Learn how to use Apple Reminders to create to-dos in your Things Inbox.

Things allows you to add to-dos via Apple Reminders. To do this, you will choose a list from Reminders to appear in Things’ Inbox. Any items added to that list will then be available for import.

This feature is particularly useful when used in conjunction with Siri to create new to-dos by speaking. You can also use the iCloud.com website on other operating systems for entering new to-dos.

If you want to migrate your entire Apple Reminders database over to Things, read this.

Enable Reminders Inbox

Mac
  1. On your Mac, open Things.
  2. In the menu bar at the top of your screen, click Things → Settings → Reminders Inbox.
  3. Check the box for Show to-dos from to enable it.
  4. If you’re prompted to allow access to your reminders, click OK.
  5. Click the dropdown box and choose your preferred list.

If you like to create Reminders through Siri and move them into Things later, you should set a default Reminders list to which Siri will add the items. To do this, open Reminders, then in the menu bar at the top of the screen, click Reminders → Settings → Default List.

iPad & iPhone
  1. On your iPad or iPhone, open Things.
  2. Tap → Reminders Inbox.
  3. Turn Reminders Inbox on.
  4. If you’re prompted to allow access to your reminders, tap OK.
  5. Tap into List and choose your preferred list.
  6. In the top-right, tap Done.

If you like to create Reminders through Siri and move them into Things later, you should set a default Reminders list to which Siri will add your tasks. To do this, go to Settings → Apps → Reminders and choose a Default List.

Watch

You can use Siri to speak Reminders on your Apple Watch. They will be created in the Reminders app on your iPhone, from where you can move them into Things, as explained in the iPad & iPhone tab above.

Vision

In Things for Vision, please follow the same steps as described in the iPad & iPhone tab above.

Move Reminders items into Things

If there are any Reminders available for import, you will see them in the Inbox on your Mac, iPad, iPhone, or Vision under the heading From Reminders. You have to enable this feature in Things on each of your devices to see Reminders available for import. When you import them, they will move from the Reminders list into Things.

It may be helpful to understand that we are merely displaying these Reminders in Things’ Inbox; until you actually import them, they do not exist in your Things database as actual to-dos. Once you have imported a Reminder, its corresponding item is deleted from the Reminders app to keep everything tidy.

Why can’t I see all Reminders items in Things’ Inbox?

Apple’s Reminders app allows you to create different kinds of items. Some of them are not supported by Things, and for others Apple doesn’t let us access the additional data. Since we delete the to-dos from Reminders app when you move them into Things, we hide the following types of Reminders from Things’ Inbox to avoid data loss:

  • Location based reminders
  • Reminders with attachments
  • Reminders with sub-tasks
  • Reminders with recurrence rules
  • Reminders configured to show up when messaging a person
  • Reminders created by saying “Siri, remind me of this”.

If you move a Reminder with a flag or priority into Things, Apple doesn’t tell us about those properties and so we cannot apply them to the to-dos in Things. You’ll have to tag those to-dos again after moving them into Things.

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