What a note can do
Private reminders
Private reminders on iPhone, moment by moment
A reminder speaks up: on your Lock Screen, through Siri, on your Apple Watch and on every device signed in to your iCloud. Here is what to do in the moments that matter, with Apple’s own settings first
Dating and partners
- A reminder popped up on your Lock Screen in front of someoneA reminder's notification can show its full words on a locked iPhone to anyone looking. The one setting to change is Show Previews for Reminders; here are the other places the same reminder surfaces, from widgets to your Apple Watch
- How to keep date plans private on iPhoneThe reminder, the calendar event and the dating app each show up somewhere other people can see. Apple's own settings for all three, and where a private note fits
- Siri read your reminder out loud: how to stop itSiri speaks a reminder through AirPods or Beats when Announce Notifications is on, through an Apple Watch, through a HomePod answering a personal request, and in its own voice when you ask. Here is the switch for each, and what each one doesn't cover
- Your partner knows your iPhone passcode: keeping your reminders privateA new passcode only you know, the doors that stay open after you change it, and how to keep one reminder to yourself
Home and family
- How to plan a surprise when you share an iCloud accountReminders sync through the Apple Account, so on a shared account every reminder is on every device. What syncs where, and how to keep a gift, a party or a proposal to yourself until the day
- You added a private reminder to a shared listMove it to a list only you see, now. What the others may already have been told, and the one part you can't take back
- Your kid uses your phone and sees your remindersGuided Access for the borrowed phone, a locked app and quiet previews for every day, and in time an account of their own. What a kid can see on your phone, and the settings that decide it
- Your reminders show up on the family iPad or MacA device signed in to your Apple Account shows all of your reminders. How to stop it on that one device, and the lasting fix: an account for each person, joined by Family Sharing
Work
- A reminder popped up while you were sharing your screenThe Mac setting that hides banners while you share is easy to miss, the iPhone has one of its own, and iPhone Mirroring quietly puts your phone's notifications on the Mac. Where a reminder shows up on a shared screen and the setting that stops each one
- Job interview reminders when work can see your screenA work Mac signed in to your personal iCloud shows every reminder you write, and a presented screen shows the banner. How to keep an interview reminder off that Mac, what Apple says a managed work phone can and can't see, and where a recruiter's invite ends up
Health
- How to keep therapy and doctor appointments private on iPhoneAn appointment reminder speaks up on the Lock Screen, on your Apple Watch, through Siri on AirPods, in iPhone search and on any calendar or list you share. The Apple setting for each, the catches, and where a private note fits
- Medication reminders other people can seeA medication reminder shows on the Lock Screen, on your Apple Watch, through Siri on AirPods and on anything you share. Apple's Health app has a Medications feature with its own alerts, and a plain reminder has the ordinary ones; what each shows and the setting that quiets it