Ah, reminders. I’m undecided how I’d probably operate with out ’em. (What have been we speaking about, once more?)I depend on reminders for nearly all the things conceivable — ensuring I reply to an essential message, deal with a urgent process, and carry out all kinds of embarrassingly mundane day-to-day chores which can be each business-based and private. (Putting on one’s pants technically counts as each, proper?)And goodness gracious, lemme inform ya: Google’s bought some extremely helpful methods to set your self reminders in several areas of Android. Most of ’em are choices you’d by no means even encounter for those who did not know the place to look.But when you uncover ’em, holy moly, can these purpose-specific mind jigglers be invaluable for the mushy-minded amongst us.So set your self a reminder to get within the behavior of utilizing all of those Android-oriented reminder prospects. Trust me: You’ll be very glad you probably did.[Get unparalleled Android knowledge in your inbox with my free Android Intelligence newsletter. Three new things to try every Friday!] Android reminder possibility #1: The spoken task-saverWe’ll begin with the best Android reminder possibility of all — however one which’s nonetheless out of sight and all too simple to overlook.That, my fellow memory-challenged mammal, is the Google Assistant-connected capability to set your self a reminder for something, anytime, and have it land throughout the Google Tasks service. This one’s a bit of complicated, as up till comparatively just lately, Assistant truly had its personal unbiased reminders system. But some time again, Google did Its Google Thang™ and switched that system out for one constructed into Tasks as an alternative.The approach it really works continues to be the identical, although: No matter what you are doing in your system — or even when your display screen is off — you say Hey Google to get your cellphone’s consideration. (If that does not do something, dig into your system settings to seek out the Assistant part and ensure you’ve bought voice activation enabled.)Then merely say: Remind me… — adopted by what it’s you wish to bear in mind and when.
Hey Google, remind me to name Jim-Bob tomorrow at 2 p.m.
Hey Google, remind me to do a sprightly little jig Friday at 4.
Hey Google, remind me to buy new dancing pantaloons Saturday afternoon.
You get the concept. No matter what kind of balderdash you bark out, your request shall be filed away throughout the Google Tasks app, and your reminder will pop again up in your cellphone when the suitable day and time arrives. JR
Google’s core Android reminders system now goes by way of Google Tasks, however you’ll be able to nonetheless entry it by way of Assistant.
And that’s simply the beginning.Android reminder possibility #2: Total word recallI was blown away by what number of readers of my e-newsletter have been shocked to study concerning the depths of this subsequent Android reminder possibility when it got here up as a reader-submitted tip in a current subject.But it truly is a simple one to miss, particularly with the labyrinth-like nature of Google’s ever-shifting Android reminder priorities.So right here it’s: In addition to the Assistant-integrated Tasks reminder setup, you may also nonetheless set reminders throughout the Google Keep Android app — and along with permitting you to set off your reminiscence round an extended, extra complicated word or listing, the Keep-set reminders have an extra-helpful hidden risk. Keep reminders, y’see, are the one kind of Android reminder that at present help location-based firing. That means you’ll be able to inform your cellphone to remind you about one thing the second you set foot in a selected bodily spot — your workplace, a consumer’s enterprise, a retailer, or perhaps a sure metropolis’s airport.Suffice it to say, the productiveness prospects stemming from which can be spectacular. From reminding your self a few safety code at an workplace complicated to exhibiting your self pertinent agenda data at a selected assembly locale, you’ll be able to actually take your reminders up a notch by attaching ’em to a spot as an alternative of only a date and time.And Keep additionally helps the essential date and time reminders, so you have bought loads of choices.All you have gotta do is begin a brand new word or open up any present word inside Keep in your cellphone and search for the little bell icon in its upper-right nook. Tap that, and you’ll select from a date or place reminder after which set it as you see match. JR
Location-based reminders are an simply ignored asset within the Android Keep app.
Android reminder possibility #3: The e-mail no-failEmail is a unending land mine of alternatives for ignored obligations and response expectations. And even for those who’ve bought one of the best app conceivable for staying on high of your inbox, it is all too simple to sometimes miss one thing and fail to reply when the time is true.That’s the place your e-mail app’s snooze operate — which is mainly a glorified type of reminding — comes into play.Email snoozing makes it simple to ship any message out of your inbox and have it come again at a selected future date and time. It’s a productiveness grasp’s secret weapon for sustaining a tidy inbox and ensuring nothing essential slips by way of the cracks.In the Gmail Android app, you’ll find the snooze possibility by tapping the three-dot menu icon within the upper-right nook of the display screen whereas viewing any e-mail — or after urgent and holding an e-mail to pick out it in your important inbox view.Most different Android e-mail apps have an identical snoozing operate someplace, so for those who aren’t utilizing Gmail, poke round a bit in your e-mail app of option to see if you’ll find both a plain-text “snooze” possibility or one thing resembling a clock or a calendar.Your future self will thanks.Android reminder possibility #4: The message memento machineThis subsequent Android reminder system is one among my absolute favorites — but it surely additionally comes with a curious caveat in the intervening time:For many people, it is at present and inexplicably lacking in motion.This has occurred earlier than, although, and the choice has returned. So hopefully, its partial disappearance now could be extra of a glitch than any deliberate elimination, and we’ll all have it again in entrance of us earlier than lengthy.The possibility of which we converse is an easy reminders system for the Google Messages app on Android. When current, it provides you a delightfully fast ‘n’ simple option to create a reminder for any particular message in your texting inbox: You simply press and maintain the person message, then faucet the clock icon that pops up within the upper-right nook of the display screen.From there, it is a mere few extra faucets to pick out precisely if you need that reminder to rear up and demand your consideration — an ideal approach to make sure you always remember to reply to one thing, even when it arrives at an inopportune time.Even now, whereas that possibility is vexingly lacking for many people, you’ll be able to nonetheless set a reminder by way of an incoming message’s notification in your cellphone. It’s restricted solely to one-hour, as an alternative of getting the entire gamut of day and time choices, however hey — it is one thing! And hopefully, the total Messages reminder system will reappear for all of us earlier than lengthy. JR
The Android Messages app’s reminder system is accessible by way of its notifications — and, normally, additionally throughout the app itself.
