How To Set Reminder To Take Medicine On Iphone

Key takeaways:

• Remembering to take your medications can be difficult, especially if yous accept many throughout the day.

• Apps on your phone can assist you remember to take your medications. Many apps too have different customizable features.

• All apps work differently, and you may demand to try different ones to find the best fit.

SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images

Remembering to take your medications tin can exist pretty tricky, particularly if you're taking several at dissimilar times during the solar day. In the U.S., almost 25% of people have 3 or more medications a day. Over 10% of people have 5 or more medications a 24-hour interval.

Research has shown that well-nigh 50% of people struggle to take their medications as prescribed. Taking medications tin can get even harder when you take more to take. And then, what tools are available to help y'all remember to have them?

Currently, there are devices, pillboxes, and other tools to help you take your medications as your healthcare provider prescribed. But if you lot own a smartphone, you have access to simple tools — such as mobile apps — to remind you lot when to take your medications.

Here, we'll talk about medication reminder apps — which ones are popular, why they're relevant, and what to know.

What are some popular medication reminder apps?

There are well over 300,000 health-related apps on smartphones available through the Apple tree App Shop (iOS) and Google Play (Android). With so many apps out there, yous may be wondering: How practise I observe the correct app to aid me with my medications?

We've put together a list that includes popular medication reminder apps available for Apple (iOS) and Android devices. This listing includes common medications that many people would probable use. But these apps aren't specific to particular conditions. For case, there aren't any apps included that are only meant to help manage Type ii diabetes medications.

Nearly of these apps work past having you lot type in each of your medications. For each medication, you input its proper noun, dose, how ofttimes yous have it, and when you'd like to be reminded to take information technology.

For example, you could type in that you take lisinopril 5 mg once a day at 8AM for claret pressure. An app can ship an warning to remind you to take lisinopril at 8AM. You repeat this procedure for each medication that you take. This process is similar for all apps mentioned in this list.

You may also have questions regarding data security or access to information that you share in an app. For this, we recommend that you read the terms of use provided by the apps to make up one's mind if they seem appropriate to your private needs.

one. Medisafe (free, iOS, and Android)

Medisafe has been around for virtually a decade. Information technology's a favorite for many people and is costless to utilise. To apply the app, you would type in your medications, similar to what we described above.

Later you type in all of your medications, the app builds a report of when you take each of your medications. If you similar, you tin share the report with a family member or caregiver. They can check to see if you lot're missing any doses.

Medisafe can too remind you when you're low on medication and may demand a refill. It tin also give medication interaction warnings, such every bit to avoid certain foods or alcoholic beverages with your medications. You can also sync wellness data — like your claret pressure — in the app if you lot cull.

ii. Dosecast: My Pill Reminder App (free/paid, iOS, and Android)

Dosecast is gratuitous, but it besides has premium features y'all have to pay to unlock.

Dosecast'due south basic feature includes inputting your oral medications to set upward reminders. This is washed similarly to Medisafe, the app described above.

Simply at that place are also a number of paid features. Features that require a fee include:

• Syncing your information beyond multiple devices

• Tracking unlike medication types (similar injections or eye drops) in improver to oral pills

• Setting up refill alerts

• Using a drug database while entering medications to brand the setup process easier

• Taking photos of your medications and so you lot tin can tell the difference between each i

• Keeping a personal log of your medication history to see when you missed your medications

three. Mango Health (gratuitous, iOS, and Android)

Mango Health is a free app that also allows you to prepare medication reminders. And it has reminders for other good for you habits, also.

This includes customized salubrious activeness reminders — like monitoring your blood glucose (sugar) or the corporeality of water you're drinking. These reminders can help proceed y'all on track. Mango Health besides has a health diary to log your upcoming appointments or lab tests. Other features include medication interaction warnings and possible medication side effects. It also lets you lot know when you may need to refill your medications.

One interesting feature of this app is that you can earn points and rewards for taking your medications. You lot can redeem these points for gift cards.

4. EveryDose (free, iOS, and Android)

EveryDose is similar to the other apps mentioned above. It'south a costless app with customizable medication reminder features, alerts, and reports.

Interestingly, the app too has a virtual banana called Maxwell. This assistant can reply medication-related questions, which can help you better understand the medications y'all're taking.

five. MyTherapy Pill Reminder (free, iOS, and Android)

The MyTherapy Pill Reminder app is also similar to the other apps listed here. It allows you lot to create customizable reminders of when to take your medications, and you tin can runway them with a logbook that can be shared with others.

This free app also allows you to track where yous inject your medications, such every bit your upper arm or stomach. You can also runway other wellness information, similar your mood, weight, and blood pressure level.

half dozen. Medications app (complimentary, iOS, and Apple Watch)

Apple recently announced that they're launching their own version of a medication reminder app. The "Medications" app, expected to exist available for iPhone and Apple Watch, will allow you to create customized medication reminders. It volition as well come with other features, like checking for drug interactions and offering information about your medications.

However, as of June 2022, the Medications app isn't bachelor quite yet. It should be fully launched for both platforms come fall 2022.

What else tin a medication reminder app do?

Some of the apps described above provide more than than just reminders. They can help you lot continue runway of refills, identify medications, and look up simple information most a medication.

These apps are also getting "smarter" with things similar bogus intelligence (AI). For example, AI tin can remind you to take your medications only when you're at dwelling house, and not when you're out and about (based on your GPS location). AI tin can as well effigy out what times of the day are best for reminders.

However, this type of technology relies on more personal information that you have to share with the app. This allows the app to learn about your behavior so it tin help nudge you lot to accept your medications.

You lot may mute or turn off an alert and forget to restart it. For this reason, AI technology may exist a do good compared to setting an alarm. But some people might find it to be intrusive. So, it'southward up to you to find what may work all-time for yous. Many people volition try several apps earlier they detect one that they savour the almost.

Why is it hard to determine the 'best' medication reminder app?

There's limited testify to say what the "all-time" medication reminder app is. Defining what is best can be challenging, considering you could base this on consumer ratings or clinical study data.

At this fourth dimension, there'south not a standard mensurate to make up one's mind which apps are good or bad. As such, no gold standard tool exists. But nearly researchers and clinicians concur that certain things should exist considered when deciding which apps may be improve than others. This oftentimes includes factors like:

• If there'due south available show to show if the app works

• If the app has good security

• If data collected from the app are used with the user'southward consent

• If data can be shared with those who tin use it for your care

In that location's besides not much bear witness to support whether apps really work to change how people have their medications. Even though there'due south non a lot of show, many users feel that these apps aid them take their medications more than consistently and provide some benefit.

How do I set medication reminders on my phone?

If you don't want to download an app, there are other ways to use your smartphone to set reminders for your medications.

For instance, if you have your medications just once a day, you could prepare a elementary daily alarm on your phone. Yous could also use a preinstalled reminder app — similar Apple's Reminders app — on your phone to set reminders. This may be more helpful if you tend to silence alarms. Technology today allows reminders to exist very customizable. For example, you could even set a reminder to tell you to take your medication when you get home from work.

Lastly, if you lot prefer spoken reminders, y'all can integrate a vocalisation assistant (like Alexa or Siri) to remind y'all to accept your medications through your phone.

The bottom line

If y'all struggle with taking your medications and are looking for added back up, there are many free apps that might help. The apps differ in how they create customizable alerts, and you may need to examination different ones to detect the all-time fit for you. To help make your decision, you'll want to accept into account specific features you like and the app's data sharing policies.

References

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Apple Inc. (2022). watchOS 9 delivers new ways to stay continued, active, and healthy.

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Park, J. Y. Due east., et al. (2019). Mobile phone apps targeting medication adherence: Quality cess and content analysis of user reviews. Journal of Medical Internet Research mHealth and uHealth.

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GoodRx Wellness has strict sourcing policies and relies on principal sources such equally medical organizations, governmental agencies, bookish institutions, and peer-reviewed scientific journals. Larn more about how we ensure our content is accurate, thorough, and unbiased by reading our editorial guidelines.

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