Google Calendar Reminders migration: Mandatory, no location-based Tasks or Keep integration

Last month, we reported how Google Calendar was laying the groundwork to replace Assistant Reminders with Tasks. More details on how the Reminders-to-Google Tasks migration in Calendar should work are now available. 

About APK Insight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.

Version 2022.26.x of Google Calendar contains many more strings detailing the “reminders_migration” process. For starters, it seems like this transition inside Google Calendar will be mandatory – “soon” – at some point. For those that don’t want to wait, a button will convert “reminders into tasks” immediately. 

<string name=”reminders_migration_card_title”>Soon your reminders will be upgraded to tasks</string>

<string name=”reminders_migration_card_button”>Turn my reminders into tasks now</string>

Google continues to make the case that Tasks is more deeply integrated with Workspace, and will be the only way to manage to-dos:

Tasks give you greater flexibility, letting you organize your to-dos into lists and manage them anywhere in Google Workspace

No location-based Tasks

Google Tasks today does not support location-based reminders and any added places after the migration will just be noted in the task’s description. This comes as Google is already removing the location trigger from Reminders.

<string name=”reminders_migration_dialog_description_location_remark”>”If a reminder has a location, it will appear in the task’s description. You will not receive any location-based notification from it.”</string>

No Google Keep integration

Lastly, we already know that “all your reminders are still available in Google Keep,” but the new strings reveal that “Reminders created in Google Keep won’t be turned into tasks.” Google will warn when “All your reminders were created in Keep” and “can’t be turned into tasks.”

In Keep, you make a note and then add a due date. Google Tasks does not even support images and is not suited for long text passages. The reasoning makes sense, and it will be interesting to see what to-do capabilities will ultimately remain in Google Keep.

As is, it seems that Reminders, which harbors key Assistant integration, will remain mostly unchanged inside Keep, but otherwise lack integration with Calendar. The Google Calendar Reminders-to-Tasks migration is more focused on streamlining the Workspace to-dos experience, but that transition is hampered by personal account usage and of course Assistant.

Thanks to JEB Decompiler, from which some APK Insight teardowns benefit.