To set a location reminder, create a reminder in an app that supports places, pick the place, and choose whether it should ring when you arrive or when you leave. Then give the app location access set to "Allow all the time" on Android or "Always" on iPhone, because the phone has to check your position while the app is closed. Without that permission, location reminders stay silent.
The details below apply to any app. After that, a look at which apps still offer location reminders, and how Buzzley does it.
How a location reminder works
A location reminder is built on a geofence: an invisible circle around a place. Your phone's operating system watches the circle for you, using GPS, Wi-Fi and mobile networks, and wakes the app when you cross the edge. The app does not track you all day; it hands the circle to the system and waits.
That design has three consequences worth knowing:
- It needs background location. The system only wakes the app for a geofence if the app may use your location while it is not on screen.
- It is not precise to the metre. Small circles can be missed, especially indoors or in dense cities. A radius of 100 metres or more is more dependable than 25.
- There is a limit per app. iOS lets one app watch up to 20 regions at a time, and Android allows up to 100 geofences per app. If you have more location reminders than that, an app has to choose which ones to watch.
Step by step
1. Pick the place
Most apps let you search for an address, drop a pin, or use where you are now. If you will use the same place often, such as home, work or a parent's house, save it as a named place so you can reuse it.
2. Choose arrive or leave
Think about where you will be when you can act on it.
- Arrive: "Pick up the parcel" when you reach the post office. "Ask about the bill" when you get to the dentist.
- Leave: "Take the gym bag" when you leave home. "Buy milk" when you leave work.
3. Set the radius
Make the circle big enough to catch you before you have walked past. For a shop, 100 to 200 metres works well. For "when I leave home", a larger circle avoids alerts while you are still in the garden.
4. Allow location all the time
On Android, the app first asks for location while in use. Background access comes as a second step, and Android sends you to a settings page where you pick Allow all the time. You can check it later under Settings > Apps > the app > Permissions > Location. Leave Use precise location on.
On iPhone, open Settings, find the app, tap Location and choose Always. Keep Precise Location on.
5. Keep the app from being put to sleep
Battery savers on Android can delay or block the alert even with the right permission. If your location reminders work some days and not others, the location reminders troubleshooting guide goes through the checks in order.
Which apps still have location reminders
Location reminders used to be easy to find on Android through Google Keep. When Google moved Keep's reminders into Google Tasks during 2025 and 2026, location reminders were dropped. As of our October 2026 research:
- Google Tasks: no location reminders.
- Microsoft To Do: no location reminders.
- Apple Reminders: yes, on iPhone, iPad and Mac only. Edit a reminder, tap the location option and choose a place and "Arriving" or "Leaving".
- Todoist: on the paid Pro plan.
- Any.do: on the paid Premium plan.
- Galarm: no location reminders.
If you use Android, or switch between an Android phone and a computer, the built-in options are gone, so you need a third-party app. Our Buzzley vs Google Tasks comparison sets the two side by side.
When a time works better than a place
Location reminders are not always the right tool. If you pass the shop every evening at about the same time, a timed reminder is simpler and does not depend on GPS. If the place is large, such as a hospital campus or an airport, the alert can arrive far from where you need it. And if the reminder is about something that must happen at a set time wherever you are, like a call, use a time. Places work best for errands you can do whenever you happen to be there.
Ideas that work well with places
- Shopping lists that ring when you reach the shop, not at 17:00 when you may still be at work.
- "Call the plumber back" when you get home, where the leaking tap reminds you why.
- "Lock the side gate" when you leave home.
- "Return the library books" when you arrive in town.
- Errands near your office, set to ring when you arrive at work.
How Buzzley handles it
In Buzzley, open a reminder and add a Location trigger. Choose Use current location or one of your Saved places (Home, Work and your own, managed under Settings). Then pick Arrive, Leave or Both, and set the Trigger radius between 50 and 500 metres; it starts at 100.
You also choose how the reminder triggers. At this location only has no time at all: it rings when you arrive or leave. At the scheduled time rings at the time you set, and also rings if you arrive at or leave the place within half an hour of that time.
Buzzley watches up to 100 places at once on Android and 20 on iPhone, the system limits. If you have more location reminders than that, it watches the ones due soonest. You create location reminders in the phone app; the web app shows them but cannot add a place. When you first add one, Buzzley explains why it needs location access, and on Android it tells you to choose "Allow all the time" on the next screen.
Location reminders are in every plan, including Core. More on the location reminders page, and plans on the pricing page. The trial lasts 7 days, no card needed.