Complete guide to Siri commands for Reminders, tasks, and to-do lists

Siri is meant to be your virtual assistant, and part of that job description is creating and updating your to-dos and lists of to-dos in the Reminders app. If you need to be prodded to pick up milk on the way home, order that present in time for the big party, or set up that lunch meeting before the end of the day, Siri's there to help.

• How to create a time-based reminder with Siri
• How to create a location-based reminder with Siri
• How to create a Reminder in a specific List with Siri
• How to maintain a shopping list with Siri

How to create a time-based reminder with Siri

One of the easiest things to do with Siri is have it set up a quick Reminder. Siri is so quick, in fact, it's almost always faster to use Siri than to tap your way through the Reminders app to set them up manually.

1. Hold down the Home button to activate Siri.

2. Tell Siri what you want to be reminded about, and when. For example: "Remind me to call [person's name] at 9pm."
3. Wait for Siri to show you the Reminder widget and ask for confirmation.

The Reminder will go into the default Reminders list.

If you tap the Reminders widget, you can mark the Reminder as completed.

How to create a location-based reminder with Siri

1. Hold down the Home button to activate Siri

2. Tell Sir what you want to be reminded about, and where. For example: "Remind me to [do something] when I get to [some place]."
3. Wait for Siri to show you the Reminder widget and ask for confirmation.

The Reminder will go into the default Reminders list.

If you tap the Reminders widget, you can mark the Reminder as completed.

How to create a Reminder in a specific List with Siri

If you have multiple lists in Reminders, for example, a shopping list, a packing list, a party list, etc. you can tell Siri to create a to-do item specifically for one of those lists.

1. Hold down the Home button to activate Siri.

2. Tell Siri what you want to be reminded about, and in which List you want it to go. For example: "Add [item name] to [list name]."

3. Wait for Siri to show you the Reminder widget and ask for confirmation.

Now the Reminder will be placed in the List you specified.

If you forget to specify a list when you create your Reminder, you can still move it before you confirm the Reminder.

1. Hold down the Home button to activate Siri.

3. Tell Siri to create a reminder. (See above.)
4. Wait for Siri to show you the Reminder widget and ask for confirmation.

Immediately tell Siri which list you'd like the Reminder to be placed in. For example: "Move it to my iMore list."

Wait for Siri to show you the updayed Reminder widget and ask for confirmation.

The Reminder will then be placed in the List you specified.

How to maintain a shopping list with Siri

Siri in conjunction with the default Reminders app is a great way to maintain all sorts of special lists, whether that's for party planning, packing for a trip, or most conveniently -- regular shopping.

You can have one general shopping list, or even specific shopping lists, like a grocery list.

Before you can use Siri to add items to a grocery or any other list, you first have to create them in the Reminders app.

• How to create and organize lists in your Reminders app

Once you have the list setup, just add items to it like you would any list.

1. Hold down the Home button to activate Siri.

2. Tell Siri what you want to add and to which shopping list. For example: "Add [item name] to [list name]."

3. Wait for Siri to show you the Reminder widget and ask for confirmation.

If you share a Reminders list with a friend or family member using iCloud.com, you can both add items whenever you think of something, and both see them next time you're out shopping.

• How to share a Reminders list using iCloud.com

Unfortunately, you can't delete tasks or mark items as completed using Siri (at least not yet), so you still have to launch the Reminders app for that.

How to get more help with Siri

If you still need help with setting up or using Siri with your iPhone Contacts, or any other Siri feature, head on over to our Siri Forum and ask away!

• How to set up, configure, secure, and start using Siri
• How to establish relationships and call, message, email, and find your contacts using Siri
• How to set alarms and timers using Siri

Samsung has recently launched Easy Phone Sync for Galaxy owners that want to bring data from their old iPhone over to their shiny new Android devices. The desktop application is supposed to be able to transfer music, videos, podcasts, pictures, contacts, and text messages to any Galaxy device, inclulding the latest SGS3. iTunes music has to be DRM-free in order to get transferred. Samsung UK's Simon Stranford said: .

We're really proud to announce the launch of this new application and can't wait to hear what our new and existing customers think of it. We know that traditionally iPhone users have been reluctant to switch to an Android device because they couldn't use iTunes to manage their content. Easy Phone Sync means people can now enjoy their iTunes content on a Samsung Galaxy phone. What's more is that it's really easy for them to do, and literally takes five minutes to set up.

