Choosing a Calendar and Reminder App That You Will Actually Use
The best planning app is the one you open every day. A few practical questions help you choose, and a few settings make any app more reliable.
Calendars, reminders and to-do lists
A calendar holds things that happen at a time: meetings, flights, appointments. A reminder or to-do list holds things you must do, with or without a deadline. Many people mix the two and then ignore both. Keep timed events in the calendar and tasks in a list, and let each link to the other where needed.
Questions to ask before choosing
- Does it sync across your phone and computer?
- Can it handle recurring events with exceptions, such as "every month except August"?
- Does it store time zones properly?
- Can you share a calendar with family or colleagues, with view-only access where needed?
- Can you export your data if you switch later?
Standards make switching easier
iCalendar is a widely used format for storing and exchanging calendar information such as events, to-dos and free or busy times. Apps that import and export it let you move your data, and let you subscribe to published calendars such as sports fixtures or public holidays.
Settings that make reminders work
- Set a default alert for new events, so you never forget to add one.
- Use two alerts for important items: one early enough to prepare, one just before.
- Allow the app's notifications through any focus or do-not-disturb modes you use.
- Name events clearly, with what to bring or do, so the alert is useful on its own.
A weekly review
Ten minutes once a week to look at the next seven days is the habit that makes any app work. Move what will not happen, add what is missing and check the times of anything in another time zone.
Subscribed calendars
Instead of typing in dates by hand, you can often subscribe to a calendar published by someone else: public holidays, school terms, a club's fixtures or a service's maintenance notices. Subscribed calendars update themselves when the publisher changes a date. Keep them in a separate colour, and turn off alerts for ones you only want to glance at, so important reminders do not get lost in the noise.
Protect your privacy
Calendars reveal a lot about your life. Check who can see your calendars, especially shared ones, and avoid putting passwords or account numbers in event notes.
Revised 2026-11-09 · Hana Selwyn