14 DAY TRIAL // In the days leading up to the launch of iOS 5 Apple may add and / or remove a feature here and there, but not the new apps the company has already confirmed as present in the new mobile OS. Reminders is one of them.
Introduced alongside other new apps like iMessage, and Newsstand, the all-new Reminders app promises to provide users with “a better way to do to-dos.”
“Next time you think to yourself, ‘Don’t forget to…’, just pull out your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and jot it down,” Apple touts the feature.
The new app lets users organize their life in to-do lists easier than ever before, complete with due dates and locations.
Yes, you heard that right. You can choose to be reminded of something not only at a particular time, but also at a particular place.
“Say you need to remember to pick up milk during your next grocery trip. Since Reminders can be location based, you’ll get an alert as soon as you pull into the supermarket parking lot,” according to Apple.
The new app also works with Apple’s own iCal, and the upcoming iCloud, “so changes you make update automatically on all your devices and calendars,” Apple says.
Microsoft’s own Outlook will also be supported, meaning anything you jot down in Reminders will pop up on your PC or mobile device in Outlook.
What Apple doesn’t tell you (but shows you in on the iOS 5 marketing page in a few stills) is that Reminders is fully integrated with the new notifications system in iOS 5.
For example, when you’re near a destination that has a reminder assigned to it, an alert appears much like the one you see in the third example (from left to right) above.
iOS 5 will be released this fall alongside iCloud, Apple’s cloud-based suite of Internet services.
The new OS is most likely to be distributed free of charge to all supported customers, beginning with owners of an iPhone 3GS or third-generation iPod touch.