors to choose from to color code your lists, and there are also new icons that you can assign to each list for a visual cue.

There are all kinds of icons to choose from, including food, sports, work-related icons, shapes, and more.

• How to Customize the Look of Your Reminders Lists in iOS

Reminders Toolbar

When creating a reminder in the Reminders app in iOS 13, there's a new quick access toolbar that lets you add times, locations, and more to your reminders. There are four available icons, each with a different function:

• Clock - Lets you schedule a reminder for today, tomorrow, this weekend, or a custom date.
• Arrow - Lets you set a reminder to activate when you're arriving home, getting in the car, getting out of the car, or arriving to any custom location that you choose.
• Flag - Lets you add a flag to a reminder so it's easier to locate.
• Camera - Allows you to take a photo to add to a reminder, add a photo from the Photo Library, or scan a document. Adding attachments to Reminders is new in iOS 13.

Reminders can also be annotated with notes and URLs to provide additional context, and each reminder can also have subtasks associated with it. Reminders can also be set to repeat, and you can adjust the priority for each one, choosing between Low, Medium, High, or None.

Accessing all of the Reminder options can be done when tapping on the "Custom" option when setting a time or a date for a newly created reminder or by tapping on the "i" icon on an already existing reminder. Some of these options were available in iOS 12, but interface is simpler and more intuitive in iOS 13, making these tools easier to use.

• How to Create a Messages-Based Reminder on Your iPhone
• How to Create a Location-Based Reminder on Your iPhone
• How to Add Notes and URLs to Reminders in iOS
• How to Flag a Reminder on Your iPhone and iPad
• How to Change Reminder Priority in the Reminders App for iOS
• How to Add Sub-Items to a Reminder in iOS
• How to Organize Reminder Lists on iPhone and iPad

Reminder Settings

Using the toolbar and interface above, reminders can be set to activate in the following conditions:

• When arriving to a location
• When leaving a location
• At a certain time
• On a certain date
• When messaging a specific person in the Messages app

You can also combine these conditions when creating a reminder, so you can, for example, set a reminder to get milk on Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. when you arrive at the grocery store.

Sharing a Reminders List

If you tap on the three dots in the top right corner of any list of reminders in the Reminders app, you can add a person, which adds that particular list to their device too, letting them see changes made to the list. This is ideal for something like a shopping list that you might need to share with a spouse or child. This feature isn't new, but its location has changed because of the redesign.

• How to Share Reminders in iOS

Grouping Reminders

If you have a lot of separate reminders lists, you can group them together in iOS 13 under a single heading. So if you have a grocery list, a drugstore list, and a list for your favorite clothing store, you can aggregate them all into a "Shopping" group that offers better organization in the "My Lists" section of the app.

Groups can be collapsed or expanded, making for a tidier Reminders app with deeper organization than was possible in iOS 12. To add a group, tap on the "Edit" button and then choose the "Add Group" option at the bottom left. You can also use drag and drop gestures to arrange you're lists.

• How to Group Together Lists in the Reminders iOS App

Nested Reminders

Using drag and drop gestures, you can drag a reminder under another reminder to create a nested reminder in your list, which essentially lets you add smaller tasks under a larger reminder.

If, for example, you have a reminder to do chores, you might also add smaller, more specific reminders underneath for individual tasks like vacuuming and doing the laundry. You need to be in the "All Reminders" section to use drag and drop gestures to rearrange your reminders lists.

Share Sheet Deep Linking

Using the Share Sheet, you can import content from Messages, Mail, and other apps, directly into the Reminders app as a new Reminder. Just select text, choose the "Share" option, and choose Reminders as the destination.

Reminders saved this way will include a deep link to the Mail thread or Messages conversation so you can get back to it quickly.

Siri Improvements

Reminders features enhanced Siri intelligence in iOS 13, which means you can type longer, more descriptive sentences that Reminders will automatically understand and use to provide relevant suggestions.

‌Siri‌ will also suggest reminders for you. When you're chatting with someone in Messages, for example, and someone mentions getting lunch at noon tomorrow, ‌Siri‌ might offer a suggestion for you to create a reminder.

Mac App and Upgrading

There's also a revamped version of Reminders for the Mac in macOS Catalina, with many of the same features. With the Mac app, you can also create reminders on the desktop that sync to the Reminders app on iOS devices. Below, we have some Mac-specific how tos that cover using the Reminders app on a Mac.

• How to Group Together Lists in Reminders on macOS

• How to Create a Reminders List in macOS

When upgrading the Reminders app on iOS 13 (which you will be prompted to do after upgrading), it's worth noting that it limits functionality on other devices. Reminders on the Mac won't be functional without macOS Catalina, and Reminders on the iPad won't be functional without iPadOS.

iPadOS is available, but there's no specific launch date for macOS Catalina, which is coming on an unspecified October date. Apple's support document has additional information.

