For me these are two very different apps. Notes is for writing and making long lists and snipping information from various sources. Reminders is for task management and reminding yourself of things that need to be done at specific times.
You’re absolutely right, but there is overlap and I am constantly being asked which one I should use. People who are familiar with both understand the difference, but the average user crisscrosses the two things thinking that you should only use one for everything or the other one for everything. This video was meant to have some fun with that concept and show that both of them are extremely valuable for their own purposes, exactly as you said!
For me also Notes and Reminder are two very different apps. It's simple when using which app: if you need to be reminded about some things for now, present and future then use Reminder. And if you want to take notes or writing then use Notes.
You can't beat the Reminders app for a grocery list. It sorts them by category for you! the whole family can add items onto the list especially handy if you do as soon as you notice an item needs replaced. When shopping it is great to check off the food items making your list shorten until you have nothing left to shop for. I love asking Siri to add things to my grocery list while I'm cooking or busy with life. You can even add photos of the item if you are sending someone who has trouble finding things at the store or doesn't know what the item is.
Absolutely! One of my favorite uses for reminders, and one of the first things I teach people how to do. Any other good tips you'd like to share? Have you seen some of my other videos for reminders like this one: ruclips.net/video/KCK366niY3g/видео.html
Got it. Yes seemed a little phony for me as well… But just in case I respond to all comments. What's the worst that will happen… a bot might subscribe?
Thanks for simple and clear comparison. I'm only considering Apple tools for now and your video / vivid examples helped to clear some topics. I wish Notes had option to create Reminder within a note, next to bunch of "second brain" ideas.
I know a lot of people want notes and reminders to combine and become the same thing but they’re actually very different functions… And although they cover similar territory you’ll find a much better use of Reminders from the Reminders app with all sorts of added functionality. I don’t personally want notes and reminders to combine because when you combine two apps you usually get Less of both of them. Notes is powerful and robust and makes it easy for me to recall information quickly, while Reminders is quick and fast and makes it simple for me to create lists or to do and be reminded about them when the time comes. Check out some of the other notes and Reminders videos on my channel and let me know if you have other questions.
Fantastic video Dylan and I love the comparisons between Notes and Reminders. As a seasoned user of both I really enjoy using both of them to increase my productivity to another level. I couldn’t do without either and as you know (because I said this on a recent live Thursday broadcast) how much I love how Apple integrated/linked Reminders and Calendar in iOS 18. I use Notes as another brain 🧠 really and I always pick up something new from your videos (and your recent live broadcasts) as well as your fab ⚡️POWER TIPS⚡️and the same goes for Reminders too which has taken my organisation which was at a basic level to now being a whole lot better because I now use Reminders so much. Keep up these fantastic videos 😁🙌🏻👍🏻
Fantastic to hear, Manny! Yes, both apps are necessary for me to be productive, organized, and at my best. Notes is my backup brain, and Reminders is my ever-present assistant, nudging me so I don't forget the things that need to get done.
Absolutely, I use tags on both notes and reminders all the time, there are a lot of great ways to implement them. In this video, I was just having a little bit of fun comparing the two apps (which really shouldn't be compared because they serve very different functions). Adding tags wouldcreate a whole other question for people that have never used them... and that was a rabbit hole I didn't want to head down. In some of my other videos and some of my future videos, we'll talk more and more about tags. Thanks for the reminder!
Fascinating! I've been practically living in Notes for several years now. Folders just add more complexity than I want. I've been using Reminders for specific tasks I want to remember to do, though I do have a problem with schedules like "the third Wednesday of every month." For tasks like this I create a Calendar event and manage it manually. Or "ten minutes before sunset." I need to use a custom app for this one. I recently hear of people keeping their grocery lists in Reminders which is just something I would have never even considered doing. Now I see how that could be useful, but I still keep my grocery list in Notes.
Reminders makes a much better (and easier to use through siri) grocery list. ASnd you can also use reminders to create very specific recurring dates (like you are referencing). In the next OS (Mac, iPad and iPhone) Reminders will get fully integrated with calendars, eliminating your need to use calendars in that specific way... In the long run all three (notes, reminders and calendar) are part of what I call The Pillars of Productivity and have their own functionality that brilliantly interconnects ewith each other, so there will always be a place for all three, but learning to use each of them for their strengths is valuable.
You’re the best! Can you please create a video applying Apple native tools/apps for projects and personal goals to keep one organized and productive? It would be best if there’s a dashboard to have a quick view of everything and stay on top of daily activities and big picture plans?
I use notes to track my goals and Reminders to accomplish them. Consider mapping out your year and quarter goals in notes and then each week moving the next steps you want to take into reminders along with deadlines. It's not an either/or... they work best together.
You can create a reminder from a note by highlighting text in a note then using the share sheet. The resulting reminder includes a link to the note. Unfortunately the note does not have a link to the reminder.
I also found a shortcut in the Shortcuts library, but when I tap on it, it creates a new quick note with the day, date, and time, already inserted right at the header of the new note, which I really like a lot. Which saves me a lot of time.
Really there’s just one way to link a note to a reminder… And as I say in this and other videos. Notes and Reminders are completely different animals… And shouldn’t really be thought of as the same program. They serve different purposes. But the one way you can add a note to a reminder is by either using Siri or the share icon to link them.
Hi. Brilliant video. Still though wondering which is better for a day to day to do list. What do you think? And just learning how easy it is open quick notes and add notes. Takes time to put in areas. Is there a quick way with reminders?
