How apple’s new business chat works

Business Chat is a new way to communicate with Apple and other businesses using Messages. Start a chat to get answers to your questions, schedule appointments, resolve issues, make purchases, and more.

To start a Business Chat, you need an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with the latest version of iOS.

Start a Business Chat

You need an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to start a Business Chat conversation. You can also respond to your conversations with your Apple Watch or Mac.

You can start a conversation through Maps, Safari, Siri, and Search, and through participating businesses’ websites and apps. Search for the business, then tap and start the conversation.

If you don’t see when you search for a business, it might not be verified with Business Chat. Not all verified businesses will have the same capabilities, such as making purchases or scheduling appointments through Business Chat.

Businesses can’t start a conversation with you, they can only respond to you with relevant information. Your personal information is never shared with businesses unless you provide it.

End a Business Chat

If you’re done with a Business Chat conversation and don’t plan to go back to it, you need to delete the thread to completely end the conversation. If you think you might need to go back to the conversation, you can keep the thread open and send messages as needed.

If you don’t delete the conversation, businesses will still have access to send you messages that are relevant to your previous conversation. When you delete a conversation on one device, you’ll still be able to see the message thread on your other devices, but it will be disabled.

Get help

If you need help with a Business Chat conversation with Apple, contact Apple Support. For more information about using Business Chat with other businesses, try to contact the business directly.

Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance, or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Contact the vendor for additional information.

Appaloosa Store

Aug 24, 2018 · 5 min read

Quietly released alongside iOS 11.3 in March 2018, Apple Business Chat is a new built-in feature added to the native iOS Messages app.

Being restricted to a handful of companies for now, the new feature hasn’t been really deployed in most parts of the world – it’s mostly restricted to US consumers for now.

Business Chat is a real game-changer for the native iOS Messages app : it gives companies a genuinely direct communication channel to serve their customers.

For now, Apple Business Chat allows users to :

• Benefit from a personalized customer service via Messages
• Order and book services or products
• Pay via Apple Pay directly in Messages
• Get help from a virtual assistant

A new featur e that’s restricted to a handful of companies (for now…)

Since its release, a dozen companies ( mostly American or international) announced that they would join Apple Business Chat in an attempt to offer their clients a new kind of customer service as well as Apple Pay payments via Messages.

Here’s the full list of companies that use Apple Business Chat services as of August 2018 :

• Apple
• Aramark
• Discover
• Dish
• Four Seasons
• Harry & David
• Hilton
• The Home Depot
• Lowe’s
• Marriott
• NewEgg
• Ameritrade
• T Mobile
• Wells Fargo
• 1800 flowers

Now available on the whole Apple product range, Apple Business Chat allows users to chat with company representatives in the Messages app opened from Siri, Safari or Maps.

Good to know : companies that own an iOS app can add a Business Chat button.

If your company is looking to integrate Business Chat, just know that upcoming Apple Business Chat partners can register on Business Chat with this link.

On that matter, Apple mentions that companies wishing to subscribe to Business Chat will need to login via one of these solutions :

• LivePerson
• Salesforce
• Nuance
• Genesys
• InTheChat
• Zendesk
• Quiq
• Cisco
• Kipsu
• Lithium
• eGain

iOS users can now click the “Messages” button from Siri, Maps and Safari to initiate a new conversation with a company representative.

Once initiated, Business Chat conversations allow users to :

• Ask for information regarding a product or service
• Buy or book a product, service or appointment
• Get help from a company representative

Appointments are amongst the new available features in Business Chat

As of now, we see that partner companies don’t all offer the same services via Business Chat : some still don’t accept Apple Pay payment or plan to add it later on.

How to activate Business Chat in 2 easy steps :

• Be sure to have the latest iOS update
• Check “iMessage” in your Messages settings.

The last five years have seen the massive replacement of SMS by rich communication services (RCS) such as WhatsApp and Messenger ( both owned by Facebook).