To date, the primary tool to pull off iTunes syncing to Android was DoubleTwist, but there are plenty of alternatives out there, though few of them with a manufacturer's seal of approval. Samsung's solution is licensed from a company called Media Mushroom, who has previously released their sync solution for Android on their own.

Predictably, many users are commenting on lack of compatibility, but keep reaching for that rainbow, guys. I'm sure it'll get patched someday. To be fair, the tool was launched in the UK, so there are likely to be some regional locks in place.

Anyone thinking of switching to Android any time soon? Is being locked in to iTunes actually stopping you from taking the leap? Anyone that already has a Galaxy can download the desktop tool here.

Source: AndroidCentral

Take your iPhone and iPad gaming to the next level with the physical, flexible power of dual analog joysticks -- the Fling mini

As anyone who's spent any time gaming on an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad knows, there's nothing worse than getting really into the action only to find your finger has drifted off the virtual controls just when it matters most.

And that's exactly the problem the Ten One Design Fling mini is here to solve. Made of anodized aluminum and tough, flexible engineering-grade resin, it's both durable and see-through so it doesn't break and doesn't completely obstruct your view of the iPhone or iPad screen.

They come two in a pack, so the Fling mini can work on dual joystick games like first person shooters or third person adventures alike. They attach with suction cups and they work remarkably well. Once they're in place, you no longer have to worry about looking down to position your fingers on the controls -- you just feel and play.

And that feeling is good. It's not overly squishy or overly stiff, it doesn't move too much or too little. There's just the right amount of give. The suction cups stay in place really well, though I did have to adjust them occasionally.

Because the iPad is bigger, I do prefer the Ten One Design Fling mini on that bigger screen.

The good

• Provides excellent tactile gaming experience
• High quality, durable design
• Lets you win more faster!

The bad

• Due to size difference, not quite as good on iPhone as iPad

The conclusion

I really like the Ten One Design Fling mini. I do like it better for iPad than iPhone, but on both devices it fixes the frustrating problem of losing touch with the controls right when gaming gets its most gritty.

The build quality is epic, the design is cool, the suction cups are stable, and most importantly, the Ten One Design Fling mini lets me win more faster. What more could a gamer want?

Every once in awhile the App Store would showcase collections of games around themes, like zombies or racing, but it would be hard to find those featured lists once the game section's page was updated. To fix that, Apple has made a permanent Game Collections section where all of the different lists are found in one place. Here's the selection:

• Starter Kit
• Benchmark
• Big Name
• The Best Games You've Never Played
• Quick-Fix
• Hardcore
• Turn-based
• Game Center
• Zombies
• Racing
• Platformers
• Sports
• Music Rhythm
• Retro
• Role-Playing Games
• Hollywood Hits
• Flight Games
• Galactic
• Games for Kids
• Dinosaurs

Themed sections like these help a ton in game discovery, not only for showcasing specific genres, but also to address different demands; finding obscure titles that don't often get a spot in the limelight, or getting your hands on quick, casual games, for example. Of course at iMore we try to do our part to help folks find game, too. Have you seen our best free iPhone games and best free iPad games features?

You can visit the new Game Collections section of the App Store here, just keep in mind that for now it's U.S. only.

For today only, the iMore iPhone Accessory Store has the Seidio CONVERT Plus Combo for iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 on sale for only $62.95! That's a whopping 30% off! Get yours before they're gone!

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Yesterday Gameloft released the next iteration of their long-standing racing series for iPhone and iPad: Asphalt 7 - Heat.

Asphalt 7 includes 15 tracks based on real-world locations and 60 brand-name cars to drive. There's multiplayer support for 5 racers, either online or local, through which you can place on leaderboards (Gameloft's, no Game Center here). There are also weekly challenges if you feel like you've got what it takes to take on the best racers out there. The core career gameplay takes you through 15 leagues and 150 races in 6 different game types, including Burnout-style takedown matches, time trials, elimination matches, and classic races.

The usual progression scheme is found in Asphalt 7: pick a car, win a race, earn rep, level up, access new cars and new races. Rep is earned depending on how well you race; the riskier your maneuvers, the more your combo meter goes up, the more rep you continue to earn. You have to keep up the fancy driving though, since your multiplier gradually drops over time.

Cars are broken up by tier depending on speed, and you get one car from each tier to start. This might be a redundant thing to say for a racing game, but these cars go fast. I've found the need for sharp reflexes are apparent even in the first level - moreso than most racing games I've played on iOS. The controls are nicelyto accommodate twitchiness without being overly sensitive (though you can adjust steering sensitivity in settings). I found drifting controls to be quite smooth and intuitive. Control style options spans the usual gamut, like accelerometer-based steering, tap steering, or manual gas and brake control.

As you race, you pick up cash, nitro, and speed boosts. A nitro meter gradually fills up as you drift, crash through destructable terrain, and whiz by civilian traffic. On a mostly-full bar, you can tap your nitro button three times to get going pretty quickly, or you can wait until it's completely full to enter the trippy Adrenaline mode, which gives you a massive speed boost and lets you plow right through the competition.

 

You earn in-game cash from winning races which can be spent up cars, upgrades, and pre-race power-ups (sponsors). You earn stars for completing challenges, which cycle and change as they're completed, and are awarded up to three stars for completing career events, depending on how well you do. Both stars and game currency can be acquired through in-app purchases. All cars are unlocked with stars and bought with the in-game cash. It's refreshing that stars are more of a progress indicator rather than a premium currency; in a lot of mobile games you have to save up premium currency for big purchases, then start again from scratch after you've spent it. It's definitely more in line with console racing games to earn stars as you go (though the option to buy them outright is strictly a mobile thing).

At the end of every race, Asphalt 7 hopelessly tries to get you to share your race results and achievements with Facebook for additional bonus rewards, which gets irritating very quickly if you've already decided not to spam your timeline with game stuff.

Threre's a broad array of customization available for each car, including paint job, decals, window tint, and plenty of performance enhancement for acceleration, speed, nitro, steering, and even armor.

The graphics are optimized for the new iPad's Retina display, and are ripe with detailed models, smooth animation, lens flare effects, dynamic reflections, motion blur, and a lot more. (Update: One helpful commenter tells us that the the Retina iPad optimization actually didn't make it due to a bug that Gameloft is currently working on. Apparently it actually looks better on the iPad 2!) Asphalt 7 doesn't try too hard to be a true-to-life simulator like Real Racing 2, though - you'll find plenty of glowing power-ups along the track, and given the arcade feel of the gameplay, that look is totally appropriate. The music earns top marks - it's modern, fast, and sets a perfect mood for racing. As you might expect, all of these assets add up to a fair bit of room on your device (1 GB), so make sure you've got the room or you're willing to ditch another game.

The good

• Excellent, eye-popping graphics
• Gripping soundtrack
• Reliable, balanced controls

The bad

•  A little pushy with social sharing
• In-app purchases feel contrived
• There aren't enough hours in the day to keep playing this

The conclusion

For a buck, Asphalt 7 - Heat really burns rubber. Sure, it's on promotion right now and will likely get bumped up to $4.99 in the next couple of weeks, but at the current price point, it's obvious that Gameloft is betting that you'll end up spending cash on in-app purchases. The implementation is sound in that you certainly aren't required to buy anything in order to progress, but if you've already paid for the game, I'd rather not have to deal with the pre-game prompts for sponsored boosts. I get that they want me to burn through my in-game cash more quickly and make me feel the need to top-up with real money, but that basically boils down to a pay-to-win scenario. Honestly, this game doesn't need in-app purchases.

Equally pushy are the prompts after every race to share my results online for extra rewards. By all means, give me a pop-up letting me know about levelling up or my results, and sure, have an option to share to Facebook, but the dialog is still set up as "Do you want to share online?" rather than "Good work, you're awesome, let's get on with your next race".

Those niggles aside, Asphalt 7 delivers a really excellent racing experience on iOS. The graphics are sharp, the music is positively awesome, and the multiplayer is smooth and seamless.

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During the WWDC 2012 keynote, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the already expansive iTunes App Store would be adding 32 more countries to the list -- and so they have.

Users can now buy, and developers can now sell, iPhone and iPad apps in Albania, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Chad, Congo, Fiji, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Micronesia, Mongolia, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Sao Tome e Principe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe.

According to Aleksandr of UkrainianiPhone, all types of apps appear to be there, and the top lists are populating, but redeem codes aren't (yet?) working.

For developers, Apple has apparently sent out a note explaining how to sell apps in the new App Store locations.

Before you can sell your apps in the new territories, you must agree to the new iOS Paid Applications or Mac OS X Paid Applications contract. To view all current and outstanding contracts, see the Contracts, Tax and Banking module on iTunes Connect.

Once you have agreed to the new contracts, your apps will be available in all new territories. To manage the territories for your app, see the Rights and Pricing section in the Manage Your Applications module on iTunes Connect. Note that pricing for the new territories is in U.S. dollars (USD).

If your country just got the App Store let us know how it's working for you. Any major categories or apps missing?

By bus, subway/metro, or train, get where you're going faster by being smarter with the Transit App for iPhone

The Transit App was lovingly, painstakingly designed and coded by Sam Vermette (of Shows) and Guillaume Campagna to make taking a bus, catching a train, or hoping on the underground as easy checking the weather or reading a social status. And they've succeeded brilliantly.

Launch The Transit App and it automatically detects your location, zones in on the public transport routes in your area, and shows you the next available times. Color coded. With icons. To match the transit system in your area.

The interface is big and blocky and almost Metro-esque, with small but delightful animations for things like time spinning down before your eyes (run!). Tap on one of the routes and options open up. You can switch route directions, pull up a map to see where you are relative to the stop or station, add a route to favorites, or get a list of additional times on that route.

You can also use handy gesture shortcuts. Simply pull right for the map and left to switch directions. Tap and hold the route number for a directional arrow and distance to the stop/station, or tap and hold the time indicator to quickly see the next two times. That makes things easily discoverable for anyone new to the Transit App but incredibly fast for seasoned users. An excellent implementation.

The Transit App remembers the last route you took, so it can immediately offer you the reverse route back to further speed up the experience. You can also uncheck transit agencies you don't use, and set arbitrary locations to make plans for later.

Also, while the Transit App information is stored on a server and updated daily, with an optional subscription (see below), the most recent update can be cached locally you so don't have to worry about getting caught without a connection. You can even download destination bundles for trips when you're on Wi-Fi so you don't waste cellular data or risk poor connections when traveling.

The Transit App is launching with support for Montreal, Quebec City, and Toronto. They'll be adding more cities soon, however. The current plan calls for Halifax, Ottawa, and Fredericton in early July, Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg in mid July, and Vancouver/Transilink in late July. New York, Washington, and San Francisco are planned for mid August.

Online access for the 3 closest routes is free. All routes in a 1.5KM radius and offline support are available via subscription for $0.99 a month, $2.99 for 6 months, or $4.99 a year. (Sign up for a Transit App account and you can enable that subscription on all your iPhones.)

As iOS 6 Maps showed everyone, doing transit data isn't easy, even for Apple, so the subscription provides for maintaining and expanding the servers and coverage to keep every route up-to-date in every city, for every user. At less than the cost of a fancy cup of coffee per year, it's a no brainer.

The good

• Incredibly well thought out
• Beautifully designed
• Lightning-fast to use

The bad

• Limited locations supported at launch

Conclusion

A couple of months ago I had the chance to sit in at a CocoaHeads talk given by The Transit App's Sam Vermette. He took the room full of iOS and OS X coders and designers through the process he used to develop the interface for The Transit App. As anyone who's listened to the Iterate podcast knows, I'm a sucker for these talks, for the process of design, and for the relentless drive to make phenomenal user experience. There are, frankly, some app categories rich with these kinds of apps, like Twitter or Todo apps. But there are many, many more that are woefully underserved.

The Transit App brings premium polish to a highly useful app category -- and one that's going to be incredibly important if Apple persists in their plans to hand transit directions off to App Store apps in the iOS 6 Maps app.

By pre-sorting and filtering routes based on location, providing just-in-time information, and letting you tap or gesture into more granular, detailed, and custom data, The Transit App manages to make getting your next route lightning fast, yet still lets you dig in and plan future or alternate routes when you have to.

The Transit App is the Apple simplify, refine, repeat mantra made manifest for public transportation, and I can't give it a higher recommendation than this -- it makes me want to take the damn bus.

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