The quickest way to create a to do list is using Siri. And Siri works much better through Reminders than through Notes. Sometimes I will use notes and create a quick checklist for daily to dos… But if it is going to be something that I am doing over the course of several days or that I need reminders to prompt me so that I don't drop things out, I will always use the Reminders app. You'll have to figure out what works best for you. Quick notes are nice… And being able to just jot things down on notes is easy (using dictation makes it even easier). But for me, Reminders is the way I stay on top of multiple tasks across multiple projects without worrying that something is going to fall between the cracks because I didn't open that particular note. And by all means, make sure to use Siri whenever possible for reminders. If you see something on a website and you want to be reminded about it say, "remind me about this," or at any given time you can say remind me about _____ At 4 PM on Thursday… And then you don't have to hold onto that task in the back of your head because you know it's been captured. Capturing things quickly is the key to getting things done. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
A few days ago, I discovered your channel and found it very helpful. Recently, I bought an iPad Air 2024 11-inch for education. I am not familiar with Apple products because I am an Android user. So, I request you to please make a series on "How to set up and use iPad for Beginners". For which purpose apps are used and how to use them as a student.
Great video, thanks. I love both of these apps and would go as far as saying they are probably in my top 5 used apps. Add voice memos with these two and you have 3 FREE powerful productivity apps that are more than good enough for most people. HOWEVER, one of the biggest flaws with notes is the fact that you can’t recover previous versions of notes. This means if you accidentally delete part of a note then come out of it, when you go back into it, the deleted info is gone and you can’t get it back. (The option to ‘undo’ isn’t available once you come out of the note). Other than that both excellent apps (IMO).
You are correct about that "flaw". My fix is to be careful about what you do in notes, and keep a Backup Copy of critical notes. And yes, Voice Memos are an important part of the puzzle... so is the Files App!
I use both regularly.... reminders is better for check lists, tasks and managing lists. Check out some of my other reminders videos and you may understand the true value of each app. They have very different tools and purposes, and once you understand reminders it is just as easy to use (and even easier to use with Siri)
Calendar is great, but for people who put all of the things they need to do on their calendar... it can be overwhelming. In any given day, I've got between 20 to 30 things I need to accomplish, so having all of those spread out across today's calendar appointments (on top of all of the actual appointments I've got) and then moving them to the next day when they don't get accomplished would make me crazy. Reminders simplifies all of that, and with the latest iOS 18 update, reminders and calendars are integrated, so it adds that functionality in for people who want to use them with the added control that reminders gives as far as how to keep track of those items and how to be reminded about them.
Good video, I was thinking it would be good to see you do the same type for reminders vs. calendar. That's where I struggle. Thanks for your time and efforts on the vids.
Unfortunately with notes there are only two sizes for attachments… Really large, and really small. You can right click or press and hold on the photo to choose between small and large but you don’t have a lot of control other than that. Notes is a great program for text and some images but it is not a great visual Tool if you’ve got a lot of pictures. If you are doing that, you may want to consider using either pages or my preference Freeform to organize a visual reminder. Hopefully that helps…
Hello!! I don't know how to remove the reminders that repeat monthly such as: rent, mobile, etc. from my today's list. Do you know how to remove them and still have the reminder monthly?
The today list shows any reminders due today (or overdue). The problem with repeating reminders is most people forget to complete them when they pop up, so they tend to stack. If you look in your today list you will find that many of those repeating reminders are old. Just complete any of the past ones and you should stop seeing them in the today list... then when they pop up on their repeating schedule remember to mark them as completed and you shouldn't end up with the backlog you are seeing now...
Hey my friend. 👕😎here. This video definitely deserves “100 Steve Jobs” 😉. You out did yourself again. This was absolutely useful and excellently presented. Sincerely Your fan in Winnipeg. Stay safe 👕😎👍💕 BB
There are ways to do it, but I have yet to find a compelling reason to do it. Emails should stay in the email program where they belong... you can copy and paste the content to a notes, but if you are constantly going back to your email to refer to a specific message or document, maybe you should just move that info to another program (by simply copying and pasting).
@@TheMacWhisperer What a simple and logical idea. Thanks! I had thought that forwarding emails was such a great feature--a reason to stay with Evernote! Now instead, I need to figure out how to go through all my notebooks in Evernote to bring usable information (usually pdf attachments to the emails) to iCloud! And, thanks for all your videos. This is my first Mac environment--I don't even own a working PC anymore.
I get it. But evernote is barely functional these days, and they created bad habits with email forwarding because they were a website, not a true app, and they had to allow you to send things there somehow. You should definitely download and transfer all your evernote info to notes, and then start taking the attachments in email and either save them to your computer where you can access them easily or drop them into notes instead. I have several videos laying out how to best use notes. Feel free to reach out if you have other questions.
They really serve extremely different purposes and while there is some overlap, it's not enough for them to get merged into one app that wouldn't fulfill the purposes of the two of them. Maybe someday Apple will find a way to tie them together better, but in my opinion they're completely different pieces of a solution and I need both. I use Notes for referencing information and finding things quickly, and Reminders for being prompted to accomplish things and keeping track of lists that help me get things done. How do you use them? My last thought on it is that whenever people combine multiple products into one, you get a Swiss Army knife with 4000 tools and no good way to cut a steak or open a can. Sometimes putting everything in one place isn't the right way to do it. Look at how clunky Outlook is and how bloated Microsoft Word is. Sometimes one tool should be allowed its own space to be a great tool without trying to merge it with another one. Don't forget you can always add a note to a reminder to be reminded about it and you have a note section within reminders to take longer notes. So to a certain extent, they have been fused.