These two solutions now total more than 2 billion users and allow to easily share “ rich content” in encrypted conversations ( hyperlinks, voice message, photos, videos…).

In Asia and North America, customer services that rely on WhatsApp and WeChat ( 800 million users) are now hugely popular : they offer unparalleled levels of familiarly as well as countless personalized solutions compared to usual communication services ( via phone, mail or SMS).

Besides what we mentioned above, online messaging also allows for differed conversations between companies and customers in a era where 80% of American adults use a messaging app on a daily basis .

Apple has now joined a business war between several tech giants that will fight for the business chat leadership and the future of customer services.

Nonetheless, let’s not forget that Apple is inevitably disadvantaged by the fact that Business Chat cannot be used on Android devices.

This matter is a big hurdle to enter the Asian market where Android rules with an iron hand.

Mobile OS market shares in Asia : Android is a clear market leader with an astonishing 85% market share.

Despite Hangouts’ various clones failure ( Wave, Allo, Duo…) Google keeps on working on messaging solutions and carry the last hopes for the RCS standard ( Rich Communication Services) that is supposed to replace SMS with the “Google Chat” project.

With this new “Chat” project, Google now hopes to set up new messaging standards for Android and thus compete with Apple and other competitors for new customer service solutions.

Besides Google, we also know that Amazon also works on a new messaging app that should be available as a cross-platform solution ( smartphones, tablets and computers) on all mobile OS.

With this “Anytime” project, Amazon also seeks to use the elements that made other messaging solutions successful : users will unsurprisingly find popular features found in Messenger, WhatsApp or SnapChat such as group and video calls, video sharing, GIFs, filters…

Breaking through the messaging market is a massive challenge for Amazon : the company plans to implement its Alexa system and spread its use amongst countless users while promoting its traditional ecommerce and streaming offer.

– Shop, make appointments, and get customer service

– Now you can interact with businesses in real-time

– All through the new Messages app in iOS 11.3

(Pocket-lint) – Apple has added major new feature to its Messages app.

Last summer, a new section on Apple’s Developer site popped up. It outlined an upcoming feature, Business Chat, although Apple didn’t directly announce it during WWDC 2017. From what we could tell then, Apple wants to provide businesses with a way to make themselves available for quick chats in the Messages app for customer service purposes. Well, Business Chat is now live, and we know how it works.

It essentially lets you can find a business using Safari, Maps, Spotlight, or even Siri, and then you can initiate a text-based conversation with that business through Apple’s Message app. You can get answers to questions, resolve issues, complete transactions, and more.

Here’s everything you need to know about Business Chat.

What is Business Chat?

Business Chat is a new tool that allows businesses to offer real-time customer support. A similar feature exists in Facebook Messenger. But unlike that offering, Apple doesn’t require businesses to have a social media account. Customers can search for a business in iOS via Safari, Maps, Spotlight, or Siri, and from any of those services, they can open Messages and chat with the business.

Here’s how Apple has described Business Chat on its website:

“Now you can ask for information, schedule appointments, and even make purchases right in Messages on your iPhone or iPad. Which makes connecting with your favorite companies as easy as texting your favorite people.”

How does Business Chat work?

Customer support

When in a chat with a business, you can shop, schedule appointments, ask general inquiry advice, file a dispute, and more – all from the same chat thread. There are also other built-in features, like predictive text, which will load an address or number a business asks for it.

Shop

Just like in Facebook Messenger, you can shop and buy products directly from chat. But your only payment solution will be through Apple Pay. Businesses can show items in stock in a list format, which will appear in the conversation and doesn’t require you to open a new window.

Appointments

If you want to use Business Chat for appointments, the feature will link up to your own calendar and smartly suggest time slots that won’t conflict with your schedule. Businesses may sometimes direct you to download their app to complete certain request. An airline, for instance, might have a separate app that helps you select a seat. This can all be down within the conversation.

How do you start a chat?

