Reminders are finally coming to Google Calendar

Gmail has always had a to-do list feature built-in. The trouble was that it wasn't integrated with your Google Calendar. Until now.

Google is rolling out the ability to add to-do reminders in Google Calendar for iOS and Android, with support for the web coming soon.

Neat. How is that useful?

The to-dos list was a one-off feature that stayed outside the Google ecosystem after being developed. Hence, alerts or integration with the Calendar was impossible. As a result, most users couldn't benefit from the feature. This resulted in the feature sitting on Gmail without users taking full advantage of it.

"Our calendars should help us make the most of our time — scheduling meetings at work, remembering brunch with friends, and keeping track of all our other commitments. But often our to-do list is elsewhere, separate from the Calendar that organises our day, and we end up overcommitted or miss something important because we forgot to check our list," Google wrote on its official blog.

"Now there's a single way to manage your day: starting this week, you can create Reminders in Google Calendar to keep track of your to-dos alongside your scheduled events."

So what else is new?

Not only does this help you maintain an integrated to-do list but also allows you to keep track from any device where the calendar is synced. Reminders are also more powerful -- they won't stop bugging you till you actually mark them 'Done'.

"You might already create calendar entries to remind you to call the doctor or pick up groceries on the way home. But while those entries come and go, Reminders stick with you over time so you can track them until they are actually done. If a Reminder isn't completed, it will appear at the top of your Calendar the next day. And the next. When you do finally call the doctor or pick up those necessities, just swipe the Reminder away ... and you're onto the next to-do," Google explained.

You can also create Reminders from Google's email app, Inbox, Google Keep and Google Now.

Reminders can also be set up with the addresses or phone numbers, which make completing a particular task easier. "So if you add a Reminder to make a call or run an errand, the number or address will be right there when you need it," writes Google. Calendar uses information from your contacts, as well as Google's knowledge graph to provide this extra bit of help, says Google.