@@TheMacWhisperer I'm trying to come up w a system for work of what docs/files to save in apple notes, vs in Files. Maybe xls in Files and everything else in Notes... dunno
@@TheMacWhisperer can I ask a question? When I have a pdf file open on safari on iPhone or iPad and I share it to notes, it saves the pdf. But from my MacBook, it saves the URL. Any way to change that?
Great video thank you. Curious if anyone else having issues with search on notes now. Used to be fantastic but I find that it has become extremely unreliable and misses notes in search even when have also set whole title of a note in the search.
I still think that notes searching is pretty good… Occasionally, after a new update on my phone or computer it may get a little sloppy, but there are some fixes for that that you could do. The problem is that searching while great is never as good as sorting. The more notes you have the more you need other tools whether it’s tags or folders or some folders to be able to keep track of all of the separate pieces. I see search issues, most notably, with people who have everything in one folder rather than separated. Because the indexing on that one folder gets complicated… You should definitely be using tags to help organize, folders, and some folders to simplify, and searching only when there’s no other way to easily find it. At least that’s my philosophy. Where were you seeing the search issues the most? On your phone, computer or iPad? And do you have separate folders and tags?
@@TheMacWhisperer Mate can I firstly say what a pleasant surprise for you to read comment and to take the time to reply with so much detail ! I use a combo of Folders and Tags to organise and am noticing search missing notes on iPad & MacBook. Actually got so frustrating this week I have switched my note taking to Bear Notes which am pretty impressed with though am still a fan of Apple Notes particularly with the new teaks coming in IOS 18 & Sequoia. Thanks again 🙂
How frustrating! There are two major reasons why I see search in effective for notes. 1. Everything is in one folder rather than sorted. This is a super common issue, and the index just gets overwhelmed with all the information. Sorting things into folders can generally solve this issue. 2. On the computer the index can sometimes get corrupted. You can easily reset it by going into your applications folder and opening "Terminal" and copying and pasting the text I will share at the bottom of this link. When you do that it will completely reset the index and almost always solve searching issues. Here's the command. Paste it exactly like this into Terminal, and hit return. It will ask you for your password for the computer, and it will reset the index. sudo mdutil -E /
What a bizarre comparison. Apples and oranges are more comparable than Notes and Reminders. It's like comparing a post-it note to a loose leaf binder. So when you put some info into an Apple Note, how do you remember it's there and needs action? Maybe set a reminder? 😉 When I do a brain dump into an Apple Note, I actually do create a Reminder so I know it's there and needs action. Reminders is not intended to be a Note-taking app and Notes isn't intended to be a to-do list, even though you can keep a to-do list in Notes - but there's nothing to prompt you to return to those actions. Being able to set a reminder to re-visit a note would be a game-changer. Wait a minute... near the end of the video you say they aren't comparable.... doesn't that negate the first 15 minutes? lol
I agree with you 100%, but over the last 5 years this is the question I get more than anythign else about Notes and Reminders. People are constantly asking which one to use. My hope was that this video could shine some light on how different there are and explain to use one vs the other. But you are right, they are totally different tools...
I totally get your frustration! It does feel a bit outdated that we can’t directly markup typed text in the Notes app on iOS or macOS, especially given how advanced other features have become. While Apple allows you to markup PDFs and images, it would be great to have more flexible text editing options, like highlighting or adding annotations directly within typed content. If you’re looking for more robust options, some third-party apps like Evernote or Notability might give you those additional markup tools for text. In the meantime, it’s always possible that Apple will expand these features in future iOS updates. We talk about tips like this in our weekly live broadcasts-join us sometime if you want to discuss it more or ask questions live! 😊
Absolutely, there’s no right app to use. It just depends on the project… The video was really made to just highlight the strengths and weaknesses of both of them, but you’re right, they serve different purposes.
Nice video. I’ve been using Notes and Reminders a lot more, as I learn more. Would you be willing to do a video just for “ #Tags ” ? How to use tags in Reminders and Notes. I have watched a lot of videos on the use of them and still don’t get it. I was hoping it would help me in searching my notes, especially. It says that it automatically creates tags in notes but yet I never really ever see any. Hi, also see there’s a place for tags inside of Reminders and assuming that they have to be manually made there? But my main interest in tags, was hoping that it would help me keep track of the people and be able to search for them quickly, in notes, Reminders , in calendar ,that I deal with in business. in my notes, And help me search my notes very quickly to find pertinent information containing with that business situation. I hope this doesn’t sound like a silly request. I’m hoping since you thoroughly explain things is such an easy to understand way, that may be if you did a video on tags and searching tags and how they’re made, example, do you make the tag First had the beginning of the note or afterwards or during? It definitely does not auto generate tags from my experience. I guess what I’m really asking, can you tie calendar, reminders, and notes together using tags and how is it done? At that point, how do you use the tags when searching? I see people and videos talking about it, but they never explain how you do it? Most of my work is getting done on my iPhone and iOS and then later polished up on my Mac when I get home. I’m sure I’m not the only person that doesn’t understand, tagging or tags and how to use them together with Calendar, Reminders, Notes?