You can find a business either through Safari, Maps, Spotlight, or Siri, and then you can initiate a conversation with that business from Apple’s updated Messages app on their iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. So, if you’re looking up a company in Maps, Safari, or Search, simply tap the Messages icon to send a text. Many businesses also let you start a conversation directly from their own app or website.

You will see a different thread for each business you’re chatting with. Typically, conversations will be with a live agent, but you might get automated responses for simple requests, Apple said.

Which businesses are using it?

Any business can register, integrate their customer service platforms, and develop their own custom features, like a separate Messages app to complete certain tasks. A handful of companies have already signed up, including Discover, Hilton, The Home Depot, Lowe’s, Marriot, Newegg, Ameritrade, Wells Fargo, and 1-800 Flowers. Business Chat isn’t limited to retail or businesses with retail locations.

We suspect more will be signing up soon.

Is Business Chat safe?

Only you can start a conversation, and once you delete a thread, the business can’t contact you again until you start another conversation. It also can’t see your personal information, like your name or phone number, unless you choose to share it for appointments or deliveries.

When can you try Business Chat?

Business Chat is now available for the Messages app on iPhone and iPad. It’s offered in beta in the US only.

@craigelloyd
April 13, 2018, 3:00pm EDT

iMessage isn’t just for texting your friends and family anymore. With Apple’s new Business Chat feature, you can now text businesses and brands with your questions right from iMessage. Here’s how it works.

Business Chat is a way for you to easily connect with businesses without jumping through hoops on their website. Instead, you can text them through iMessage and ask your questions there. The feature was originally unveiled during WWDC 2017, but wasn’t released until recently as a new feature in iOS 11.3 (as well as on macOS 10.13.4).

Currently, there are only a handful of businesses that support Business Chat: Apple, Discover, Hilton, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Marriott, Newegg, TD Ameritrade, Wells Fargo, and 1-800-Flowers. Furthermore, it seems that Business Chat is still rolling out slowly to users, as not every supported business worked for me. So keep that in mind.

To get started, there are several ways you can bring up a Business Chat with a supported brand or business. Some websites have a link to chat in iMessage (like 1-800-Flowers), but you can always find an iMessage button next to supported businesses when you search for them in Siri, Safari, or Apple Maps. Like I mentioned above, some businesses may not show up for you right now—Home Depot showed up in Siri results for me, but not when searching for it in Apple Maps.

After tapping the iMessage button, a new conversation window is created with that business and you can immediately start chatting with them. You’ll probably get an automated message at first saying that a representative will be with you shortly, so be prepared to wait a bit.

After you’re connected, though, it’s just like chatting with a friend through iMessage, only this time it’s with a business, and you can get help or ask questions about products or services.

The great thing about Business Chat is that there’s really no rush to respond to the customer service representative. During a live chat online, you could be disconnected if you don’t respond after a while. But with Business Chat, you can go about your day, and whenever you get a reply, you’ll receive a notification just like you would with any text message.

Business Chat doesn’t share your personal information with the business you’re chatting with (name, phone number, zip code, and so on). However, you may need to share this info with them if you’re setting up an appointment or a delivery.

You may have missed it if you didn’t look at the fine print when you updated to iOS 11.3, but there was an interesting feature added to iOS. Yup, it was five lines down in the update notes:

Business Chat (Beta) – US only * Communicate with companies to easily ask questions, schedule appointments, and make purchases inside the built-in Messages app on iPhone and iPad

Business Chat was released as a part of iOS 11.3 as a way to make it easier for businesses to create contact with customers, clients, and potential customers and clients. The service, which is built into the Messages app, also offers APIs for integration in custom apps as well as working with off-the-shelf CRM apps such as Nuance, LivePerson, Gensys, zendesk, In The Chat, and Salesforce Service Cloud.

Business Chat is consumer-focused, business-friendly

Business Chat is designed for customer-initiated contact, which is to say that your customers will contact you when they need assistance. Apple makes it easy for you to be discovered by clients after you go through a Business Chat registration and approval process. Once registered, your business will appear with a chat button in Siri web searches and Apple Maps links. Customers interested in initiating a chat simply tap the chat bubble and you’ll get the message directly in Messages or the customer relationship management (CRM) service you’re using. You have the ability to determine the end-user experience and can use any combination you choose of live contact and chat-bot support. you can even create chat links that are accessible from your website or Yelp page.

