Techstravaganza

Creating Urgent Reminders, Wednesday, Jan 7, 2026

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Urgent reminders in iOS 26

Siena demonstrated the new urgent reminders feature in iOS 26, showing how to mark reminders as urgent to ensure they trigger alarms even when focus modes are active.

  • Details
    • Siena: Demonstrated how to create an urgent reminder for taking medication, showing that urgent reminders will activate even when a focus is on or the device is muted
    • Siena: Showed how to access reminder details and toggle the urgent setting
    • Ali: Clarified that urgent reminders will go to your phone regardless of which device you set them on
    • Conclusion
      • Urgent reminders are useful for time-sensitive notifications that shouldn’t be missed
      • The feature requires permission to allow reminders to schedule alarms
      • Alarms will bypass any focus mode settings
        • Creating and organizing reminder lists

        Siena demonstrated how to create and organize lists in the Reminders app to better categorize different types of reminders.

        • Details
          • Siena: Created a “School assignments and tests” list with custom icon and color
          • Jeroo: Asked how to create lists and navigate through the process
          • Liz: Inquired about creating a medical list for doctor’s appointments
          • Ivy: Mentioned having a birthday group under reminders to keep birthdays organized
          • Conclusion
            • Lists can be customized with different colors and icons
            • Creating separate lists helps organize different types of reminders (medical, birthdays, school, etc.)
            • Multiple lists can be created for similar categories (e.g., family birthdays and friends’ birthdays)
              • Setting reminder details

              The group discussed various options for setting up reminders, including dates, times, early reminders, and repeat settings.

              • Details
                • Siena: Demonstrated setting dates, times, and early reminders for school assignments
                • Siena: Showed how to set reminders to repeat daily
                • Liz: Asked about how early reminders work compared to urgent alarms
                • Ivy: Clarified that early reminders send a notification rather than an alarm
                • Conclusion
                  • Early reminders can be set for various time intervals before the actual reminder
                  • Reminders can be set to repeat at different intervals (daily, weekly, etc.)
                  • The app offers flexibility in how notifications are delivered
                    • Shared lists and advanced features

                    Siena demonstrated advanced features including shared lists, assigning reminders to specific people, and adding additional details.

                    • Details
                      • Siena: Showed the Techstravaganza shared list where team members track upcoming tutorials
                      • Siena: Demonstrated how to assign reminders to specific people in shared lists
                      • Siena: Showed how to add location-based reminders and messaging-based reminders
                      • Conclusion
                        • Shared lists allow for collaborative task management
                        • Reminders can be assigned to specific individuals in shared lists
                        • Additional context can be added through notes, tags, and other details
                          • Google Tasks vs. Apple Reminders

                          The group discussed the differences between Google Tasks and Apple Reminders and which might be better for different workflows.

                          • Details
                            • Ali: Asked whether to continue using Apple Reminders or switch to Google Tasks since he uses Google Workspace and PC
                            • Siena: Suggested switching to Google Tasks for better integration with Google products
                            • Ali: Noted he would lose features like urgent reminders but was okay with that
                            • Conclusion
                              • Google Tasks integrates better with Google Calendar and Workspace
                              • Apple Reminders offers more features like urgent reminders
                              • The choice depends on which ecosystem a user primarily works in
                                • Grocery list templates

                                Liz shared her experience with grocery list templates in the Reminders app.

                                • Details
                                  • Liz: Described how a CNIB person set up a grocery list template that automatically categorizes items
                                  • Liz: Explained how she can use Siri to add items to specific categories
                                  • Siena: Confirmed this would be covered in a future tutorial
                                  • Conclusion
                                    • Smart lists and templates offer advanced organization features
                                    • Siri integration makes adding items to lists convenient
                                    • A dedicated tutorial on this feature is planned for March
                                      • Upcoming Techstravaganza workshops

                                      The team discussed upcoming workshop topics and scheduling for Techstravaganza.

                                      • Details
                                        • Siena: Showed the Techstravaganza list with upcoming tutorials including Perplexity, Uber app, Apple Music, and more
                                        • Siena: Scheduled a Google Tasks tutorial for March 4, 2026
                                        • Ashlyn: Mentioned Perplexity, an AI tool that was requested for a future tutorial
                                        • Ivy: Shared that Perplexity is more detailed than ChatGPT and provides references
                                        • Conclusion
                                          • Google Tasks tutorial scheduled for March 4, 2026
                                          • Outlook tutorial by Amanda scheduled for February 18, 2026
                                          • Smart lists and templates tutorial scheduled for March 2026
                                          • Messages on Mac tutorial scheduled for the next day

                                            • Contact the team:

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                                            TechstravaganzaBy Ali Moosa, Macara Slobodian, and Siena Trigiani