Tags are a super complicated concept that most people get wrong. Tags exist on the Mac in the Finder, in notes, and in reminders… But they don’t connect to each other at all. You can have the same tags in multiple places, but they work differently in each each separate app. Which is a little annoying… But most people overuse tags (just look at any Instagram post) And if you were to do that with your Apple products, you would make a mess of things rather than simplifying them. Make sure to check the recent notes and reminders videos I’ve made because many of them touch upon tags… But I am happy to make a video just about tags because I think it’s a great topic. Thanks for watching.
Wow, thank you for the reply. That’s pretty cool. Thanks for the explanation and I guess I won’t be adding so many tags to things. I used to go to the Notes app and go to the top and search from there on my phone, but I actually found it easier to search online phone just by swiping down and letting spotlight do the search for me; which pretty much searches everywhere and I get to choose what I open and where. By the way, thank you for The work that you put into these videos 👍
I love spotlight, but it is too global for me. It's like looking for a red sock and being told about the history of socks over the millenia... just too many results. If I know it is a note, I go there first. Plus, I like to "Sort" and know where things are rather than searching whenever possible. Tags can help, but they can also make you crazy. Not everything neeeds to be a tag. There should only be a handful. And the most helpful thing about tags is that they can find things across multiple folders and subfolders. So where I have all my recipes sorted by type in a dozen different subfolders, by having a tag called "recipes" I can find them all in one click rather than going from folder to folder. Great discussion, and I already started planning a tags video so keep your eyes out for that in the next few weeks. In the meantime, thank you so much for watching and commenting!
Well done, MacWhisperer. I wish, there was another category referring to integration. How can i link to other apps, especially link notes to reminders and vice versa. This point is a bit frustrating for me due to lack of skills ;-) Also in ingegration i would consider automation. Best regards, Uwe
In a word, you can link a note to a reminder, but you cannot link a reminder to a note. There are several ways to link a note to a reminder, my favorite is from the phone by telling Siri. “remind me about this“ while you are on a note. You can also use the share button or copy and paste things from a note directly into a reminder… But not the other way around. I don’t do it very often, because to me notes and reminders are very different things and it’s rare that I need to be reminded about a note, but it happens.
It's just not the way Notes was made... technically you can axd a note to a reminder, but it isn't necessary... reminders is a much better system to be reminded by than notes... and notes is a much better note-taking system than reminders. Sometimes it's best when separate tools have their own strong functionality... a swiss army knife is great, but not when you need a steak knife.
I agree with you. What I hear is that Notes was made poorly. Especially if best answer is “that’s just the way they made it. My question is why not make it more useful for users.
OK… That's not quite what I said but I understand that that's what you heard. Notes is not for reminding… That's not how it's made. There may be integration in the future, but to me notes and reminders serve completely different purposes and notes is a phenomenal program for NOTES. It is amazing at keeping track of documents, links, recipes, travel arrangements and all sorts of other information. Reminders is phenomenal for doing reminding. For keeping track of lists, for managing projects, and for getting specific reminders about specific tasks. I don't want notes to be a reminding system… In many cases, the more you pile into one app the less it does the specific things it needs to properly. For me notes doesn't need to remind me, I have reminders for that… Notes is there for me to store information, documents and have quick access to them.
Wow...a whole lot left out! TAGS and smart lists are an integral part of reminder organization and functionality! Tags can also be used in Notes! I use Both tags and folders and the combo makes it much easier to hone in on what I'm looking for.
Yeah, without a doubt I left a ton out. If you see some of my other recent notes and reminders videos I talk all about how to use tags and smart lists to really sort and organize things properly. The purpose of this video was more about a global overview comparing the two, rather than a "how to" on any of their major functions. Have you seen my other videos on both of them?
For me these are two very different apps. Notes is for writing and making long lists and snipping information from various sources. Reminders is for task management and reminding yourself of things that need to be done at specific times.
You’re absolutely right, but there is overlap and I am constantly being asked which one I should use. People who are familiar with both understand the difference, but the average user crisscrosses the two things thinking that you should only use one for everything or the other one for everything.
This video was meant to have some fun with that concept and show that both of them are extremely valuable for their own purposes, exactly as you said!
For me also Notes and Reminder are two very different apps. It's simple when using which app: if you need to be reminded about some things for now, present and future then use Reminder. And if you want to take notes or writing then use Notes.
You can't beat the Reminders app for a grocery list. It sorts them by category for you! the whole family can add items onto the list especially handy if you do as soon as you notice an item needs replaced. When shopping it is great to check off the food items making your list shorten until you have nothing left to shop for. I love asking Siri to add things to my grocery list while I'm cooking or busy with life. You can even add photos of the item if you are sending someone who has trouble finding things at the store or doesn't know what the item is.
Absolutely! One of my favorite uses for reminders, and one of the first things I teach people how to do. Any other good tips you'd like to share?
Have you seen some of my other videos for reminders like this one: ruclips.net/video/KCK366niY3g/видео.html
I just discovered The MacWhisperer. Very, very useful.
Welcome aboard! Thanks for joining, thanks for watching, and please let me know if there's any topics you'd like to see me cover!
@@TheMacWhisperer Thanks!
Good wrap up at the end of the video. Providing a short summary on the key points of each tool was helpful
Awesome, thank you!