The beauty of Business Chat is that it integrates with Apple Pay, allows you to send product information directly to customers, and makes it easy to schedule appointments that your customers can check for conflicts in their iOS calendars. Business Chat also allows you to provide your customers with a branded end-user experience. Your chat messages display a header with your logo and contact information that is easily accessible from within the chat session. To that end, Business Chat may be able to make your business seem bigger and more responsive than it actually is. A one-person shop can feel like a huge company without having to pay for a big CRM application or hiring more employees.

Customers won’t feel pressure from businesses when they chat

From an end-user perspective, this is a pretty sweet deal. Contact is user-initiated, provides no personal information to the business, unless you choose to do so, and allows you to break contact once your conversation is complete: simply delete the message and the conversation is gone. Keep the message and the company you’re working with has the ability to view the entire context of your conversation. Additionally, because you’re communication is essentially a text message, you don’t have to wait on hold to “speak to a representative” or provide an immediate response to questions the company asks you. Reply at your leisure and the conversation picks up right where it left off.

It’s still in beta, but it totally works

Set up for businesses is simple, although you won’t get the immediate satisfaction of signing up for Business Chat and putting it to work in a matter of minutes. I went through the setup process for my business and 24 hours later, while my application has been received, I’m still waiting for my business to be approved. That’s good because, presumably, Apple is vetting me to make sure my business is legit, but I didn’t have the immediate satisfaction of setting up Business Chat and putting it to use immediately.

I did get to test Business Chat with some existing vendors, though, and found the experience to be excellent. I searched for Home Depot on my iPhone, found and tapped the chat bubble in my search results and made immediate contact. A branded Home Depot chat opened in Messages and I entered my question. The initial response I received was from a chatbot, but within less than a minute I was speaking with a live representative who responded promptly to each of my questions. The process was painless and simple, although the end result didn’t differ at all from my initial web search on the Home Depot website: Neither the live customer support person or I could locate the item I was looking for.

The future of Business Chat is in our hands

At present, I use Messages as a standard form of communication with all my customers. It’s the way existing customers get my attention and schedule appointments, so Business Chat seems like an obvious fit for the way I do business. But, my spidey senses tell me there’s a possible downside, at least for smaller businesses such as my own. Because Business Chat is one-sided communication, and because a search for your business can result in contact from customers via a simple web search, I’m concerned about the potential for trolling. I know, I know, call me paranoid, but I’ll be curious to see how many “I need your help” messages I get from people who need no help at all. Hopefully none, but to that end, just as I finished this article, I changed my registration request so that my business address, which is also my home address, doesn’t show up on Apple Maps.

What do you think about Business Chat?

Are you a business owner? Will you register for Business Chat with Messages? As a consumer, do you think you’ll take advantage of the ability to chat live with a business representative through the Messages app?

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There’s a reason why Apple is a leader in not only technology but customer service too. They actually provide the vehicle(s) needed to service their customers’ needs. It’s not based on what Apple wants but on what their customers’ need. Here’s how I found out.

I purchased a new iPhone 6 Plus on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. After the initial plinking with my new toy I put it to rest so I can visit family for the holiday. On Friday I returned to my investigation of my new gadget. All went well.

But then it happened…

Just like the old dreaded “blue screen of death” from a computer running Windows 95, my phone froze-up and I was left with an expensive paperweight. Oh no!

I contacted my trusted friend named Google.com to find an answer. But I didn’t like what I was told. The operating system needed to be rebooted. Oh no, again.

I just finished adding most of my contacts to the phone as well as many setting changes – I didn’t want to lose them.

By now it was after 5pm on the busiest shopping day of the year. There was no way I was going to be able to reach anyone at the Apple customer service for help. But I had to try.

