cleared reminders remain in iCloud for 40 days splash screen, but that’s not true

[Morac]

After upgrading to iOS 16 on my iPhone and iPadOS 16.1 on my iPad and Ventura on my Mac, the first time I clear a completed reminder I got a splash screen saying the deleted reminder would remain in iCloud for 40 days.

As far as I can tell that isn’t true. Cleared reminders are simply gone. There’s no way to get them back unless you are using the old pre iOS-13 style reminders which iOS 16 obviously isn’t.

Any idea why this splash screen was displayed?

 

[0128672]

After upgrading to iOS 16 on my iPhone and iPadOS 16.1 on my iPad and Ventura on my Mac, the first time I clear a completed reminder I got a splash screen saying the deleted reminder would remain in iCloud for 40 days.

As far as I can tell that isn’t true. Cleared reminders are simply gone. There’s no way to get them back unless you are using the old pre iOS-13 style reminders which iOS 16 obviously isn’t.

Any idea why this splash screen was displayed?

Cleared reminders show in the Show Completed list, which you can access in the more menu for that list.

 

[Morac]

Cleared reminders show in the Show Completed list, which you can access in the more menu for that list.

No, completed reminders show up in the Completed list. Cleared (deleted) reminders don’t show up anywhere since they’ve been deleted.

 

[0128672]

No, completed reminders show up in the Completed list. Cleared (deleted) reminders don’t show up anywhere since they’ve been deleted.

Ah, I thought you meant completed when you said cleared but I see you meant deleted.

 

[BigBlur]

It’s partially true. It’s possible to still be using the old style reminders in the latest OS versions. It depends if the user upgraded their reminders in iCloud or not. If they haven’t upgraded yet, then the 40 day retention applies. You’re correct though, this doesn’t apply to upgraded reminders, as they cannot be restored. My guess it’s a bug where Apple is always showing that informational pop-up, instead of checking to see if the user is using the old or upgraded reminders first.

 

[NoBoMac]

On the upside, looks like a flag is being set and you only get the message once.

 

[russell_314]

After upgrading to iOS 16.1 I just got a message after deleting a reminder saying it will remain in the cloud for 30 days. It only popped up once and once I hit OK it’s gone.

I don’t see any way to restore reminders or deleted reminders category so I’m guessing this data isn’t user accessible

Is this Apple saving data for governments requesting it and notifying users just to cover themselves? I don’t have anything important in my reminders but it’s interesting. It reminds me of how carriers save text messages for that purpose.

 

[BigBlur]

Basically, a few years ago we had the option to upgrade our reminders...so one could still be using the old style reminders if they haven't upgraded them yet. The old style reminders can be restored from iCloud within 40 days after deletion, but that's no longer the case after your reminders are upgraded. I think it's a bug where Apple isn't checking to see if you're still using the old style or upgraded reminders before showing that pop-up message.

 

[usagora]

Basically, a few years ago we had the option to upgrade our reminders...so one could still be using the old style reminders if they haven't upgraded them yet. The old style reminders can be restored from iCloud within 40 days after deletion, but that's no longer the case after your reminders are upgraded. I think it's a bug where Apple isn't checking to see if you're still using the old style or upgraded reminders before showing that pop-up message.

It does seem odd that the "upgraded" reminders takes away the backup feature. Makes no sense to me.

 

[russell_314]

Basically, a few years ago we had the option to upgrade our reminders...so one could still be using the old style reminders if they haven't upgraded them yet. The old style reminders can be restored from iCloud within 40 days after deletion, but that's no longer the case after your reminders are upgraded. I think it's a bug where Apple isn't checking to see if you're still using the old style or upgraded reminders before showing that pop-up message.

I’m pretty sure it said 30 days but maybe I misread it.

How do I know which version of Reminders I’m using? Wouldn’t it be the latest one on iOS 16?

 

[BigBlur]

I’m pretty sure it said 30 days but maybe I misread it.

How do I know which version of Reminders I’m using? Wouldn’t it be the latest one on iOS 16?

It said 40 days, at least it did for me on my iPad.

Using iOS 16 doesn't necessarily mean you're using the latest version of Reminders. It's more about what version you're using in the backend (iCloud), not the app itself. They gave us an option to upgrade several years ago (starting with iOS 13 / macOS Catalina) since the upgraded reminders could not be accessed/synced on older OSes.

To see which version of Reminders you have, look for one of the following:

• If you're using upgraded reminders, you'll see '...' at the top-right corner of each reminder list.
• If you're not using upgraded reminders, you'll see 'Options' at the top-right corner of each reminder list.

 

[russell_314]

It said 40 days, at least it did for me on my iPad.

View attachment 2102696

Using iOS 16 doesn't necessarily mean you're using the latest version of reminders. It's more about what version you're using in the backend (iCloud), not the app itself. They gave us an option to upgrade several years ago (starting with iOS 13 / macOS Catalina) since the upgraded reminders could not be accessed/synced on older OSes.

To see which version of Reminders you have, look for one of the following:

• If you're using upgraded reminders, you'll see '...' at the top-right corner of each reminder list.
• If you're not using upgraded reminders, you'll see 'Options' at the top-right corner of each reminder list.

Well, it looks like I got the upgraded version. I’m assuming there’s no ability to downgrade 😂

It’s just weird that it said that. I’m thinking why would it notify me of something like that especially if I can’t recover them. I guess some glitch in the system.