Bot comment
Out of curiosity, are you calling my comment a bot comment or the original post... or are you yourself a bot???
@@TheMacWhisperer the one from @jerl
Got it. Yes seemed a little phony for me as well…
But just in case I respond to all comments. What's the worst that will happen… a bot might subscribe?
Hi, thanks for the video and the distinctions. I created a table of contents in notes to find and open my notes quickly, works great.
That's a super smart way to do it! Great job!
@@TheMacWhisperer Thanks. I wish I could take the credit but I saw it online. Have a great day.
Love this comparison video!! Brilliant - I give it 5 STEVES!
Thanks! It was a lot of fun to make and I’m thinking of which other comparisons we can do…
Thanks for watching!
Power tip is really super powerful 👍
Thanks for simple and clear comparison. I'm only considering Apple tools for now and your video / vivid examples helped to clear some topics.
I wish Notes had option to create Reminder within a note, next to bunch of "second brain" ideas.
I know a lot of people want notes and reminders to combine and become the same thing but they’re actually very different functions… And although they cover similar territory you’ll find a much better use of Reminders from the Reminders app with all sorts of added functionality. I don’t personally want notes and reminders to combine because when you combine two apps you usually get Less of both of them. Notes is powerful and robust and makes it easy for me to recall information quickly, while Reminders is quick and fast and makes it simple for me to create lists or to do and be reminded about them when the time comes.
Check out some of the other notes and Reminders videos on my channel and let me know if you have other questions.
Fantastic video Dylan and I love the comparisons between Notes and Reminders. As a seasoned user of both I really enjoy using both of them to increase my productivity to another level. I couldn’t do without either and as you know (because I said this on a recent live Thursday broadcast) how much I love how Apple integrated/linked Reminders and Calendar in iOS 18. I use Notes as another brain 🧠 really and I always pick up something new from your videos (and your recent live broadcasts) as well as your fab ⚡️POWER TIPS⚡️and the same goes for Reminders too which has taken my organisation which was at a basic level to now being a whole lot better because I now use Reminders so much. Keep up these fantastic videos 😁🙌🏻👍🏻
Fantastic to hear, Manny! Yes, both apps are necessary for me to be productive, organized, and at my best. Notes is my backup brain, and Reminders is my ever-present assistant, nudging me so I don't forget the things that need to get done.
Well every heard of “Tags” its there both in notes and reminders. Also smart folders!
Absolutely, I use tags on both notes and reminders all the time, there are a lot of great ways to implement them. In this video, I was just having a little bit of fun comparing the two apps (which really shouldn't be compared because they serve very different functions). Adding tags wouldcreate a whole other question for people that have never used them... and that was a rabbit hole I didn't want to head down.
In some of my other videos and some of my future videos, we'll talk more and more about tags.
Thanks for the reminder!
Fascinating!
I've been practically living in Notes for several years now. Folders just add more complexity than I want.
I've been using Reminders for specific tasks I want to remember to do, though I do have a problem with schedules like "the third Wednesday of every month." For tasks like this I create a Calendar event and manage it manually.
Or "ten minutes before sunset." I need to use a custom app for this one.
I recently hear of people keeping their grocery lists in Reminders which is just something I would have never even considered doing. Now I see how that could be useful, but I still keep my grocery list in Notes.
Reminders makes a much better (and easier to use through siri) grocery list. ASnd you can also use reminders to create very specific recurring dates (like you are referencing). In the next OS (Mac, iPad and iPhone) Reminders will get fully integrated with calendars, eliminating your need to use calendars in that specific way...
In the long run all three (notes, reminders and calendar) are part of what I call The Pillars of Productivity and have their own functionality that brilliantly interconnects ewith each other, so there will always be a place for all three, but learning to use each of them for their strengths is valuable.
You’re the best! Can you please create a video applying Apple native tools/apps for projects and personal goals to keep one organized and productive? It would be best if there’s a dashboard to have a quick view of everything and stay on top of daily activities and big picture plans?
I just ask you a question about this very video! I just found it Thanks again!
Glad I could help! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Should I list my Annual, quarter, weekly goals in Notes or Reminders? I overthink this issues with my daily and weekly planning.....
I use notes to track my goals and Reminders to accomplish them. Consider mapping out your year and quarter goals in notes and then each week moving the next steps you want to take into reminders along with deadlines.
It's not an either/or... they work best together.
You can create a reminder from a note by highlighting text in a note then using the share sheet. The resulting reminder includes a link to the note. Unfortunately the note does not have a link to the reminder.
Awesome tip!!!
I also found a shortcut in the Shortcuts library, but when I tap on it, it creates a new quick note with the day, date, and time, already inserted right at the header of the new note, which I really like a lot. Which saves me a lot of time.
Thanks for this. But I've watched that hopping you give a tip of how to link a note to a reminder.
Really there’s just one way to link a note to a reminder… And as I say in this and other videos. Notes and Reminders are completely different animals… And shouldn’t really be thought of as the same program. They serve different purposes. But the one way you can add a note to a reminder is by either using Siri or the share icon to link them.
Hi. Brilliant video. Still though wondering which is better for a day to day to do list. What do you think? And just learning how easy it is open quick notes and add notes. Takes time to put in areas. Is there a quick way with reminders?
The quickest way to create a to do list is using Siri. And Siri works much better through Reminders than through Notes.
