An assistant that only answers questions is a search box with manners. The useful part is when it holds something for you and gives it back at the right moment.

Reminders that actually ring

Ask for a reminder in plain language — "remind me tomorrow at nine" — and it is set. It arrives even when the app is closed and the screen is off.

That last part needed real work. Android was scheduling reminders loosely, which lets the battery saver hold one back until you next pick up the phone. A reminder that arrives an hour late is worse than none, because you stopped watching for it. They are now scheduled exactly, and how urgent a reminder is decides how loudly it arrives.

Lists it keeps up to date

Shopping lists and to-do lists the assistant can actually maintain: add while you talk, tick things off, remove what you no longer need. "Take the milk off the list" works the way you would say it to a person.

Notes you write for yourself

The third store is the simplest: notes. Sometimes you do not want a conversation, a list or a reminder — you want to write something down and find it later. The assistant can write them too, when you ask it to keep something.

Why three separate things

They could have been one feature with a type field. They are not, because they are answers to different questions: what do I need to do at a specific time, what do I need to collect, and what do I want to keep. Collapsing them would have made each one worse at its own job.