When you first use Bin Day Alert you’ll be prompted to configure your bin schedules, Restore from a backup, or Import Schedules after Sharing Schedules from another device (e.g. from a neighbour).

Tap the Settings button. The Settings screen has a few settings to control the behaviour of the app and has links to other screens.

The Bin Schedules screen is where the different types and collection details of your bins are configured.

The Disable all Alerts setting allows all alerts to be disabled. This can be useful when going on holiday to temporarily disable all alerts without having to change each bin schedule to disable the alerts individually.

The Bin Schedules option on the Settings screen is where your different bin schedules are configured:

• Tap a schedule to edit its details.
• Tap add bin schedule to add a schedule.
• Press and hold the reorder icon to the right of a schedule to move it to a different position.
• Tap the red delete icon and then the Delete button to delete a schedule.
• The Delete all Bin Schedules button can be used to quickly delete all schedules.
• Tap the Share button to Share Schedules with another device.

The Main Screen lists all active schedules ordered by their next collection date. If more than one schedule has the same next collection date, the order that the schedules are listed in this screen is used.

Each bin schedule is defined by a number of settings. These are split into four sections:

• A name, colour and icon can be used to identify the bin type.
• The collection frequency and next collection date.
• A switch to control whether the schedule is currently active.
• Up to two alerts for reminding you to put out your bin.

The name of the bin schedule can be edited directly by tapping on the Name row. Each schedule must have a unique name.

To change another setting, tap its row and one or more rows will appear underneath it to show the available choices. Make a selection and either tap the setting again to hide the choices, or tap a different setting to see its choices.

The Delete Bin Schedule button can be used to delete the schedule.

Bin Day Alert supports a wide range of collection frequencies. The names of some settings change depending on the choices that have been made.

• The Repeat can be Weekly or Monthly.
• Weekly schedules have an Every setting to specify repeating every Week to Eight Weeks.
• Monthly schedules have a Weeks setting to specify one or more week numbers.
• The On setting specifies the collection day. Schedules that repeat every week allow more than one day to be chosen.
• For 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-week repeating schedules, the Next Collection date must be specified. The app can automatically calculate the next collection date for other collection frequencies.

If a schedule is only collected at certain times of the year, set the Active toggle button to off when it is not being collected. This disables the schedule and prevents its alerts from occurring. Re-active the schedule when the collection restarts.

Up to two alerts can be configured for each active bin schedule.

• Each alert can be enabled or disabled using the on/off toggle button.
• The global Disable All Alerts setting takes priority and will disable all alerts for all scheduls if it is turned on.
• Tap the alert’s row to choose whether the alert should occur the day before or the same day as the bin collection and to set the time for the alert.

If your bins are collected early in the morning it can be useful to have one alert the evening before the collection day and the other alert early in the morning of the collection.

Tap the Save button to save the changes, or tap the Cancel button to cancel.

Once the bin schedules have been configured, the main screen shows a clear summary of upcoming collections:

• Active schedules are grouped by next collection date.
• Inactive schedules are also shown as a reminder they will not generate alerts.
• Each schedule has a single row which shows its name, colour & icon and up to two clock icons to indicate whether alerts are enabled for that schedule.
• Long press the row for a schedule to view its configuration.
• If the global Disable All Alerts setting is turned on then the clock icons will be almost transparent and a warning message appears at the bottom of the list.

On iOS 16 and later, tap the Calendar button to open the Calendar View.

Tap the Share button and choose an option:

• Tap Share App to share a link to the App Store page for Bin Day Alert.
• Tap Share Bin Schedules to Share Schedules with another device. Share your schedules with a neighbour to save them the time of configuring their schedules.

The calendar view shows the collection dates of active schedules for the coming year.

• A coloured circle beneath a date indicates that bin schedule is collected on that day.
• Swipe left and right or tap the forward and back chevrons to change months.
• Tap a day that has one or more collections to view a list of the schedules for that day. Long press the row for a schedule to view its configuration and next collection date.

Notifications are generated to remind you to put out your bins.

The appearance and behaviour of notifications depends on which version of iOS you are using. In all cases the notification can be used to open the app or swiped/pressed to reveal Snooze 15 mins, Snooze 1 day and Snooze 1 week buttons. Snoozing will notify you again later. Snoozing for 1 day or 1 week is useful if a public holiday has delayed the collection.

iOS only allows an app to schedule up to 64 notifications. Bin Day Alert uses the iOS Background App Refresh feature to run in the background once per day to ensure you never miss a notification. However, Background App Refresh can be disabled globally or for individual apps in the Apple Settings app.

If Bin Day Alert is not occassionally launched or allowed to run in the background then you will eventually stop seeing notifications. The last twenty notifications warn you to launch the app so that you can avoid this happening.

Bin Day Alert can take you to the appropriate section in the Apple Settings app. This only works after you have configured one or more bin schedules and the app has asked for permission to send you notifications.

• Tap the Settings button in Bin Day Alert and then tap iOS Permissions. The Apple Settings app will open.
• Tap on Notifications.
• Ensure Allow Notifications is turned on.
• On iOS 15 and later, notifications are marked as Time Sensitive to allow them to break through a Focus.
• Press the back button in the status bar to return to the Bin Day Alert app.