Sometimes I will use notes and create a quick checklist for daily to dos… But if it is going to be something that I am doing over the course of several days or that I need reminders to prompt me so that I don't drop things out, I will always use the Reminders app.
You'll have to figure out what works best for you. Quick notes are nice… And being able to just jot things down on notes is easy (using dictation makes it even easier). But for me, Reminders is the way I stay on top of multiple tasks across multiple projects without worrying that something is going to fall between the cracks because I didn't open that particular note.
And by all means, make sure to use Siri whenever possible for reminders. If you see something on a website and you want to be reminded about it say, "remind me about this," or at any given time you can say remind me about _____ At 4 PM on Thursday… And then you don't have to hold onto that task in the back of your head because you know it's been captured.
Capturing things quickly is the key to getting things done.
I hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
Very lovely 👍
Thank you so much 😊
A few days ago, I discovered your channel and found it very helpful. Recently, I bought an iPad Air 2024 11-inch for education. I am not familiar with Apple products because I am an Android user. So, I request you to please make a series on "How to set up and use iPad for Beginners". For which purpose apps are used and how to use them as a student.
It’s a good topic. I will start putting it together…
@@TheMacWhispererThank you!
I am waiting for this series.
Great video, thanks. I love both of these apps and would go as far as saying they are probably in my top 5 used apps. Add voice memos with these two and you have 3 FREE powerful productivity apps that are more than good enough for most people.
HOWEVER, one of the biggest flaws with notes is the fact that you can’t recover previous versions of notes. This means if you accidentally delete part of a note then come out of it, when you go back into it, the deleted info is gone and you can’t get it back. (The option to ‘undo’ isn’t available once you come out of the note).
Other than that both excellent apps (IMO).
You are correct about that "flaw". My fix is to be careful about what you do in notes, and keep a Backup Copy of critical notes.
And yes, Voice Memos are an important part of the puzzle... so is the Files App!
It's Notes for me! I use it every single day, and it's very user friendly. I tried reminders and just never used it.
I use both regularly.... reminders is better for check lists, tasks and managing lists. Check out some of my other reminders videos and you may understand the true value of each app. They have very different tools and purposes, and once you understand reminders it is just as easy to use (and even easier to use with Siri)
I’ve never used reminders. I use my calendar to remind me to do things, but I don’t get to use Apple products for work.
Calendar is great, but for people who put all of the things they need to do on their calendar... it can be overwhelming.
In any given day, I've got between 20 to 30 things I need to accomplish, so having all of those spread out across today's calendar appointments (on top of all of the actual appointments I've got) and then moving them to the next day when they don't get accomplished would make me crazy.
Reminders simplifies all of that, and with the latest iOS 18 update, reminders and calendars are integrated, so it adds that functionality in for people who want to use them with the added control that reminders gives as far as how to keep track of those items and how to be reminded about them.
Good video, I was thinking it would be good to see you do the same type for reminders vs. calendar. That's where I struggle. Thanks for your time and efforts on the vids.
Great suggestion! I'll add it to my future videos list. Thanks for watching!
Hi Dylan, I added a photo into a note, but the photo came in too big and I couldn’t find a way to resize it, is it possible?
Unfortunately with notes there are only two sizes for attachments… Really large, and really small.
You can right click or press and hold on the photo to choose between small and large but you don’t have a lot of control other than that.
Notes is a great program for text and some images but it is not a great visual Tool if you’ve got a lot of pictures. If you are doing that, you may want to consider using either pages or my preference Freeform to organize a visual reminder. Hopefully that helps…
@@TheMacWhisperer Thank you Dylan!
Hello!! I don't know how to remove the reminders that repeat monthly such as: rent, mobile, etc. from my today's list. Do you know how to remove them and still have the reminder monthly?
The today list shows any reminders due today (or overdue). The problem with repeating reminders is most people forget to complete them when they pop up, so they tend to stack. If you look in your today list you will find that many of those repeating reminders are old. Just complete any of the past ones and you should stop seeing them in the today list... then when they pop up on their repeating schedule remember to mark them as completed and you shouldn't end up with the backlog you are seeing now...
@@TheMacWhisperer thank you for answering :)
Hey my friend.
👕😎here.
This video definitely deserves “100 Steve Jobs” 😉.
You out did yourself again. This was absolutely useful and excellently presented.
Sincerely
Your fan in Winnipeg.
Stay safe
👕😎👍💕
BB
Thanks again! Glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you so much for this! Excellent video😊
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching.
Very good
Thanks! I'm glad you got value out of watching it!
Can you forward emails to Notes?
There are ways to do it, but I have yet to find a compelling reason to do it. Emails should stay in the email program where they belong... you can copy and paste the content to a notes, but if you are constantly going back to your email to refer to a specific message or document, maybe you should just move that info to another program (by simply copying and pasting).
@@TheMacWhisperer What a simple and logical idea. Thanks! I had thought that forwarding emails was such a great feature--a reason to stay with Evernote! Now instead, I need to figure out how to go through all my notebooks in Evernote to bring usable information (usually pdf attachments to the emails) to iCloud! And, thanks for all your videos. This is my first Mac environment--I don't even own a working PC anymore.
I get it. But evernote is barely functional these days, and they created bad habits with email forwarding because they were a website, not a true app, and they had to allow you to send things there somehow.
You should definitely download and transfer all your evernote info to notes, and then start taking the attachments in email and either save them to your computer where you can access them easily or drop them into notes instead.
