QuillReply for Mac
A small menu-bar app whose only job is to put your QuillReply reminders into Apple Reminders. You need it if, and only if, you want reminders to land in Apple Reminders. Microsoft To Do and Todoist need nothing installed and work on any computer.
Download for macOS
Signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens without a warning.
Download QuillReply for MacWhy an app has to exist at all
Apple gives websites no way to write to Reminders. Since iOS 13 that data has lived in a private store that only Apple's own app and code running on your device can reach, and the old CalDAV route no longer works.
So there were three options. Ask for your iCloud password, which is a key that also opens Mail, Contacts and Calendar, and which we would then be storing for every customer. Ask you to build a Shortcut by hand. Or ship a tiny app that runs on your machine and writes the reminder locally.
We chose the third, which is why QuillReply has never asked for an Apple ID and never will. The app holds one credential: a token that lets it read your reminder queue and nothing else. It cannot read your mail, because nothing in QuillReply can.
Setting it up
- Download and install it. Open the downloaded file and drag QuillReply into the Applications folder sitting right next to it, then launch it from Applications. It has no window and no Dock icon: look for the quill feather in the menu bar, the thin strip across the very top of your screen, up by the Wi-Fi and the clock. It is not inside your browser.
- Say yes to Reminders. macOS asks once. The app needs it to create reminders and to read your list names so you can pick one.
- Pair it from the extension. In QuillReply's settings in your browser, under Apple Reminders, click Pair QuillReply for Mac. That hands the app everything it needs in one step, with nothing to copy or paste.
That is the whole setup. From then on it checks for new reminders every thirty seconds and files them while you get on with your day.
What it does, and what it refuses to do
| QuillReply for Mac | |
|---|---|
| Reads your email | No. It never sees mail at all; it receives a title, a date, and a list name. |
| Apple ID or iCloud password | Never asked for, never stored. |
| Files into a list you did not choose | No. If the list is missing it refuses and says so, and the reminder waits rather than landing somewhere wrong. |
| Tells you when something failed | Yes, in the menu bar. A reminder that did not arrive shows up as one that did not arrive. |
| Runs when your Mac is asleep | No. It collects when your Mac is awake; anything queued in the meantime arrives then. |
| Costs anything | No. It is part of QuillReply, on every plan including the free one. |
Using an iPhone instead
There is also an iPhone Shortcut that does the same job on iOS, which is useful if you have no Mac, or if yours is often closed. It takes a little more setting up, so we point most people at the Mac app first. The full walkthrough is at quillreply.com/iphoneshortcut.
You can run both. They share one queue and each reminder is filed once, by whichever device notices it first.
Removing it
Quit it from the menu bar and drag it to the Trash. To cut its access as well, open QuillReply's settings in your browser and disconnect the device. Deleting the app stops reminders arriving; disconnecting is what invalidates the token.
Signed with a Developer ID certificate issued to Michael Hall and notarized by Apple, with the approval stapled to the app so it opens correctly even offline. QuillReply is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Apple. Apple, macOS, and Apple Reminders are trademarks of Apple Inc. Questions: hello@quillreply.com.