Google Calendar adds Reminders

On the surface, the concept of Reminders seems like a simple function – one that could be easy to forget.

But Google is giving its users a gentle nudge with the introduction of Reminders for its Calendar mobile apps for iOS and Android.

“Our calendars should help us make the most of our time — scheduling meetings at work, remembering brunch with friends, and keeping track of all our other commitments,” explained Vijay Umapathy, a product manager at Google, in a blog post on Monday. “But often our to-do list is elsewhere, separate from the Calendar that organizes our day, and we end up overcommitted or miss something important because we forgot to check our list.”

Reminders are meant to serve as a user’s to-do list, sitting alongside Calendar events. To help users keep tabs in case they’ve forgotten about writing up a reminder altogether, they will sit in Calendar until designated as completed.

Reminders is designed to work across several productivity apps within the Google Apps portfolio, including Gmail, Google Keep and Google Now. But the Internet giant isn’t stopping there as Reminders can also establish deeper ties to other Google products.

For example, Calendar has access to a user’s bank of contact information, so Reminders can present phone numbers and addresses automatically when relevant.

Reminders will be rolling out to iOS and Android users this week with the promise of a web version eventually as well.