Without Siri, the iPhone reminder app stinks
gravitationalpull.net
gravitationalpull.net
These things seem much easier to pull off in a full web browser, so that all of the controls are revealed all the time.
I think the reason that so many of these to-do list apps exist is because the workflow seems like it would be easy to nail, but it isn't. Voice is quite possibly the best solution.
I learned that when I missed a few reminders because I didn't hit save a second time.
Deleting reminders is no easy task either since they used swipe right to change lists instead of the usual pull up a delete button.
Yup, the app is horrible.
It's perfectly possible to add companies (and places, aliased to companies) to your address book. So it works, but you have to tell it what your pharmacy is beforehand.
Worse, I think: it does not let you create a contact from the spot either so you have to get out of Reminders, open the phone/contacts app, create a new contact, then go back to reminders and select the contact you just created. That is painful.
It could have easily been implemented by entering a location into a textfield accompanied by a map, the exact same way you enter "places" everywhere else on the device and the web.
I don't know if I am in the minority, but I think there is a benefit the the American GDP, if Apple changed the default location to "Home", instead of forcing everyone to waste their time setting it themselves.
I don't think I'd have more use for those defaults if they were "home" and "when I arrive".
You can do that on iPhone as well.
> You then have a scrollable calendar view on the left.
Not that, but there is a "Calendar" button in the top left (lets you configure your lists in list-based view). There is also a list of the next 11 days at the bottom of the screen for quick access.
> When you tap a day, you can then type in a reminder on the right and it automatically gets added to remind you that day at 9am.
iPhone version behaves exactly the same.
Let me see: 1) Tap + button 2) Type reminder text, hit enter, reminder is added to the list 3) With the keyboard still up, tap the reminder text 4) Tap 'remind me' 5) Tap 'on a day', then tap the date select box that appears and select the time and date 6) Done
Hardly rocket science, and I can't really imagine how you would do this with less user input. I call BS on this article.
The main inefficiency is that Remind Me is a sub-screen, even though it only has two options (On a Day and At a Location). Those could have been added to the main Details screen and then you would save at least two taps.
It is intentional. It's intended that Reminders is first and foremost a to-do list, hence the basic entry mode being entering a lists of things to do. Notice:
* You don't need to tap "+" to create a new task, you can tap the empty line at the end of a list
* Pressing the "return" key on the virtual keyboard drops you to a new task creation
Everything else (timed reminders, geofencing, notes, changing the list, changing the priority) is considered secondary. Reminders maps pretty directly to Mail's Todo lists.
edit: after having marshalled my thoughts more, see http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3265820
tl;dr: "manual mode" reminders is a simple and fast todos list, whereas "automatic (siri)" reminders is a secretary taking your appointments, issues happen when trying to use one for the other.
I don't like this trend where everybody is now a UX expert and actively looks for subtle defects everywhere to prove they are smart. Same goes for praising the designers.
Sometimes little details are just little details.
At least, that's how it works on my 3GS. Using reminders with no Siri has been driving me insane as well.
Definitely like that on a 4S as well.
> Using reminders with no Siri has been driving me insane as well.
I don't know, I guess it depends what you use it for: I use it mostly as a todo and to jot things I'll have to do at some point, so the basic UI works really well.
In fact, Siri frustrates the fuck out of me because it absolutely completely definitely wants a date or a place and I have not fond out how to tell it to add "butter" on a list of stuff to buy without it wanting me to say where or when I'm going to buy the damn dairy.
edit: having written that, I think that's the split in Reminders and the reason why OP does not like it: Reminders is both a reminder and a todos app, the reminders part works like a secretary/assistant (hence Siri mandating a time or a geofence and not allowing for putting it into a specific list) and the todos works as a regular todo (hence manual creation of a task jumping immediately to creating a new one and multiple, easy-to-setup and easy-to-switch-between lists).
The issue happens when trying to use reminders-Reminders manually (OP's issue) and todos-Reminders as a secretary (mine)
In fact, this seems supported by geofencing handling: it only "knows" addresses from contacts, so the machine has to understand what you're referencing for a reminder (just as your secretary would need to I guess)
edit: and sure enough it worked, I guess I'm retarded.
Say "remember to" instead of "remind me to", and it won't ask for a date.
If this were any other manufacturer, I think people wouldn't mind. With Apple, you come to expect refined UX. This is because Apple (and Jobs) have a history of denouncing crappy UI with OCD precision. This is what Apple does best.
If Google's search index quality goes down - while it is probably minor - you cringe because you know this is what Google is supposed to be good at.
> actively looks for subtle defects everywhere to prove they are smart.
Sometimes. But I think in this case it is valid as much of Apple software is nonsense-free.
With the keyboard up on the iPhone or iPod touch, there's not a lot of space for controls in the navigation bar. You often need a cancel button and a save button, and since the title traditionally goes in the middle, there are no more button spots on the bar.
To solve this, we put the button in the view. Our view is of an index card given the nature of our app, and on it is a date field. But its a bit subtle, you can see it here: (not sure if this URL is stable or not.) http://a4.mzstatic.com/us/r1000/055/Purple/04/e5/da/mzl.afnj...
However, since customers might not figure out that the date field can be tapped on to bring up the date picker, we also put a calendar button in the middle of the Navigation Bar.
We did this by replacing the title with a custom view, in which we put the button. This is probably what Apple should do.
FWIW, the hardest and most successful part of this app, in my thinking, is the date picker. You can see a screenshot of it here: http://a4.mzstatic.com/us/r1000/015/Purple/a3/6d/de/mzl.mkfr...
We haven't added iCloud to it yet because we expected reminders, being built into the OS would kill sales. But that hasn't happened, even with the advantage of being integrated into Siri. So, we'll be adding iCloud soon as I can get some spare time.