Note: I consider myself a “realist”, someone that understands when something can reasonably happen or when it is all a fantasy – a pipe dream and never to come to fruition. But I “had” to try…

I went on Apple’s website and entered my phone’s serial numbers and identified what the issue was. Then, I received a prompt asking if I wanted a call back from a customer service rep. Yeah sure, “they’re never going to call me back” I thought. I entered my number and pressed “OK”.

Three (3) seconds later my phone rang – you guessed it. It was a recorded message from Apple’s customer service department. This can’t be…

I was thanked for contacting Apple and given a choice of music styles to listen to while I waited. Wow, that’s a nice touch. I pushed the button for classical hoping it would calm my nerves while I wait forever on the phone only to probably get disconnected an hour later.

Then it happened: 3 minutes later “Edward” came on the line saying hello and told me he was here to fix my issue.

Now, to say the least I was impressed; not on how quickly Edward walked me through the needed steps to reboot my phone and get me back up and running but for this:

On the busiest shopping day of the year, Apple has enough employees working their customer service phone lines to answer my call after 3 minutes and provide me with a prompt fix.

No wonder why Apple’s considered one of the top customer service businesses.

Their website is designed for easy navigation and to collect the needed information to address the issue.

Too many businesses design their store or website based on the “look” or brand image they wish to express. But the actual shopping experience must take precedent over the look. If you can accomplish both, you have a winning design.

You’re given the option to use multiple ways to contact a service representative.

1. Online chat
2. Send email to the support team
3. Have them call you for direct vocal support

Full service support must consist of numerous methods of contact. You can’t just provide an email address and expect your customers to sit back and wait for your return message.

Their support software allows for an automated call back.

This is a tough one. I doubt most businesses can provide this unless they have deep pockets like Apple. But for those that can, do they? Are they actually interested in an “immediate” remedy for a customer’s problem?

They have enough employees working to service the anticipated business volume.

This is one of the biggest measures of customer service success. Who cares how good your service is if you don’t have the employee coverage to offer it when needed? Then, are you really even providing good service?

Too many businesses focus more on the upfront sale and not how to provide the post sale service.

Their service team members are trained properly and empowered to see the issue through to its resolution.

When revenues fall training is postponed or eliminated. You must understand the value in highly skilled employees and provide the motivation and positive work environment needed to have them service your customers in need.

Your products, brand image, store location, uniqueness and price are all major factors leading to the success of a business. But,

never forget that service and the customer experience is the driving force behind a GREAT business.
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Thanks, Apple!

Republished with author’s permission from original post.

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3 COMMENTS

I can only second the experience.

I’ve lived in multiple countries and have had to call the service desk. Sometimes for minor things, because I knew how quick apple is when it comes to responding to my query. But I also called them in my role as a Customer Experience professional to really nitpick the details. Truth is, I tend to be a tough critic, but I also know when kudos are well deserved. And Apple is certainly a great example for other businesses.

It’s especially great to feel the experience being the same all over. I’ve called Apple Customer Service in Canada, Australia, The Netherlands, and the UK. Same excellent customers service in all those countries. And one also gets the feeling one is talking to someone on the ground, and not just an outsourced call centre where someone simply misses that ‘local’ knowledge.

It’s impressive to experience how Apple has (and is) spent attention to seemingly every little detail in the customer service.

Your last statement says it all…”Apple has spent attention to seemingly every little detail”. That’s what great customer service is all about. Thanks for your comment, glad you liked the article.

My experience with apple is very bad as they can handle a little issue but any thing of some degree of difficulty it becomes despicable as I have been three months trying to get a password as when I changed phone it was changed with out a password my phone is not totally functional when i have called I have just got verbal jumbo and no help except wait until and you will get a password, I have been with ATT since 2004, and also was over charged and was to have a credit but it comes up i owe the credit for charges i have all ready paid

Although it follows efforts by Facebook and Microsoft, it has a number of innovative features the others don’t.

