Apple Reminders can track habits on its own, free, on every Apple device.
set up a habit in Reminders
- Open Apple Reminders and create a list for your habits, for example one called Daily.
- Add one reminder per habit: "Read 20 minutes", "Stretch", "No sugar". Emojis work well as visual markers.
- Give each reminder a date and time, then set Repeat to Daily.
- Each day, tick the reminder when the habit is done. Tomorrow it comes back on its own.
That gives you recurring habits, notifications at the time you chose, sync across iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch, and Siri ("add stretch to my Daily list, repeat daily").
what Reminders will not show you
History. When you complete a recurring reminder, it rolls to tomorrow — Reminders shows today, not your year. There is no streak and no picture of your progress.
seeing your progress: alto.daily
alto.daily is a free app for iPhone and Mac that reads the same recurring reminders and draws a yearly heatmap per habit. Your habits stay ordinary Apple Reminders in your iCloud — complete them in Reminders, on your Watch, or in alto.daily. Delete the app and your data is still in Reminders.
Start with plain Apple Reminders — it might be enough. For streaks and the year at a glance, alto.daily adds that, free.
Download alto.daily for iPhone
See the faq for what is free and what is in the one-time Pro purchase.