A backup of your bin schedules can be created for safekeeping.

• Tap the Settings button from the Main Screen and select Back Up / Restore.
• Tap the Create Backup option.
• For extra security the backup can be protected with a password. Enter and confirm the password, or leave them blank if you don’t want to use a password.
• Tap the Create button to create the backup.

Once a backup has been created you can share or save it.

• Tap the Share Backup option to choose where to share the backup. Sharing with AirDrop is one way to copy your bin schedules to another device. Another is to Share Schedules from the main screen.
• Tap the Save Backup option to save the backup to iCloud Drive, Dropbox etc.

Restoring from a backup will replace all the bin schedules and cannot be undone.

• Tap the Settings button from the Main Screen and select Back Up / Restore.
• Tap the Restore from Backup option and choose a backup from iCloud, Dropbox etc.
• If the backup was password-protected you must enter the correct password.
• Tap the Continue button. The device name and date of the backup is shown.
• Tap Restore to restore from the backup or Cancel to abort.

Sharing a backup from another device with AirDrop, opening a backup in Apple’s Files app and selecting Copy to Bin Day Alert, or opening a backup attached to an email will open the app, navigate to the Back Up / Restore screen and start the restore process.

Sharing bin schedules is the easiest way to copy them from one device to another. Share your schedules with a neighbour to save them the time of configuring the schedules themselves.

To share bin schedules, either tap the Share button in the Bin Schedules screen, or tap the Share button in the Main Screen and choose Share Bin Schedules. Choose a way to share:

• If available, using AirDrop is the quickest way to transfer the bin schedules.
• Choose QR Code to display a QR code.
• Use Mail or Message to send a link to the App Store page for Bin Day Alert and a bindayalert://importschedules?<data> link that encodes the bin schedules.

Schedules shared from one device can be imported on another device:

• If sharing via AirDrop, accept the incoming request.
• Use the camera app to scan the code and tap the notification that appears.
• Open the Mail or Message and tap on the bindayalert://importschedules?<data> link.

If Bin Day Alert is not installed, iOS should offer to downlad it from the App Store. Download the app and use AirDrop, a QR code or a link in a message to retry the import process.

The app will open and starts the import:

• You are warned that your existing schedules will be replaced. Tap the Continue button.
• Tap Import to import the schedules or Cancel to abort.
• If required, customise the alert times.

Bin Day Alert includes Widgets to quickly see information on bin schedule next collection dates. There are three different widgets available, each in multiple sizes, making seven in total:

• View the next collection date for a single bin schedule: small and medium.
• View all bin schedules for the next collection date: small and medium.
• View the next collection date for multiple bin schedules: small, medium and large.

Widgets need to be added before they can be used. For help configuring widgets, see How to use widgets on iPhone and iPad.

Bin Day Alert includes iOS 16 Lock Screen Widgets. There are two different rectangular widgets available:

• View the next collection date for a single bin schedule.
• View all bin schedules for the next collection date.

Bin Day Alert also includes a pre-iOS 14 Widget. The Widget only appears when you have one or more bin schedules configured. It lets you quickly see the which bin(s) are due to be collected next.

The old-style widget can still be used on iOS/iPadOS 14 and later.

Bin Day Alert supports Siri shortcuts. Shortcuts are managed in the Siri Shortcuts section of the Settings screen, the Shortcuts app, or in the Siri & Search section of Apple’s Settings app.

• Shortcuts can be used to ask when the next collection dates are for all bin schedules, which bin schedules are due on the next collection date, or when the next collection date is for an individual schedule.
• Phrases that were created in the past which refer to bin schedules that no longer exist will be shown in a Deleted Bin Schedules section. These should be deleted.

• Tap a shortcut with an Add to Siri label to add a phrase.
• The interface that appears depends on which version of iOS/iPadOS you are using.
• Bin Day Alert suggests a voice phrase but you can choose whatever you like.
• You can type a personalised phrase to run a shortcut using Siri. On iOS/iPadOS 15 and later, Bin Day Alert’s suggested phrase is used by default. Use the Change Voice Phrase button to change it.
• Tap a shortcut with an existing phrase to edit or delete the phrase.
• The phrases for each shortcut must be unique across all apps.

If iOS detects a regular pattern of usage, Siri may suggest shortcuts on the Lock Screen or in Spotlight. Tap a shortcut or use your personalised phrase in Siri to invoke the shortcut.

The Help page contains a few options to help you learn how to best use Bin Day Alert:

• A link to this User Guide.
• An easy way to send me mail if you have any questions or comments.

The About page contains information about the app and Hacknicity.

Bin Day Alert:

• The version of the app.
• A link to the web site for the app.
• A link to the privacy policy for the app.
• A link to the App Store page for the app.

Hacknicity:

• A link to the Hacknicity web site.
• A link to all my apps on the App Store.

The Do you like this App? section contains several ways you can support Bin Day Alert:

• Write an App Store review.
• Share the app with other people.

The Share it with other people option allows recommending the app by Mail, Message, Twitter, Facebook, AirDrop and more. Choose QR Code to display a QR code that links to the App Store page for the app. The other person can scan this with their camera app.

I am very grateful for your support to make more people aware of Bin Day Alert.

There is also a link to all my apps on the App Store and an easy way to send me mail if you have any feedback.