Android reminder possibility #5: The picture reminiscence genieOne of the most recent, still-on-its-way-into-our-lives Android reminder prospects lies throughout the always-excellent Google Photos app.It could or might not be obtainable for you simply but, but it surely’s rolling out as we converse — and it guarantees to be a helpful new addition to our Android reminders arsenal.It’s a built-in possibility for setting reminders associated to particular screenshots or photos straight out of your cellphone’s photograph gallery. You’ll merely search for the reminder-creating possibility beneath any picture that reveals one thing time-sensitive — a ticket, a flyer about some upcoming occasion, no matter — and Photos will pop up a panel proper then and there so that you can whip up a reminder round it.When the time arrives, you may then get a notification from the Android Calendar app letting you have to revisit that picture.Keep a watch out for this one in Photos any day now, for those who aren’t seeing it already!Android reminder possibility #6: The contact memory-joggerOne of the best challenges for any memory-challenged animal is remembering stuff associated to the folks in your life — colleagues, contacts, cousins, or perhaps even your important different. (Hi, honey!)No matter how essential somebody could also be, in any case, it is all too simple to overlook their birthday, the anniversary of once they began working with you, or the date they acquired the slimy turtle pet that lives inside their pantry. (Hey, I do not know what sort of weirdos you’re employed with.)Well, take heed: Google’s Android Contacts app has a useful new characteristic for ensuring you always remember such an event once more. This app is notably is just not the identical because the Contacts app put in on Samsung telephones by default, by the by, but it surely is out there — and extremely advisable — to obtain and begin utilizing on any Android system.Once you have bought it, simply open up the Google Contacts app in your cellphone, then open up any particular person contact inside your listing.Tap the three-dot menu icon within the upper-right nook of the display screen, and the way ’bout that? Tucked away in that menu is a nifty new-ish possibility referred to as “Reminders.”Tap that, and you may then set as many reminders as you need for essential dates associated to that particular particular person. You can inform your cellphone to remind you every 12 months on the day of the event in addition to two days earlier than, every week earlier than, and two weeks earlier than, for those who actually wish to be prepared. JR
The Android Contacts app’s built-in reminders system is a brilliant option to save essential data about folks in your life.
Android reminder possibility #7: Your location saverPerhaps the best life-saver of all is your Android cellphone’s deeply buried system for saving any location, anytime, after which bringing it again to your consideration down the highway.The system is constructed into the Google Maps app on Android, and it is technically designed for serving to you bear in mind a parking spot — which is nice! But you may also use it to remind your self of any bodily place after which assist your self navigate again to it later within the day.Just open up Maps and faucet the little blue circle representing your present location. That’ll pull up an data panel on the backside of the display screen, and one of many first choices inside it needs to be a white button with the phrases “Save parking.” (If you do not see that button, you may must scroll horizontally on the road with “Share location” to disclose it.)Tap that factor and faucet it good, and your present location shall be saved and accessible throughout the Maps app itself in addition to inside a reminder in your normal system notification panel. All that is left is to faucet that notification if you want it, and Maps will zip proper again that location and allow you to navigate your approach again to it — regardless of how far you have roamed.Android reminder possibility #8: The all-purpose notification reminderSome Android notifications, like the placement reminder we simply went over, do not have their very own built-in time system — to make ’em go away after which return at a selected level sooner or later.But bear in mind: Android itself lets you snooze any notification and primarily deal with it like a reminder. That means it’s going to present again up and seize your consideration in 15 minutes, half an hour, an hour, or two hours, relying in your choice.It’s an effective way to ensure you bear in mind one thing that pops up in your notifications at an ungainly second, if you’re within the midst of one thing else and prone to overlook it.Just search for the little clock- or bell-shaped icon in any notification’s lower-right nook — and for those who aren’t seeing any such image, faucet the little down-facing arrow throughout the notification to broaden it first.Tap that icon, and you may see selections to snooze the notification and present it once more in 15 minutes, 30 minutes, one hour, or two hours.In some Android variations, the notification will robotically snooze for an hour by default, and you will have to faucet it as soon as extra to disclose the total listing of obtainable reminder choices and choose a distinct period of time. JR
Android’s built-in notification snoozing system is a splendid option to create an on-the-fly reminder round any alert in your cellphone.
However you go about it, your notification will disappear out of your hair after which reemerge later to ensure you remember.Bonus: 2 top-notch Android reminder enhancersAll the reminder choices we have explored thus far are native to Android — or at the least constructed into the de facto default Android system apps made by Google.But for those who actually wish to take your Android reminders recreation to the subsequent degree, there are a pair particularly superior instruments you’ll be able to add onto your system to turbo-charge your on-the-go reminder powers.One is a super-specific instrument that’ll remodel your missed name and message notifications into clever, impossible-to-miss data pellets. The different is an insanely highly effective add-on that is nearly like Gmail filters in your cellphone’s notifications. It’s one among my all-time favourite Android power-user secrets and techniques.I’ll share each of ’em on this Friday’s subject of my Android Intelligence e-newsletter. Sign up now, if you have not already — no additional reminders required.
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