Do I understand the reminder system? Is it useful?

[estevancarlos 23]

I've avoided the reminder system in Evernote after attempting to use it years ago and finding completely odd. I think I assumed it would work like Google calendar and create some clear notifications reminding me of whatever note is associated with it. With Google Cal I get sound notifications; optional emails; push notifications on my phone; etc. From what I can tell Evernote doesn't push notifications on the phone. I read elsewhere that it only sends one email out every morning regarding it's daily reminders...

Is this really how it works? I can't tell if there is a better way to customize it. I need a reminder system that is triggered according to the time I set. It does show me small pop up windows notifying me of a reminder (quiet, small, little pop ups). However I'd like to see more. Can anyone clarify on how to get the most of the reminder system?

[estevancarlos 23]

Example problem: Evernote automatically hides my reminders. It's assuming that I don't want to visually see that information unless I remember to seek it out and click on that arrow to expand the window. I just don't know about this. I sort of want the reminder to evident, visible, and you know, reminding me.

 

 

[estevancarlos 23]

And one more. I just created another reminder test and there was NO notification about the reminder... just a little blue text that says the reminder time passed four mins ago. I'm sorry but I either really misunderstand this feature or something here is not designed well.

 

[jefito 5,586]

8 minutes ago, estevancarlos said:

Example problem: Evernote automatically hides my reminders. It's assuming that I don't want to visually see that information unless I remember to seek it out and click on that arrow to expand the window. I just don't know about this. I sort of want the reminder to evident, visible, and you know, reminding me.

Windows? Mac? Looks like the Evernote for Windows client. Anyways, looks like the reminder list being open/closed is based on notebook. In other words, if you have reminders open when you leave a notebook, they should be open when you return. Without doing too much exhaustive testing, with stacks and [All Notes], it appears that reminders are shown if the last notebook had them open, and closed if the previous notebook had reminders closed closed.

[estevancarlos 23]

11 minutes ago, jefito said:

Windows? Mac? Looks like the Evernote for Windows client. Anyways, looks like the reminder list being open/closed is based on notebook. In other words, if you have reminders open when you leave a notebook, they should be open when you return. Without doing too much exhaustive testing, with stacks and [All Notes], it appears that reminders are shown if the last notebook had them open, and closed if the previous notebook had reminders closed closed.

Ah. Okay. Thanks for that explanation. It sounds like a feature that does not serve my needs then.

[DTLow 5,698]

7 hours ago, estevancarlos said:

From what I can tell Evernote doesn't push notifications on the phone. I read elsewhere that it only sends one email out every morning regarding it's daily reminders...

 Is this really how it works? I can't tell if there is a better way to customize it. I need a reminder system that is triggered according to the time I set. It does show me small pop up windows notifying me of a reminder (quiet, small, little pop ups). However I'd like to see more. Can anyone clarify on how to get the most of the reminder system?

I get the morning email, and notifications on my iPad and Mac.

There's configuration features in Mac and IOS

[estevancarlos 23]

20 minutes ago, DTLow said:

I get the  morning email, and notifications on my iPad and Mac.

There's configuration features in IOS

I'm using android and made sure the notifications are on for it. I got nothing.

However I find their morning email delivery to be... completely unsatisfactory. I just found a solution using Zapier however - https://zapier.com/app/home

I created a system in which all Evernote reminders automatically generate Google Calendar events with their reminder system.

[DTLow 5,698]

3 hours ago, estevancarlos said:

I created a system in which all Evernote reminders automatically generate Google Calendar events with their reminder system.

I prefer to use dedicated apps for my calendar/reminders.  I use a script (Mac) to sync selected reminders to Apple Calender/Reminders

For the Evernote Reminders, I'm satisfied with the processing; both the morning email and search feature.  
I don't rely on notifications; they lack a critical feature (Snooze).

[estevancarlos 23]

Well, I was/am in the process of looking at dedicated apps but I just wanted to be able to assocciate notes with calendar events in a faster way.

[CalS 5,043]

1 hour ago, estevancarlos said:

Well, I was/am in the process of looking at dedicated apps but I just wanted to be able to assocciate notes with calendar events in a faster way.

I use saved searches to access reminders.  Personal use case, I don't much care for interrupting reminders.  If something is important enough I'll set an alarm.  Preface the searches with an ! to keep them at the top of the list.  Obviously a function of one's work flow.

[estevancarlos 23]

50 minutes ago, CalS said:

I use saved searches to access reminders.  Personal use case, I don't much care for interrupting reminders.  If something is important enough I'll set an alarm.  Preface the searches with an ! to keep them at the top of the list.  Obviously a function of one's work flow.

I sort of associate "reminders" with "alarm" and that's why I find their reminder system really lacking. However Zapier solved my problems now.