The HomePod got most of the attention and headlines last week at Apple’s developer conference. However, Business Chat may be the initiative that has a bigger impact.

Messaging has become a very big deal globally, with most of the major platforms doing interesting things with Chat, including Microsoft’s integration of chat into search results. Apple Business Chat, which is being pitched as a customer service tool, also includes Apple Pay integration and scheduling capabilities, so it clearly has broader implications for sales and marketing.

With Apple’s Messages Framework, developers can integrate parts of their app experience into iMessage for a broader array of functions and possibilities (imagine reservations or food ordering, for example). Business Chat will be accessible from iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, and presumably the Mac’s Messages app.

Users will be able to tap into Business Chat in several ways, through Safari (mobile web), Apple Maps, Spotlight search and Siri. Business Chat won’t become publicly available until next year, but it’s being made available now to developers for testing and integration.

Unlike for Microsoft and Facebook, the focus for Apple is human interactions, not bots. However, third parties and customer service technology vendors will likely be able to integrate bots into Business Chat in the near term.

At this time, companies need a “customer service platform” to deploy Business Chat; someone will create this capability for small businesses, if it doesn’t already exist. The major CS platforms are already on board — including Salesforce, Genesys and LivePerson.

As with Facebook Messenger, once a user initiates a conversation, it remains open unless terminated. The user can receive notifications and a range of other types of communications from the business (including attachments). Apple also suggested that Business Chat was yet another app discovery tool, where businesses can expose their apps if users don’t already have them installed.

But before marketers start thinking about iMessage as a “push” channel, Apple is making clear that users are totally in control. The company said it never wants them to receive “unsolicited messages.” Accordingly, they can block alerts or delete conversations as desired. Brands will need to be respectful or be deleted.

Apple created three built-in features for developers: Apple Pay, Time Picker (scheduling tool that integrates with the native calendar app) and List Picker (a way to show customers lists of products or choices). As indicated, Apple’s Messages Framework allows for more elaborate or branded experiences for iMessage.

The example presented during the developer overview session was an airline enabling a customer to select a seat in iMessage (via the Messages Framework). As the screen below shows, the airline could simultaneously promote its app in the context of the message.

Apple said that Business Chat is equally for e-commerce pure plays and brick-and-mortar businesses. It’s also possible to enable every location in a chain to have its own Business Chat capability. This creates a dilemma: centralize Business Chat or distribute it to each location?

One final and compelling scenario demonstrated by Apple was the initiation of Business Chat using a QR code. The iPhone camera scans the code, and a conversation is launched in iMessage. One can imagine QR codes on packaging, signage or websites as an alternative way to contact customer service (or sales). That code can also embed information to avoid tiresome preliminary questions.

Indeed, Apple is doing a lot on the back end to make Business Chat efficient and effective for both businesses and customers. For example, it’s providing “chat intent” referrers that indicate context and where the chat was initiated (e.g., specific page/section of a site or app) to enable appropriate handling or routing by customer service.

Apple has been thoughtful about Business Chat and its features. It has enormous promise as a customer service and inbound sales channel for enterprises. Let’s hope they’re up to the challenge.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

Apple’s improved Reminders app for Mac, iPhone and iPad is now much more useful.

Apple has made some excellent improvements to the Reminders application for Macs, iPhones and iPads, though it works a little differently and you need to upgrade all the devices you use with the system to get the most from it.

What’s changed?

The new version of Reminders makes the software more useful for more tasks.

A limited feature-set made it more of a personal reminder system until now, but the latest improvements make it more valuable for work-related task handling.

Some of the main features in this release (explained in more detail below) include:

• Smart lists. The main screen shows four smart lists (Today, Scheduled, Flagged and All) that make it easier find upcoming reminders.
• A new quick toolbar that offers buttons for time, date, locations and more.
• Support for sub-tasks: Every reminder can have subtasks.
• Different Reminder lists: Work, school, home, medication, for example.
• Shared lists.
• New colors, a search tool and reminders from within apps.

