Make a reminder for iOS devices using Quicksilver

Disclosure: I got this idea from a blog post at dirtdon.com about an Alfred extension. The AppleScript is all my own work though. The Action is only for users of Lion, iCloud and iOS 5.

Reminders on iOS is a great app for making and receiving todos and reminders wherever you are. If you’re on a Mac at the time though, the number of steps to make a reminder with an alarm becomes more apparent:
swipe, tap, tap, tap, tap, type, tap, tap, tap, tap, scroll, scroll, tap, tap.

9 steps to get here

Reminders can be added and synced to an iOS device using iCal, but I find its interface to be cumbersome and counter-intuitive (I’m not a regular iCal user).

Fortunately iCal is scriptable, allowing for this custom Action for Quicksilver: QuickReminder. Put the script in ~/Library/Application Support/Quicksilver/Actions/ and relaunch Quicksilver. Activate QS in text mode and type in a reminder using this form:

Shopping_2/9/12 10:00am_eggs

The date sets both the due date and a message alarm. Find the QuickReminder Action in the pane 2 to complete the command. For confirmation, the Action will return to Quicksilver the values of the created reminder.

Skip to 1:31 if you know how to install Actions

The two underscores in the reminder text separate the title, date and notes. The Action will also except Shopping_eggs and Shopping_2/9/12 as valid inputs.

The latter example will set an alarm for 9am - which seemed a better choice than AppleScript’s midnight default! The variable _defaultTime in the script holds the 9am value. Be careful with the time string - most variations that don’t follow to the ‘10:00am’ form will fail to be recognised.

The Action requires iCal for the creation and sync of reminders to iOS, and will launch iCal in the background if it’s not already running. The calendar named in the Action needs to match one used by iCloud: