Alarm, timer or reminder? The differences and when to use each
Your phone has three functions that tell you when it is time. They look alike but are good at different things.
The differences
| Function | What you set | How it tells you | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alarm | A time (such as 7:00) | Rings until you stop it | Waking up, leaving home |
| Timer | A length (such as 3 minutes) | Rings until you stop it | Cooking, breaks, blocks of work |
| Reminder | A time and what to do | One notification | Shopping, calls, errands |
All three tell you when it is time. They differ in what you set and in how strongly they tell you.
How to decide when unsure
Think in this order and you can decide quickly.
- If you want to notice by sound at a fixed time, use an alarm.
- If you want to count some minutes from now, use a timer.
- If you want to keep what to do in words, use a reminder.
- If both noticing and the content matter, use an alarm and a reminder together.
Reminders and alarm in one. YOBIOKO, the alarm you stop by typingSee the app
Alarms: when you must notice
An alarm keeps ringing until you stop it. It rings even in silent mode, so you rarely miss it. On the other hand, you do not know why it rang unless you gave it a label.
Alarms in the iPhone Clock app ring even in Silent mode or Do Not Disturb. On Android, the Alarm volume is separate from the ring and notification volumes.
On Android, depending on your Do Not Disturb settings, alarms may be silenced too. This can differ by model and OS version.
Keep the label short. On iPhone, enter it in Label on the alarm's edit screen. In the Google Clock app, open the alarm and enter a name. Write “Leave home” or “Medicine”, and you will know the errand when it rings.
If it should ring at the same time every day, choose the repeat days. Then you do not have to set it again every night.
Timers: “some minutes from now”
A timer is set by length, with no time of day. It suits things you start now, like “tidy up for 15 minutes”.
To do the same with an alarm, you would add 15 minutes to the current time and enter that time. With a timer, you enter the length and start. When it ends, you can use it again for the next thing.
A timer keeps no content. Decide what you will do when it rings before you start it.
Reminders: they keep what to do
A reminder keeps what to do in words. It suits errands you do not want to forget, like “Buy toothpaste” or “Send the invoice”. But the notification often appears only once, and if you miss it, that is it.
To make it harder to miss, do the following.
- Pick a time when you can act: choose a time when you can move right away. For things you buy on the way home, match the time you leave.
- Write the action: “Buy milk” is clearer than “Milk” when you see it.
- Use repeat: set weekly and monthly errands to repeat.
- Clear what is done: if finished errands stay in the list, important ones get buried.
Examples
| What you want | Best fit |
|---|---|
| Wake up at 7 | Alarm |
| Wait 3 minutes for instant noodles | Timer |
| Buy milk on the way home | Reminder |
| Take out the trash every Tuesday | Reminder (repeating) |
| Leave in 30 minutes | Timer or alarm |
| Take medicine every morning | Reminder (repeating). Add an alarm if it matters |
| Hang the laundry when the wash ends | Timer |
| Leave your desk 5 minutes before a meeting | Alarm (with a label) |
| Pay rent at the end of the month | Reminder (repeating) |
| Take a document with you tomorrow morning | Reminder. Also write it in the label of your morning alarm |
Common trouble
| Trouble | Fix |
|---|---|
| The alarm rang but you cannot recall what for | Write the errand in the label |
| You missed the reminder notification | For important errands, also set an alarm at the same time |
| After stopping the timer, you forget the next step | Decide what you will do at the end before you start |
| Too many alarms, and you just stop them all | Delete alarms you do not use. Move errands to reminders |
| You enter a repeating errand again each time | Use the repeat setting |
Combine them
A reminder keeps the content but is easy to miss. An alarm is hard to miss but has no content. For important errands, using both is safer.
YOBIOKO puts the two together. Tasks can have a reminder, and with your morning alarm you type the tasks you have not finished yet to stop it. See Use YOBIOKO tasks as reminders.
Common questions
To be told in 30 minutes, timer or alarm?
Either works. If you think “30 more minutes”, a timer is quicker. If you think “leave at 10:30”, an alarm fits.
Does a reminder make a sound?
It comes as a notification, so in many cases the notification sound plays once. In silent mode there may be no sound. For errands you must notice, use an alarm as well.
How is it different from a calendar event?
An event holds “from when to when”. A reminder holds “what to do”. Put meetings with people in events and your own errands in reminders, and they are easier to keep apart.
What should I use for morning errands?
Use an alarm for the time you get up, and a list for what to do in the morning. See How to make a morning to-do list.
Summary
- An alarm sets a time, a timer sets a length, and a reminder sets the content.
- Use an alarm to notice, a timer to count from now, and a reminder to keep an errand.
- Give alarms a label so you know why they rang.
- For important errands, use an alarm and a reminder together.