Guide Feedback

Have questions about Reminders, know of an iOS 13 Reminders feature we left out, or want to offer feedback on this guide? Send us an email here.

Apple has teamed up with the New Museum in New York to create an augmented reality art experience called [AR]T that can be experienced in San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Tokyo.

[AR]T is a curation of augmented reality pieces that are being featured in a series of guided walks, where people can use iPhones to view the creations. The art walks were first announced in July, but are set to kick off tomorrow.

Apple is hosting walking tours that are free and open to the public starting this Saturday. Each tour begins at an Apple Store location and features the same art work. Pieces are only accessible at certain points on the walk, providing multi-city open-air virtual exhibits. [AR]T includes pieces from Nick Cave, Nathalie Djurberg, Hans Berg, Cao Fei, Carsten Höller, Pipilotti Rist and John Giorno, artists picked by the New Museum.

A piece by Nick Cave called "Amass" will also be on view at every Apple retail location, and Apple will host a lab for those who are interested in learning more about augmented reality.

The New York walk starts at the Apple Fifth Avenue and then heads into central park, while the San Francisco walk starts at Apple Union Square and heads down Post street. Viewers are provided with an iPhone and a set of headphones (though you can also use your own AirPods). Each walk is approximately 1.5 miles, and attendees can sign up on Apple's website.

Details on each artist and the type of art you can expect to see on the [AR]T walk can be found on Apple's Today at Apple page for the experience.

Following the Apple Card's rollout to a limited number of customers in the Wallet app earlier this week, some are beginning to receive their physical, titanium Apple Card in the mail for use at stores that do not accept contactless payments.

The Verge's Nilay Patel has shared photos of his ‌Apple Card‌, revealing that it is thicker than his other metal and plastic credit cards. It was earlier reported that the Apple Card weighs around 14.75 grams, making it slightly heavier than the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card but lighter than an American Express Platinum.

Another early adopter, Aaron Andino, has shared an Apple Card unboxing video on YouTube that provides a closer look at its packaging. The card and packaging look consistent with pre-launch photos that leaked.

The physical ‌Apple Card‌, made out of titanium, features a clean design with an Apple logo, a chip, and a name. There's no card number or expiration date on the card, nor is there a CVV on the back. Instead, these details are stored in the Wallet app for added security in the event the card is lost or stolen.

The back of the ‌Apple Card‌ also has a minimalistic design with embossed Goldman Sachs and Mastercard logos and a magstripe. Goldman Sachs is the ‌Apple Card‌'s issuing bank, and it relies on the Mastercard payment network.

Read our step-by-step instructions on how to order a physical Apple Card by mail. The card ships free of charge and a notification is sent to your iPhone when it ships. The turnaround time appears to be a few days right now.

Later this month, Apple will allow all U.S. residents age 18 or older to apply for the card. So far, it appears that Goldman Sachs is being quite lenient with approvals, as CNBC and iMore have reported that some customers with credit scores in the 600s have been approved, albeit with lower credit limits and higher APRs.

When fully available, iPhone users can apply for the ‌Apple Card‌ in the Wallet app within minutes and take advantage of features such as 1-3 percent in daily cash back, color-coded spending summaries, and no fees. Just ahead of launching, the card's APR range was lowered to 12.99-23.99 percent.

Last year, Apple announced plans to rebuild its Maps app with its own first-party data. The overall look and feel of Apple Maps is similar, but zooming and panning reveals more details like grass, trees, sports fields, and parking lots. Apple is also focused on making search results more relevant.

The improvements first rolled out in Northern California in July 2018, followed by Hawaii and Southern California in November 2018, and Arizona, New Mexico, and the Las Vegas metropolitan area in April 2019.

Now, the updated data is available across Texas, Louisiana, and the southern half of Mississippi, as Apple continues its pattern of rolling out the updated maps in adjacent continental U.S. states. Zooming into these regions displays more details and greenery in ‌Apple Maps‌ across the iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

At WWDC 2019, Apple said the updated maps will roll out to the entire United States by the end of the year, followed by additional countries in 2020.

(Thanks, Trevor K. and Chet C.!)

During the Black Hat USA conference in Las Vegas, researchers demonstrated a Face ID bypass method that used glasses and tape to unlock and infiltrate the iPhone of an "unconscious" victim.

According to a report from Threatpost (via iMore), researchers from Tencent aimed to fool the "liveness" detection feature in biometrics, which is meant to distinguish "real" from "fake" features on people.

