Custom Smart Lists in iOS 15 Reminders

Apple introduced significant upgrades to the Reminders app in iOS 15, headlined by the ability to create and auto-generate custom Smart Lists. This article covers how these custom Smart Lists work, the integration of tags, and the dynamic filtering criteria used to automatically organize tasks based on dates, locations, flags, and priority levels.

Custom Smart List Creation

Prior to iOS 15, the Reminders app offered only fixed, pre-configured Smart Lists: Today, Scheduled, Flagged, and All. With iOS 15, users gained the ability to create their own custom Smart Lists. When creating a new list, users can convert it into a Smart List, allowing the app to automatically collect and display any reminders across all lists that meet predefined criteria.

Tag Integration

A primary driver for auto-generating Smart Lists in iOS 15 is the tag system. Users can add tags anywhere in a reminder using the # symbol (e.g., #work or #groceries).

Smart Lists can be configured to aggregate tasks based on these tags. The filter supports selecting:

  • All Selected Tags: Reminders must contain every specified tag to appear in the list.
  • Any Selected Tags: Reminders containing at least one of the chosen tags are pulled into the list.

Expanded Filter Parameters

Beyond tags, iOS 15 allows users to build auto-generating Smart Lists using several other dynamic attributes:

  • Date: Filter tasks scheduled for a specific date, a relative date range (such as the next 7 days), or relative options like Today or Tomorrow.
  • Time: Filter reminders scheduled for specific times of day, such as morning, afternoon, evening, or night.
  • Location: Automatically aggregate tasks assigned to a specific geographical location, triggering when arriving at or leaving an address.
  • Flag: Include only items that are explicitly flagged or unflagged.
  • Priority: Group tasks according to their assigned priority level: None, Low, Medium, or High.

Real-Time Auto-Population

Once a user configures the desired filters, the Smart List updates dynamically in real time. Whenever a user creates or edits a reminder that matches the list's rules—regardless of which standard reminder list it is originally placed in—it automatically appears in the corresponding Smart List without requiring manual sorting.