Urgent Reminders With Alarms On iPhone

In This Tutorial

Learn how to use the new alarm feature in the Reminders app on iPhone. See how to enable alarms, create urgent reminders, snooze or complete them, and understand how this differs from standard Clock app alarms.

Enable Alarms in Reminders

• Update to iOS 26.2 to get the new Reminders alarm feature.
• Go to Settings > Apps > Reminders and turn on the option for alarms if you missed the initial prompt.

Create an Urgent Reminder

• Open the Reminders app and create a new reminder.
• Tap the calendar or details button to pick a date and time.
• Turn on the new “Urgent” option to enable the alarm.
• Adjust the date and time if needed, and add any notes, URLs, or attachments.
• Look for the alarm icon next to the reminder to confirm it will trigger an alarm.

Alarm Behavior (00:02)

• When an urgent reminder goes off, it behaves like a Clock app alarm with a snooze option and a distinctive blue snooze button.
• You can slide to stop, tap snooze, or complete the reminder.
• Use the reschedule button to quickly change the time without leaving the alarm screen.

Change Alarm Completion Options

• In Settings > Reminders, enable “Complete for Alarm” to replace snooze with a large Complete button.
• Sliding to stop with this option off will skip the alarm but let you reschedule or complete it manually.

Use Cases and Tips

• Alarms in Reminders are perfect for important tasks you cannot miss.
• Reminders support specific future dates, notes, URLs, images, and repeating schedules.
• There is some overlap with Clock app alarms, but Reminders alarms are more flexible for one-off or highly detailed tasks.

Summary

Turn on alarms in Reminders to make urgent reminders act like alarms with snooze and completion options. Use them for critical tasks that need attention at a specific time, and customize alarm behavior in Settings to match how you want to handle snoozes or completions.