Liveness detection, said the researchers, detects background noise and response distortion or focus blur, allowing it to make sure that a face is a real face and not a mask. This liveness detection is used by ‌Face ID‌, and Apple even has an "Attention Aware" feature that makes sure your iPhone doesn't unlock unless you're looking at it.

To trick ‌Face ID‌, the researchers created prototype glasses with black tape on the lenses and white tape inside the black tape to emulate the look of an eye. When putting the glasses over a sleeping victim's face, they were able to access his iPhone and send themselves money through a mobile payment app.

This method worked because the researchers found that liveness detection works differently with glasses and essentially doesn't extract 3D information from the eye area when glasses are worn.

They discovered that the abstraction of the eye for liveness detection renders a black area (the eye) with a white point on it (the iris). And, they discovered that if a user is wearing glasses, the way that liveness detection scans the eyes changes.

"After our research we found weak points in FaceID... it allows users to unlock while wearing glasses... if you are wearing glasses, it won't extract 3D information from the eye area when it recognizes the glasses."

An attacker attempting to use this method in the real world would need a victim that's sleeping or unconscious, access to that victim's iPhone, and then glasses would need to be placed over the eyes without waking the person up. It's worth noting that this isn't a situation most people are likely to run into, and there's also no secondary research on this alleged method this time.

To mitigate the eye detection loophole in the future, researchers suggested biometrics manufacturers add identity authentication for native cameras and "increase the weight of video and audio synthesis detection."

Apple has designed ‌Face ID‌ with easy access disabling measures for situations where a person might be coerced or forced into unlocking an iPhone with facial recognition. Pressing on the sleep/wake button of a Face ID-enabled iPhone five times in rapid succession brings up an emergency SOS screen that automatically disables ‌Face ID‌ and requires a passcode to be entered before ‌Face ID‌ works again. Pressing and holding the side/top button and a volume button also works on the iPhone and the iPad Pro.

Apple is introducing an expanded bug bounty program that covers macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and iCloud as well as iOS devices, Apple's head of security engineering Ivan Krstić announced this afternoon at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas.

Apple introduced its bug bounty program for iOS devices in August of 2016, allowing security researchers who locate bugs in iOS to receive a cash payout for disclosing the vulnerability to Apple. Prior to now, non-iOS devices were not included, a move that has previously been criticized by the security community.

Apple's lack of a macOS bug bounty program made headlines earlier this year when a German teenager initially refused to hand over details of a major macOS Keychain security flaw because Apple didn't have a payout. While he did ultimately provide the info to Apple, he said that he hoped his refusal would inspire Apple to expand its bug bounty program, which the company has indeed done.

With the launch of the new macOS bug bounty program, Apple is opening its bug bounties up to all researchers later this year and it is increasing the maximum size of the bounty from $200,000 per exploit to $1 million depending on the nature of the security flaw. A zero-click kernel code execution with persistence will earn the maximum amount.

Researchers who discover vulnerabilities in pre-release software before general release can qualify for up to a 50 percent bonus payout on top of the base bug bounty amount.

As reported earlier this week, Apple also plans to provide vetted and trusted security researchers and hackers with "dev" iPhones, aka special iPhones that provide deeper access to the underlying software and operating system that will make it easier for vulnerabilities to be discovered.

Apple is providing these iPhones as part of its new iOS Security Research Device Program, launching next year. Apple's aim with these new bug bounty efforts is to encourage additional security researchers to disclose vulnerabilities, ultimately leading to more secure devices for consumers.

(Thanks, SecuritySteve!)

Apple today released the fifth public betas of iOS 13 and iPadOS to its public beta testing group, one week after seeding the fourth public betas and a day after seeding the sixth developer beta.

Beta testers who have signed up for Apple's beta testing program will receive the iOS 13 beta update over-the-air after installing the proper certificate on an iOS device.

Those who want to join the beta testing program can sign up on Apple's beta testing website, which gives users access to iOS, macOS, and tvOS betas. Before installing a beta, make sure to create a full encrypted iTunes backup or an iCloud backup.

iOS 13 is a major update to the iOS operating system that runs on the iPhone and the iPad, but this year, iOS 13 and iPadOS, the version of iOS 13 that runs on the ‌iPad‌, are separate downloads as they've been split up.

iPadOS is identical to iOS 13 in almost every way, though there are some iPad-specific features such as new multitasking capabilities. For the most part, the two operating systems share the same features.

iOS 13 introduces a long list of new features. Dark Mode changes the entire look of the operating system, shifting it from light to dark, while an overhauled Photos app makes it easier to relive your memories with new Days, Months, and Years viewing options.

