Short answer: To add reminders by voice in Apple Reminders, you have two routes. The fastest hands-free way is "Hey Siri, remind me to..." which creates a full reminder with a due date or location in one sentence. To dictate the text of a reminder yourself, tap into a new reminder and use a voice keyboard's microphone button on iPhone, or hold a hotkey on Mac. Reminders has no transcription engine of its own, so the accuracy of dictated text depends on the voice-to-text tool underneath.
Apple Reminders is one of the most quietly useful apps on iPhone and Mac, and it is built for exactly the moments when your hands are busy: walking out the door, driving, cooking, or in the middle of a task you do not want to break. That is why voice to text in Apple Reminders is so worth getting right. There are actually two different things people mean by "adding reminders by voice," and they work differently. One is asking Siri to create the whole reminder for you. The other is dictating the words of a reminder you are typing yourself. This guide covers both, on both devices, and explains why the second one depends entirely on which dictation tool you use.
The two ways to add a reminder by voice
It helps to separate the two clearly, because they solve different problems.
- Siri creates the reminder. You speak a command like "remind me to call the dentist tomorrow at 9," and Siri parses the task, the date, and the time, then files the whole thing into Reminders. This is genuinely hands-free and great for quick, structured to-dos.
- You dictate the text. You open Reminders, start a new item, and speak its contents using a microphone button or hotkey. This is the right approach when the reminder is long, has details Siri would mangle, includes names and jargon, or when you want notes and sub-items spoken out exactly as you say them.
Both have a place. The first is faster for one-liners; the second gives you control and accuracy for anything more involved.
Adding reminders by voice on iPhone
Option 1: Ask Siri
- Say "Hey Siri" or hold the side button.
- Speak a natural command, for example "Remind me to pick up the prescription at 5 PM" or "Remind me to email the contract when I get to the office."
- Siri reads back what it created. Say "yes" to confirm or correct it.
Siri is good at recognizing dates, times, and even location triggers ("when I get home"). Its limits show up with the actual words of the task: surnames, company names, medical terms, and acronyms often come out wrong, and you cannot easily dictate a multi-line reminder with notes attached.
Option 2: Dictate the reminder text with a voice keyboard
When you want to type the reminder yourself but speak instead of tap, dictation happens at the keyboard layer. You can use Apple's built-in microphone key:
- Open Reminders and tap New Reminder so the keyboard appears.
- Tap the microphone key on the standard Apple keyboard.
- Speak the reminder, then tap the keyboard to stop.
This is free and already there. The trade-offs are familiar: it can time out on longer reminders, it struggles with names and specialized terms, and fixing a mistake usually means going back to typing.
For reminders with real detail, a dedicated voice keyboard is more reliable. Voice Keyboard Pro installs as a full custom keyboard with its own microphone button, so it works inside Reminders exactly the way it works in Messages, Mail, or any other app.
- Install the keyboard from the App Store, enable it in Settings, and allow microphone access.
- In Reminders, tap New Reminder and switch to the Voice Keyboard Pro keyboard (tap and hold the globe key to pick it).
- Tap the microphone button and speak the task naturally, including any notes you want under it.
- Review the text in the reminder and tap the mic again to add more, or to fill in the notes field.
Because the transcription runs on fast cloud infrastructure with advanced, Whisper-class AI, accuracy and speed are the same on a new iPhone or an old one. A few features matter specifically for reminders:
- Voice Edit: speak a change, such as "change five to six," and it is applied in place, so you fix a wrong time or word by voice instead of tapping at the screen.
- Smart Vocabulary: a personal dictionary with replacement rules that learns the names, medications, project codenames, and acronyms you keep dictating, so "remind me to follow up with Niranjan about the Q3 deck" comes out right every time.
- Two-way live translation: dictate a reminder in one of 24 languages and have it appear in another, useful in bilingual households or teams.
Adding reminders by voice on Mac
Reminders is a full app on macOS too, and the same split applies: Siri can create reminders for you, or you can dictate the text into a reminder yourself.