I have several videos laying out how to best use notes. Feel free to reach out if you have other questions.
Great video. Thanks for all the information. I look forward to more!
Thanks for watching!
They are both productivity apps. Why dont they fuse them together?
They really serve extremely different purposes and while there is some overlap, it's not enough for them to get merged into one app that wouldn't fulfill the purposes of the two of them. Maybe someday Apple will find a way to tie them together better, but in my opinion they're completely different pieces of a solution and I need both. I use Notes for referencing information and finding things quickly, and Reminders for being prompted to accomplish things and keeping track of lists that help me get things done.
How do you use them?
My last thought on it is that whenever people combine multiple products into one, you get a Swiss Army knife with 4000 tools and no good way to cut a steak or open a can. Sometimes putting everything in one place isn't the right way to do it. Look at how clunky Outlook is and how bloated Microsoft Word is.
Sometimes one tool should be allowed its own space to be a great tool without trying to merge it with another one. Don't forget you can always add a note to a reminder to be reminded about it and you have a note section within reminders to take longer notes. So to a certain extent, they have been fused.
Why can’t Reminders be integrated as point list in Notes?
It's just not the way it's made. Maybe in a future update? But until then...
Great video comparisons!
Thanks for watching!!!
Class please
I'm really curious about your comment... What exactly do you mean?
Great video.
Glad you enjoyed it
@@TheMacWhisperer I'm trying to come up w a system for work of what docs/files to save in apple notes, vs in Files. Maybe xls in Files and everything else in Notes... dunno
@@TheMacWhisperer can I ask a question? When I have a pdf file open on safari on iPhone or iPad and I share it to notes, it saves the pdf. But from my MacBook, it saves the URL. Any way to change that?
Yeah, download the file from Safari before you drag it over.
Great video thank you. Curious if anyone else having issues with search on notes now. Used to be fantastic but I find that it has become extremely unreliable and misses notes in search even when have also set whole title of a note in the search.
I still think that notes searching is pretty good… Occasionally, after a new update on my phone or computer it may get a little sloppy, but there are some fixes for that that you could do.
The problem is that searching while great is never as good as sorting. The more notes you have the more you need other tools whether it’s tags or folders or some folders to be able to keep track of all of the separate pieces.
I see search issues, most notably, with people who have everything in one folder rather than separated. Because the indexing on that one folder gets complicated…
You should definitely be using tags to help organize, folders, and some folders to simplify, and searching only when there’s no other way to easily find it.
At least that’s my philosophy.
Where were you seeing the search issues the most? On your phone, computer or iPad? And do you have separate folders and tags?
@@TheMacWhisperer Mate can I firstly say what a pleasant surprise for you to read comment and to take the time to reply with so much detail ! I use a combo of Folders and Tags to organise and am noticing search missing notes on iPad & MacBook. Actually got so frustrating this week I have switched my note taking to Bear Notes which am pretty impressed with though am still a fan of Apple Notes particularly with the new teaks coming in IOS 18 & Sequoia. Thanks again 🙂
How frustrating! There are two major reasons why I see search in effective for notes.
1. Everything is in one folder rather than sorted. This is a super common issue, and the index just gets overwhelmed with all the information. Sorting things into folders can generally solve this issue.
2. On the computer the index can sometimes get corrupted. You can easily reset it by going into your applications folder and opening "Terminal" and copying and pasting the text I will share at the bottom of this link. When you do that it will completely reset the index and almost always solve searching issues.
Here's the command. Paste it exactly like this into Terminal, and hit return. It will ask you for your password for the computer, and it will reset the index.
sudo mdutil -E /
What a bizarre comparison. Apples and oranges are more comparable than Notes and Reminders. It's like comparing a post-it note to a loose leaf binder. So when you put some info into an Apple Note, how do you remember it's there and needs action? Maybe set a reminder? 😉 When I do a brain dump into an Apple Note, I actually do create a Reminder so I know it's there and needs action. Reminders is not intended to be a Note-taking app and Notes isn't intended to be a to-do list, even though you can keep a to-do list in Notes - but there's nothing to prompt you to return to those actions. Being able to set a reminder to re-visit a note would be a game-changer. Wait a minute... near the end of the video you say they aren't comparable.... doesn't that negate the first 15 minutes? lol
I agree with you 100%, but over the last 5 years this is the question I get more than anythign else about Notes and Reminders. People are constantly asking which one to use. My hope was that this video could shine some light on how different there are and explain to use one vs the other. But you are right, they are totally different tools...
Well you can only markup PDF or images in notes and not really the text that you type in the notes itself in this age it is a bit primitive.
I totally get your frustration! It does feel a bit outdated that we can’t directly markup typed text in the Notes app on iOS or macOS, especially given how advanced other features have become. While Apple allows you to markup PDFs and images, it would be great to have more flexible text editing options, like highlighting or adding annotations directly within typed content.
If you’re looking for more robust options, some third-party apps like Evernote or Notability might give you those additional markup tools for text. In the meantime, it’s always possible that Apple will expand these features in future iOS updates.
We talk about tips like this in our weekly live broadcasts-join us sometime if you want to discuss it more or ask questions live! 😊
they both have their strengths . I use reminders for short term and notes to for long term notes.
Absolutely, there’s no right app to use. It just depends on the project… The video was really made to just highlight the strengths and weaknesses of both of them, but you’re right, they serve different purposes.