There's a new photo editing interface that makes it easier to edit photos than ever before, plus there are new tools to work with and options to edit the intensity of the built-in filters. You can edit video right in the ‌Photos‌ app for the first time, and on the newest iPhones, there's a new High-Key Mono lighting effect and an option to adjust the intensity of Portrait Lightning effects.

iOS 13 adds a less obtrusive volume HUD, a new Find My app that combines ‌Find My‌ iPhone and ‌Find My‌ Friends and lets you track your devices even with they don't have an LTE or WiFi connection. A Sign In with Apple feature (not yet active) gives you a convenient and data safe way to sign into apps and websites, providing an alternative to Facebook and Google sign in options.

Maps has a new street-level "Look Around" mode and a Collections feature for making lists of places, Reminders has been entirely overhauled to make it more functional, there's a profile feature in Messages along with new Memoji and Animoji stickers, and Siri has a new voice.

There are a ton of additional new features and changes coming in iOS 13, and for a full rundown of what you can expect, make sure to check out our iOS 13 roundup.

Each new beta brings new features and changes to iOS 13, and the sixth developer beta, which corresponds to the fifth public beta, added a ‌Dark Mode‌ toggle to Control Center, changes to folder transparency, updates to some privacy warnings, new splash screens, and more.

Apple's HomePod accounted for just 5 percent of the estimated 76 million smart speaker installed base in the United States in the second quarter of 2019, according to new data shared today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).

Amazon continues to be the number one smart speaker vendor in the U.S., followed by Google. Amazon Echo devices accounted for 70 percent of smart speakers in the United States during the quarter, while Google Home devices accounted for 25 percent.

The smart speaker market has seen strong growth, with the U.S. installed base of 76 million speakers up nine percent from 70 million units in the March 2019 quarter. Growth is also up significantly compared to last June, when there were an estimated 50 million smart speakers in the United States.

"While the biggest growth in the market for smart speakers is in the holiday fourth quarter, Amazon Echo and Google Home continues to grow their installed bases in the past couple of quarters," said Josh Lowitz, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. "The market grew by 9% in the second quarter, and more than 50% year over year. Including Apple HomePod, all three major producers have maintained steady shares of the market in the past year. Continued aggressive pricing of the entry-level models seems to continue to encourage new customers to try a smart speaker and existing owners to consider adding more devices to their home.

Most people who own smart speakers have less expensive models like the Echo Dot and the Google Home Mini, with these units accounting for more than 50 percent of smart speakers in the U.S. during the quarter.

Though Apple has dropped the price of the HomePod from $349 to $299, the smart speaker is still significantly more expensive than speaker options from Google and Amazon, which has left Apple struggling to gain a foothold in the market.

Amazon's Echo Dot, for example, is priced at $50, but it is often available at even lower prices during sales and promotions. The same goes for the Google Home Mini, which is also priced at $49.

Rumors have suggested that Apple is considering a more affordable version of the ‌HomePod‌ that could be priced as low as $150, but it's not clear if and when Apple might release such a speaker.

CIRP's data is estimated and is based on a survey of 500 U.S. owners of Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple ‌HomePod‌ devices surveyed from July 1 to July 10 who owned one of the devices as of June 30, 2019.

Apple's rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro will be released in the third quarter, aka early fall, according to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce.

An excerpt from TrendForce's press release on notebook market share:

According to the 3Q outlook for notebook shipments, demand for Chromebooks remains strong thanks to the back-to-school period; at the same time, we see new products hitting shelves, such as Apple's 16-inch MacBook, Dell's products with 16:10 aspect ratio, Asus's dual-screen laptop, as well as various gaming laptops in increasingly hot demand.

The report describes the notebook as a 16-inch MacBook, but this very likely refers to the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌, as all other reports have indicated.

TrendForce is at least the fifth source to claim that a 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ is coming in the fall, alongside TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, IHS Markit analyst Jeff Lin, DigiTimes, and the Economic Daily News, but reports have been conflicting about a September or October release month.

In the fall, Apple typically unveils new Macs in October. The company has hosted Mac- or iPad-centric media events in October in five of the past seven years, including 2016 and 2018, allowing it to focus on the iPhone, Apple Watch, and sometimes the Apple TV and accessories at its September event.

The 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ will feature an all-new design, including a more reliable scissor mechanism keyboard, according to ‌Ming-Chi Kuo‌. The notebook is also rumored to feature narrower bezels, perhaps allowing the 16-inch display to fit in a notebook with a similar physical size as the current 15-inch model.

Meanwhile, Jeff Lin believes the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ will feature a 3,072×1,920 resolution and be powered by Intel's 9th-generation Coffee Lake Refresh processors, suggesting the notebook will be configurable with up to an 8-core Core i9 processor in line with the latest 15-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌.

Last year, Apple hosted its Mac and iPad Pro event on October 30, so we could be two to three months away from the 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ reveal.