Reminders app plays an important role in day-to-day task management. And considering this fact, Apple has revamped the app in iOS 13. It becomes a bit challenging in managing the tasks if it stops working. There could be various reasons why the Reminders app is not working on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 13. Let’s take a look at each of them and fix the issue.
- Check Notification Settings of Reminders App on iPhone
- Restart Your iPhone
- Turn Off and Then Turn ON Reminders from iCloud
- Remove Reminders App Widget
- Update iOS
- Delete Reminders App and Reinstall It
- Reset iPhone Settings
- Restore your iPhone
- Why Do Reminders Not Work Properly Between iOS 13 and iOS 12 Devices
#1. Check Notification Settings of Reminders App on iPhone
It is possible that you may have turned off the notification settings for the Reminders app, and as a result, you might think the Reminder app is not working. Let us ensure that this is not the case.
- Open Settings app and tap on Notifications.
- Scroll down and tap on Reminders. Here make sure that Allow Notification is turned on. Also, ensure that under ALERTS, everything is checked.
- Tap on Sounds and check that any tone is set for the Reminders app. (The image below has the correct settings.)
#2. Restart Your iPhone
Since we are sure that notifications are turned on for the Reminders app, let us move on and restart the iPhone. A restart generally fixes small temporary glitches that an iPhone or iPad gets during regular use.
You can use the button to turn off your iPhone and turn it back on as you usually do. Or, you may go to Settings app → General → Shut Down. After 1 minute switch on the iPhone.
#3. Turn Off and Then Turn ON Reminders from iCloud
Reminders are synced via iCloud to all your Apple devices. Sometimes it develops temporary problems and stops functioning correctly. To fix this, let us turn it off and then back on from iCloud.
- Open Settings app → tap on your name card from top → tap on iCloud.
- Turn off the toggle for Reminders → Delete from My iPhone.
- After 30 seconds, turn the toggle back on and let iCloud sync everything again.
#4. Remove Reminders App Widget
Another hack that has worked for a few people is removing the Reminders widget from the widgets screen.
- From the main home screen swipe right till you reach the right most screen. Here scroll down and from the bottom tap on Edit.
- If you have Reminders app widget here, tap on the red minus button, and then tap Remove. Finally, tap on Done from top.
Now, restart your iPhone. Most likely, the problem with reminders will be solved on your iPhone.
#5. Update iOS
Several bugs are fixed with each iOS update. To ensure that Reminders app on your iPhone works appropriately, go to Settings app → General → Software Update. If you have a pending update, tap on Download and Install.
#6. Delete Reminders App and Reinstall It
If still your Reminders app trouble is not fixed, try deleting the app and reinstalling it. For this touch and hold on the Reminders app icon. Next, tap on Delete App → Delete.
Now, restart your iPhone. After this open App Store → tap on Search from bottom right → type ‘Reminders’ in the search box and tap on the download icon to install the app.
#7. Reset iPhone Settings
If nothing worked, let us reset all settings of the iPhone.
- For this open Settings app → tap on General → Reset.
- Reset All Settings → Enter your iPhone passcode → Reset All Settings.
Please note that this won’t delete any personal data, but it will erase all Wi-Fi passwords, VPN configurations, Privacy Settings, and more. So make sure you have the necessary data backed up or written somewhere safe.
#8. Restore your iPhone
Finally, as a last resort, you may try to erase all content and settings from your iPhone and restore it from a backup. This is like the ultimate solution. So make sure you have a backup before you restore your device. Here are some resources to help you.
That’s all the fixes, mate! But before you go, it is important to understand what happened with the Reminders app in iOS 13.
Why Do Reminders Not Work Properly Between iOS 13 and iOS 12 Devices?
Reminders app had a complete revamp in iOS 13. A new look, Smart Lists, a new quick toolbar, reminder subtasks, reminder notifications in Messages powered by Siri are just some of its highlights.
All these additions are great, but these made the upgraded reminders for iOS 13, macOS 10.15 Catalina, and watchOS 6 incompatible with the earlier versions of these operating systems. As a result, Reminders app stopped syncing on devices running iOS 12, iOS 11, etc.
So, Reminders app not syncing new reminders from iPhone running iOS 13 to your iPhone running iOS 12 or earlier is intentional. Let me make this easy for you.
Suppose you have four iPhones signed in with the same Apple ID. Now two of them are running iOS 12, and two of them are running iOS 13. Also, you have moved to upgraded reminders on your iOS 13 devices.
Now, a reminder that you add to your iPhone running iOS 13 will only sync via iCloud and automatically be available on other iPhone running iOS 13 (and iPad running iPadOS 13 and Mac running macOS 10.15 Catalina). It will not sync to your iPhones running iOS 12.
Secondly, if you make a new reminder on your iPhone running iOS 12, then it will not sync with your iPhone running iOS 13 but will sync to the iPhone running iOS 12 or earlier (and other Apple devices running their respective earlier software). Also, ‘when you update to the latest software, those new reminders will be lost when you open the Reminders app.’ You can read more on Apple Support page.
iPhone Reminders App Problem Fixed!
These were the right solutions to fix the issue of Reminders app not working on your iPhone. I hope one or a combination of few methods worked for you. If not, you may try to contact Apple support or make an in-store visit.
You may like to take a peek at…
- How to Set Hourly Reminders on iPhone, iPad, and Mac
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