iPhone: Apple Reminders
- Open the Reminders app and create a new reminder, or open an existing one.
- Tap the "i" info button next to the reminder.
- Turn on "Location."
- Choose "Arriving" or "Leaving," then search for the address, or tap "Current Location" if you're already there.
- Adjust the radius if you want (the default is usually fine for a house or office).
- Save. The reminder fires the next time you cross that boundary.
You can also do this entirely by voice: say "Hey Siri, remind me to grab my charger when I leave home," and Siri sets it up for you, as long as "home" is already saved in your Contacts card.
Android: Google Keep
- Open Google Keep and create a new note, or open an existing one.
- Tap the reminder bell icon.
- Switch from the time tab to "Pick place."
- Search for the location and select it.
- Save. Keep will notify you when you arrive at that location.
Note that Keep's built-in location reminders are arrival-only; there isn't a native "when I leave" option the way Apple Reminders has. Some Android phones also offer location reminders through Google Assistant directly ("remind me to take out the trash when I get home"), which works similarly.
Where the native options run out
Both of these are genuinely useful for a single, one-off reminder. Where they run out is anything beyond that:
- Neither is built for a recurring checklist, multiple items you want to see every single time you leave a place, not just once.
- It's easy to forget you set one at all, since there's no ongoing visibility into what's active.
- Apple Reminders' "Leaving" trigger and Keep's arrival trigger are the extent of it. Neither offers a place that runs a different checklist on leaving versus arriving.
If what you actually want is a checklist, several items, that shows up automatically every time you leave or arrive somewhere, that's a step beyond what either native tool is designed for.