Option 1: Ask Siri on Mac
- Click the Siri icon in the menu bar or use your Siri shortcut.
- Say something like "Remind me to send the invoice on Friday at noon."
- Siri creates the reminder and confirms it.
Option 2: Dictate the reminder text
To put your own words into a reminder, you can use Apple's built-in Mac dictation:
- Open System Settings, go to Keyboard, and turn on Dictation.
- Note or set the shortcut (often the microphone key, or pressing Control twice).
- In Reminders, click into a new item and trigger the shortcut.
- Speak, then trigger the shortcut again to stop.
This works, with the usual caveats around longer passages and specialized vocabulary. For something faster and more accurate, Voice Keyboard Pro on Mac is a native menu bar app, and the workflow is hold, speak, release:
- Download the Mac app, install it, and grant microphone access.
- Click into a new reminder, or into the notes field of an existing one.
- Hold your chosen hotkey, speak, and release. Accurate text appears at the cursor, usually in under a second.
Since it inserts text wherever your cursor sits, it does not care that you are in Reminders specifically. The same hotkey dictates into Mail, Slack, your browser, and your code editor. If you are weighing options, it is a credible Apple Dictation alternative and worth comparing against the best dictation software for Mac before you settle.
Tips for cleaner voice reminders
- Use Siri for one-liners, dictation for detail. "Remind me to call Mom at 6" is perfect for Siri; a reminder with a packing list or meeting agenda is better dictated.
- Speak the time and date out loud when using Siri. Reminders is excellent at scheduling, but only if you actually say "tomorrow," "at 3," or "when I get home."
- Add recurring terms to Smart Vocabulary. Names, medications, and product names are where generic voice to text fails most; teaching the tool once fixes them across every reminder.
- Dictate notes separately. Capture the title first, then tap into the notes field and dictate the details so the reminder list stays scannable.
A note on privacy
Reminders often hold personal things: medications, appointments, financial to-dos. It is fair to ask where your voice goes when you dictate them. With Voice Keyboard Pro, the servers store only operational pings, for example that a transcription happened, for billing and reliability. No audio and no transcript content is stored, and your dictation history stays on your device. The words you speak into a reminder belong to you, not to the dictation tool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Apple Reminders have its own dictation?
Not a transcription engine of its own. Reminders relies on Siri to create reminders by command, and on your operating system or a third-party voice keyboard to dictate the text you type. That is why your accuracy on the wording depends on which voice-to-text tool you use.
What is the difference between using Siri and dictating a reminder?
Siri parses a spoken command into a complete reminder with a date or location, which is ideal for quick one-liners. Dictating the text means you open a reminder and speak its contents word for word, which gives you better control over long reminders, notes, and specialized vocabulary.
Can I add voice reminders on both iPhone and Mac with one tool?
Yes. Voice Keyboard Pro works on iPhone and Mac, and one subscription covers both. You dictate the same way across devices, and since Reminders syncs through iCloud, a reminder you speak on your phone shows up on your Mac.
Why does Siri get the names in my reminders wrong?
Generic voice recognition has no context for your specific people, products, or terms. Smart Vocabulary lets you add a personal dictionary with replacement rules so the tool learns your names, jargon, and acronyms and stops mistranscribing them when you dictate the reminder yourself.
Is adding reminders by voice free?
Siri and Apple's built-in dictation are free. Voice Keyboard Pro has a free tier with daily limits and no time limit; Pro is $4.99/month or $34.99/year and covers both Mac and iPhone. If Apple's dictation drops out or misreads your words, it helps to compare the difference in Voice Keyboard Pro vs Apple Dictation.
The Bottom Line
Apple Reminders is built for hands-free moments, and you have two complementary ways to use your voice: let Siri create the whole reminder for quick to-dos, or dictate the text yourself when you need control and accuracy. Siri and Apple's built-in dictation get you started for free on both iPhone and Mac. When your reminders carry real detail, use specialized vocabulary, or you want to edit by voice and keep your content private, a dedicated tool like Voice Keyboard Pro makes voice to text in Apple Reminders faster and more reliable, with the same experience across both devices.