[John in Michigan USA 91]

10 hours ago, CalS said:

I use saved searches to access reminders.  Personal use case, I don't much care for interrupting reminders.  If something is important enough I'll set an alarm.  Preface the searches with an ! to keep them at the top of the list.  Obviously a function of one's work flow.

Those saved searches look *really* useful. I could never figure out the saved search syntax beyond "-reminderDoneTime:* reminderOrder:*" which is supposed to return all current reminders but it misses some. Would you mind posting the specific queries (search strings) that implement each of your saved searches? It would be a great help.

[DTLow 5,698]

17 hours ago, CalS said:

I use saved searches to access reminders. ... Preface the searches with an ! to keep them at the top of the list. 

Agreed; saved searches are very useful for retrieving data, including reminders. 
I use the Shortcuts section for easy access.  
The search feature is documented at https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/208313828

As per @CalS's example list, my task (todo) managent is based on the Reminder feature.  
I use Reminders to to store a Start Date and Completion Status/Date.

[CalS 5,043]

7 hours ago, John in Michigan USA said:

Those saved searches look *really* useful. I could never figure out the saved search syntax beyond "-reminderDoneTime:* reminderOrder:*" which is supposed to return all current reminders but it misses some. Would you mind posting the specific queries (search strings) that implement each of your saved searches? It would be a great help.

Representative sample.  Need something specific feel free to DM me.

!1 Today	remindertime:day -remindertime:day+1 -reminderdonetime:*
!2a Late	remindertime:* -remindertime:day -reminderdonetime:*
!3 Tomorrow	-reminderdonetime:* remindertime:day+1 -remindertime:day+2
!4 Yesterday	-reminderdonetime:* remindertime:day-1 -remindertime:day
5 Next 7	-reminderdonetime:* remindertime:day -remindertime:day+8
!6 Next 30	-reminderdonetime:* remindertime:day -remindertime:day+31
!7a All Dated	remindertime:* -reminderdonetime:*
!9a Calls today	-reminderdonetime:* -remindertime:day+1 remindertime:day tag:!Phone*

[s2sailor 1,181]

5 hours ago, DTLow said:

The search feature is documented at https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/208313828

Except, unless I missed it,  that article doesn't cover reminders.  Reminder search is definitely non-intuitive.  I have yet to create a reminder saved search without some level of trial and error especially since the syntax doesn't (or at least didn't ... haven't checked lately) work exactly the same for all platforms.

Searching is one of the strongest elements of Evernote and they could do a much better job making this easier for a user without having to reference a help file.

[CalS 5,043]

3 minutes ago, s2sailor said:

Except, unless I missed it,  that article doesn't cover reminders.  Reminder search is definitely non-intuitive.  I have yet to create a reminder saved search without some level of trial and error especially since the syntax doesn't (or at least didn't ... haven't checked lately) work exactly the same for all platforms.

Funny, or not so funny, how hard it can be with only three variables to deal with:  reminderorder remindertime and reminderdonetime.  Mine seem to work fine between the PC and IOS relative to search results.  Downside on IOS is one can't sort by reminder date.  Saving the layout and sequence with the saved searches on the PC spoils one...

[s2sailor 1,181]

7 minutes ago, CalS said:

Funny, or not so funny, how hard it can be with only three variables to deal with:  reminderorder remindertime and reminderdonetime.  Mine seem to work fine between the PC and IOS relative to search results.  Downside on IOS is one can't sort by reminder date.  Saving the layout and sequence with the saved searches on the PC spoils one...

Mine work fine now but two years ago when I changed from a PC to a Mac at home I was surprised to find that the searches which worked fine on Windows did not work the same on the Mac.  After some fiddling with the terms I was able to get them to work consistently, but the syntax is definitely not intuitive.

[DTLow 5,698]

1 hour ago, s2sailor said:

Except, unless I missed it,  that article doesn't cover reminders. 

Follow through on the link at the bottom of the overview page to https://dev.evernote.com/documentation/cloud/chapters/search_grammar.php

[PinkElephant 5,586]

Sorry for putting an iOS-perspective on this thread, but it can be of interest to other users.

In the Evernote-iOS-app I can always view my reminders by selecting the alarm clock icon top of the left column. It will show reminders in the notebook selected. So be sure to chose „All notes“ before clicking it. Depending on the Settings, evernote will post a message or send an E-Mail when the reminder is due.

I personally do not use the Evernote reminders very much. I like to have every reminder in my task manager.

My preferred way is to create a link of the note I want to be reminded of, and send it to my task manager „Things“ (sorry, only available for iOS and Mac). There I will make the adjustments to create the date, assign tags and project and follow the reminder. 

By this I have all my reminders in one place. One click on the link in the Things note will bring up the original Evernote note for whatever purpose.

To make it easier to follow the workflow, I have assigned some screenshots.

Maybe something similar is possible under Android, using other apps.