Nice video. I’ve been using Notes and Reminders a lot more, as I learn more.
Would you be willing to do a video just for “ #Tags ” ?
How to use tags in Reminders and Notes. I have watched a lot of videos on the use of them and still don’t get it. I was hoping it would help me in searching my notes, especially. It says that it automatically creates tags in notes but yet I never really ever see any.
Hi, also see there’s a place for tags inside of Reminders and assuming that they have to be manually made there?
But my main interest in tags, was hoping that it would help me keep track of the people and be able to search for them quickly, in notes, Reminders , in calendar ,that I deal with in business. in my notes, And help me search my notes very quickly to find pertinent information containing with that business situation. I hope this doesn’t sound like a silly request. I’m hoping since you thoroughly explain things is such an easy to understand way, that may be if you did a video on tags and searching tags and how they’re made, example, do you make the tag First had the beginning of the note or afterwards or during?
It definitely does not auto generate tags from my experience.
I guess what I’m really asking, can you tie calendar, reminders, and notes together using tags and how is it done? At that point, how do you use the tags when searching? I see people and videos talking about it, but they never explain how you do it?
Most of my work is getting done on my iPhone and iOS and then later polished up on my Mac when I get home. I’m sure I’m not the only person that doesn’t understand, tagging or tags and how to use them together with Calendar, Reminders, Notes?
Tags are a super complicated concept that most people get wrong. Tags exist on the Mac in the Finder, in notes, and in reminders… But they don’t connect to each other at all.
You can have the same tags in multiple places, but they work differently in each each separate app.
Which is a little annoying…
But most people overuse tags (just look at any Instagram post) And if you were to do that with your Apple products, you would make a mess of things rather than simplifying them.
Make sure to check the recent notes and reminders videos I’ve made because many of them touch upon tags… But I am happy to make a video just about tags because I think it’s a great topic. Thanks for watching.
Wow, thank you for the reply. That’s pretty cool.
Thanks for the explanation and I guess I won’t be adding so many tags to things. I used to go to the Notes app and go to the top and search from there on my phone, but I actually found it easier to search online phone just by swiping down and letting spotlight do the search for me; which pretty much searches everywhere and I get to choose what I open and where.
By the way, thank you for The work that you put into these videos 👍
I love spotlight, but it is too global for me. It's like looking for a red sock and being told about the history of socks over the millenia... just too many results. If I know it is a note, I go there first. Plus, I like to "Sort" and know where things are rather than searching whenever possible.
Tags can help, but they can also make you crazy. Not everything neeeds to be a tag. There should only be a handful. And the most helpful thing about tags is that they can find things across multiple folders and subfolders. So where I have all my recipes sorted by type in a dozen different subfolders, by having a tag called "recipes" I can find them all in one click rather than going from folder to folder.
Great discussion, and I already started planning a tags video so keep your eyes out for that in the next few weeks. In the meantime, thank you so much for watching and commenting!
Well done, MacWhisperer. I wish, there was another category referring to integration. How can i link to other apps, especially link notes to reminders and vice versa. This point is a bit frustrating for me due to lack of skills ;-) Also in ingegration i would consider automation. Best regards, Uwe
In a word, you can link a note to a reminder, but you cannot link a reminder to a note.
There are several ways to link a note to a reminder, my favorite is from the phone by telling Siri. “remind me about this“ while you are on a note.
You can also use the share button or copy and paste things from a note directly into a reminder… But not the other way around.
I don’t do it very often, because to me notes and reminders are very different things and it’s rare that I need to be reminded about a note, but it happens.
…..but keep it simple. Don’t take an Evernote🙄
So true. Evernote is barely hanging on by a thread at this point.
Why can’t you just add a reminder date to a Note? Is it too obvious and simple. If Google keep can do it"………….
It's just not the way Notes was made... technically you can axd a note to a reminder, but it isn't necessary... reminders is a much better system to be reminded by than notes... and notes is a much better note-taking system than reminders. Sometimes it's best when separate tools have their own strong functionality... a swiss army knife is great, but not when you need a steak knife.
I agree with you. What I hear is that Notes was made poorly. Especially if best answer is “that’s just the way they made it. My question is why not make it more useful for users.
OK… That's not quite what I said but I understand that that's what you heard.
Notes is not for reminding… That's not how it's made. There may be integration in the future, but to me notes and reminders serve completely different purposes and notes is a phenomenal program for NOTES. It is amazing at keeping track of documents, links, recipes, travel arrangements and all sorts of other information.
Reminders is phenomenal for doing reminding. For keeping track of lists, for managing projects, and for getting specific reminders about specific tasks.
I don't want notes to be a reminding system…
In many cases, the more you pile into one app the less it does the specific things it needs to properly. For me notes doesn't need to remind me, I have reminders for that… Notes is there for me to store information, documents and have quick access to them.
So good for you brain 🧠 Especially at my age NOT
I'm not sure I understand your comment. Please elaborate.
Wow...a whole lot left out! TAGS and smart lists are an integral part of reminder organization and functionality!
Tags can also be used in Notes! I use Both tags and folders and the combo makes it much easier to hone in on what I'm looking for.
Yeah, without a doubt I left a ton out. If you see some of my other recent notes and reminders videos I talk all about how to use tags and smart lists to really sort and organize things properly. The purpose of this video was more about a global overview comparing the two, rather than a "how to" on any of their major functions.
Have you seen my other videos on both of them?