Why do calendar reminder alerts disappear once the event end time has passed

[wmcss]

First time caller, long time listener to this discussions group.

I often use Tasks and Calendar for reminders. I want to use the Calendar more often but what I have seen in the last several versions of MacOs since I've been using Apple, is this;

If you set a reminder for say an hour duration, if you aren't using your Mac for that hour, the reminder appears in the top right, but once the end time has passed the reminder disappears. Thus you have not been reminded at all!

Microsoft Outlook doesn't do this, and on my work Windows computers I find it a useful way to remember things, I can keep snoozing reminders until I get round to doing them, whether the end time has passed or not.

I know I have read several others reporting this across the interweb, does Apple have any plans to change this? Perhaps an option in Preferences, 'do not dismiss alert once end time expires', or something like that?

Any workarounds to this people are aware of?

 

[MacInWin]

Welcome to the forum.

I don't know of any workarounds, but I can say Apple doesn't share much about intentions until they start releasing beta versions for testing. They won't even share whether what you see is a bug or a feature!

I can say that for notifications I want to be reminded of that have a "snooze" option, I use Reminders. When the Reminder notification pops up on of the options is "Remind me in an hour." You can repeat that snooze over and over until you actually respond.

 

[Rod]

Obviously you can set an Alert in the native Calendar app but that would be for a specific time only, after that it's gone but I do receive an email alert as well and that stays until I delete it.

If you want a "reminder" you can copy an paste a calendar event into the native Reminders app, just right click the heading of the event and select copy. You will have to create a custom list for reminders like this which is easy to do, + button on the bottom left side of the Reminders app window. This will create a new reminders list. Choose that and paste your event into the list. This works for recurring events as well.

You will then get a persistent reminder on all of your Apple devices requiring you to dismiss (temporarily) or complete.

 

[wmcss]

I like the idea of recurring events in the custom list you suggest to create. That is the main issue I have with Calendar, I have several monthly tasks on certain days that I don't always complete before the end time. However I don't seem to be able to copy the calendar event as you describe. If I right-click on the heading of the event and pick copy it just copies the text of the heading when I paste it into Reminders, it doesn't take the date/time. It does add a line of text 'Scheduled: date/time' but its only text. I am using Big Sur.

 

[Rod]

Hmm, it works for me. Maybe I have missed a step although I had never tried it before today with Big Sur. Maybe just open the calendar event on the Calendar then try right clicking on the event body. When I did that it asked if I wanted to copy the event. Then it was a simple matter of pasting it into the Reminders. I ticked one instance of the event and as it was a monthly event it created a new instance for the same date next month.

 

[MacInWin]

I just tried it with Big Sur and got the same result as @wmcss. Easy enough to set a time and date, but it didn't populate automatically.

EDIT: I don't use Calendar for reminders. Just appointments. I use Reminders for reminding me of things to do, and it does have a snooze function, plus repeating events and a nag notification.

 

[Rod]

What have I missed? I am away for a few days and can’t duplicate what I did on my MBP on my iPad but I will get back to the topic on my return.

 

[wmcss]

No further joy pasting calendar entries. I will just tinker around with this, no point getting too carried away.
However @MacInWin says Reminders has a repeating events function? I'm afraid I just cannot see that, as that will solve my problem another way. Could you go through the steps please to create a recurring reminder?

 

[Rod]

wmcss, I'm away for a brief holiday to celebrate my wedding anniversary and my birthday and won't be home till Friday. I'll investigate further then.

 

[toMACsh]

I often use Tasks and Calendar for reminders. I want to use the Calendar more often but what I have seen in the last several versions of MacOs since I've been using Apple, is this;

If you set a reminder for say an hour duration, if you aren't using your Mac for that hour, the reminder appears in the top right, but once the end time has passed the reminder disappears. Thus you have not been reminded at all!

I use Calendar Events also. If you want, set all Events for All Day, then it will be there after the hour duration. I'm not sure why you're using 1 hour if you sometimes need longer.

On a related subject, does anyone use Reminders? I've never found a reason to explore it since Calendar suits my needs. Would this do what the OP wants?

 

[MacInWin]

To do what you want to do with Reminders, take these steps:

1. Open Reminders
2. Click on the "+" in the upper right corner to create a new reminder
3. You should then see this:


4. Click on the "Add Date" and select "Today" (or any date you want this to start). The Reminder will be added to the list.
5. Hover over and then click on the (i) symbol on the right of the item. This window will pop open:


6. At this point you have several things you can set. One is the Time you want to be reminded, or the day, or location, etc. So, if the reminder is for 4 PM, click the "At a Time" and enter the time.
7. Once the time or other parameters are set, click on the "None" beside the label "Repeat." You should see this:


8. Set what you want.

What Reminders cannot do is to repeat on anything less than a daily cycle. I have a friend who uses Reminders to prompt him to take his medications. He has one Reminder for 8AM every day, another for 12PM every day, 4PM every day, 8PM every day, etc. At the appropriate time, he gets a notification to take his meds for that time.

9. When the reminder pops up in the upper right corner of the Mac, if you hover over the lower right corner of the reminder a menu will appear with options for dealing with the Reminder. Here is a screenshot:


At that point you can deal with the Reminder however you want to.

In System Preferences, under Notifications, you can set the type of Notification by application. So if you want these Reminders to stay on the screen until you deal with them, select Reminders in the sidebar and set the Notification to be an "Alert."



That's it.

 

[IWT]

A splendid mini tutorial, Jake.

Ian

 

[chscag]

That tutorial was so easy to understand, even for me.

Now, if we can convince Jake to author some blogs for us......

 

[Slydude]

One of the things I like about recent incarnations of Reminders is the subtask option. When a task has several components that may be due on different days, that's one way to track things. I also like using Reminders for things that recur but don't have to happen at a specific time of day, but I might otherwise forget about such as:

1. Medications taken weekly/monthly,
2. Changing the filter on our A/C unit (once every 3 months)
3. Events that are scheduled months in advance but don't require a component task being scheduled (routine auto maintenance appointments).

IMHO Reminders works best when used in conjunction with Calendar. Reminders handle events that don't necessarily have specific times. Calendar handles events such as meetings that occur at specific times. Unfortunately, this requires making two entries -- one in each program. Sometimes I wish Apple would roll Reminders and Calendar into a single program.

I also like the fact that Reminders can be set to open when you arrive at a specific location. Do you find yourself thinking of a question to ask your doctor before an appointment and then promptly forgetting to ask the question during the appointment? As the questions occur to them enter the questions into a list in the Rerminders app and set that list to open when you arrive at the doctor's office.

 

[toMACsh]

Yes, great tutorial! Having seen that, I'm more perplexed than ever about why Reminders exists. Calendar already reminds me of things, whether at a specific time or not.

 

[MacInWin]

I use Calendar for things with a duration, like a meeting. Reminders is for a momentary event, like taking meds, or making a phone call, etc. I don't want to clutter my calendar with things. It's a personal preference.

 

[pm-r]

Any workarounds to this people are aware of?

I wonder if the Fantastical.app utility would help your situation, as its older version used to do what you are wanting as I recall, but I have not used it for several years plus the fact that it is now very commercial, but I believe there is a free evaluation version available.

Fantastical — The calendar and tasks app you won't be able to live without.

Fantastical, the calendar app you won't be able to live without. Quickly create new events and reminders with natural language input and more.

flexibits.com

Download Fantastical for Mac | MacUpdate

Download the latest version of Fantastical for Mac for free. Read 242 user reviews and compare with similar apps on MacUpdate.

www.macupdate.com

For what it's worth, I ended up using Calendar 366 as a replacement, but I also needed something that still ran in Mavericks 10.9.5.
Maybe it would work for you as well, as they have a later version of it available from the version I use:
Calendar 366 events & reminders

Calendar 366 by n.spektor - For Mac, iPhone, Apple Watch & iPad

Calendar 366 II - The most complete menu bar calendar for macOS & Calendar 366 for iPhone, Apple Watch & iPad - The calendar app for all your plans!

nspektor.com

And also here with user reviews and comments:

Download Calendar 366 II for Mac | MacUpdate

Download the latest version of Calendar 366 II for Mac for free. Read 12 user reviews and compare with similar apps on MacUpdate.

www.macupdate.com

- Patrick
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[wmcss]

@MacInWin's tutorial was just what I was looking for when I posted the original question. Unless its a new feature, I just did not see the fact you could set repeating reminders until that tutorial. So thanks!
I've since discovered from testing I can set up the repeating reminders under the 'Calendar' list (under 'My Lists'), that way I don't have to have repeating ones always on the Tasks lists. I like to have only that list displayed and use it for temporary jobs to do and am always working to clear it, whereas the repeating ones can hide away in the Calendar list until they pop up. This pretty much negates the need to even use the Calendar app now. As someone suggested its all personal preference isn't it.

 

[pm-r]

This pretty much negates the need to even use the Calendar app now. As someone suggested its all personal preference isn't it.

Like so many features that can stay hidden until discovered, often with the help of small tutorials that are available to read if and when we get around to it.

As someone remarked one day: so much to learn so little time... and some methods keep changing...

Here are some that you might want to take a gander at...

Google Search

- Patrick
=======

 

[jpdemers]

If you set a reminder for say an hour duration, if you aren't using your Mac for that hour, the reminder appears in the top right, but once the end time has passed the reminder disappears. Thus you have not been reminded at all!

You can set up a custom alert for minutes, hours, or days AFTER the event, if that's any help. I'm guessing that the time and duration of your events are rather flexible - not a meeting, more of a to-do item - in which case an all-day event might be more appropriate.