Most of the features work in more or less the same fashion on Macs as they do on Apple’s mobile devices, though the desktop versions benefit from additional display space.

The Notifications during messages feature is very useful. Turn it on and you will receive a reminder when you are speaking to someone in Messages. As an example, Apple talks about a reminder to send a flight itinerary to someone during a Messages conversation.

I’ve heard you need to upgrade all your devices?

The upgraded Reminders app requires that you also upgrade all the devices you use in order to access he latest features. This means that iCloud reminders are only available on your other devices if they are running the latest software; reminders created on devices that do not run the latest software will only be visible on other devices running that version of the software.

In practice, this means that if you set a reminder on an iPad running iOS 12 you won’t receive it on an iPhone running iOS 13 or a Mac running macOS Catalina. If you create a reminder on your Catalina Mac, you won’t get it on your iOS 12 iPad Pro, but will on all your other devices running the latest OSes.

When you update an old device to the latest software, any new reminders created on the device in the old iOS will be lost. And if you create a reminder on a device running the latest edition of the application without actually opening it (such as setting a reminder with Siri) those reminders will also be lost when you launch the app.

How is this set up?

• The easiest way to avoid this complexity is to choose when you want to upgrade all your devices first and then do so at about the same time.
• When you do, you should then open Reminders on each device in turn and upgrade it to the latest version of the app.
• When you launch the app, a Welcome to Reminders note will appear, where you can upgrade now or later.
• Do not set new reminders until you have updated all your devices and launched the app for the first time.
• You can always see reminders stored on iCloud online.

The upgrade process does not affect CalDAV and Exchange accounts.

How to create reminders

There are three primary ways to create new reminders:

In the Reminders app

Open the app and tap the list you want to add a reminder to, or tap Add List to create a new list of reminders. Tap the Plus/New Reminder button, write your reminder and tap Done. When you create a reminder inside the app, you also gain access to the quick toolbar.

Using Siri

You can ask Siri to set reminders. If you have set your home or work address in Contacts then Siri will understand location-based reminders, also. You can also ask Siri to “remind you about this” while within another app.

Via the Share pane

You can set reminders from within other apps. Tap the Share button and type the reminder. Tap Details and in the subsequent screen you can set priorities, add the reminder to a specific list and choose date, time and enable alarms for that reminder.

How to edit a reminder

When you look through your lists of reminders you will see a circled “I” to the right of each one. Tap that item to edit the reminder.

The edit menu lets you define places day, date, time and locations for reminders. You can also add notes, include a URL and set priority. It is also possible to set different notification times and frequencies.

Here’s what you’ll see when you press each of the buttons on the toolbar.

How do Smart lists work?

Smart lists are four pre-chosen collections of reminders that show automatically on the main Reminders screen. Tap on the Today, Scheduled, Flagged or All reminders buttons to find reminders drawn from across all your reminders lists.

For example, if you have work and personal reminders, and need to take your medication every few hours, you should find all those reminders in the Today item.

Using the quick toolbar

The quick toolbar pops up when you type a new reminder. It shows you which list you are in and the contents of your reminder. It provides tools to set time and data, and to define locations for location-based reminders (Arriving Home, Arriving Work, Getting in Car and Custom).

You can also flag reminders and add attachments to them in the form of photos from yor photo library, camera, or scanned using your camera.

What are subtasks?

Subtasks are reminders that live inside the main reminder. Think of these like the smaller tasks you need to complete in order to finish a larger task. There are three ways to create these:

• Tap a reminder, tap the edit button, then tap Subtasks and write a new reminder.
• Press and hold a reminder and then drag it onto another reminder to turn it into a subtask for the destination reminder.
• Swipe right on an existing reminder and tap Indent. This turns that reminder into a subtask for the reminder that is situated directly above it on the list.

Where can I find more information?

Apple has published two extensive guides to using Reminders on Mac, iPad and iPhone.

I do hope this helps you make more use of Reminders on Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.

Jonny is a freelance writer who has been writing (mainly about Apple and technology) since 1999.