How to set a medication reminder on your iPhone
A reminder is only useful if it arrives at the right moment and can be answered without unlocking anything. That is the whole design of this app: a notification at the dose time, and a button on it that records the dose and goes away.
Set up your first reminder
- Open Pill Reminder and allow notifications when you are asked. Without that permission the app can remind you of nothing.
- On the Today screen, tap Add a medicine.
- Type the name, and the strength if you want it — “Metformin”, “500 mg”. Both appear on the reminder.
- Choose the form: tablet, capsule, liquid, drops, spray, inhaler, injection, patch, cream or sachet.
- Pick the schedule: every day, specific days of the week, every few days, or as needed.
- Set each time of day and how much is taken then. Tap Add a time for a second or third dose.
- Save. The doses appear on Today under Morning, Midday, Afternoon, Evening or Night, and the reminders are scheduled immediately.
What the reminder looks like
At the dose time a notification arrives with the medicine, the amount and who it is for. Press and hold it and you get three buttons: Taken, Skip and Snooze. Taken records the dose and clears it from Today; Skip records that it was deliberately not taken; Snooze asks again in ten minutes.
Nothing needs the app to be open. You can answer from the Lock Screen, from the notification banner, or from the widget on your Home Screen.
If you take several medicines at the same time
They arrive as one reminder, not five. Everything due at 08:00 is grouped into a single notification, and one tap on Taken records all of them. Open the app if you want to record them one at a time.
FAQ
- Do I need an account?
- No. There is no sign-up, no email address and no server. Your medicines live on your iPhone and nowhere else.
- Is it free?
- Reminders are free, for as many medicines as you like, with no limit and no ads. PRO adds profiles for other people, alarm-style reminders, history beyond 30 days and a PDF report for your doctor — and reminders keep working even if PRO lapses.
- Will the reminder still arrive if my phone is on silent?
- You will get the banner, but no sound — that is how iOS treats every notification. For a medicine that must wake you, turn on alarm-style reminders, which ring through silent mode and Focus on iOS 26 and later.
Pill Reminder helps you remember your medicines and keep a record of them. It does not give medical advice, suggest doses or check interactions. If you are unsure about a medicine or a dose, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Never miss a dose again
Pill Reminder reminds you at the right time, records the dose from the Lock Screen, looks after the whole family's medicines, and keeps a history you can hand to a doctor — all on your iPhone, with no account.
Download on the App Store