Android Reminder App ?

October 19, 2016 6:04 PM

I have to take a tablet every day and would like an Android app (or a mobile friendly web-app) to help me remember to do that. The obvious choices don't suit me ... more inside

There are quite a number of apps which do this type of stuff but the ones I've tried want a set of permissions which I'm just not comfortable with (one of them wanted access to the camera !).

So I'd appreciate recommendations for something very simple and which doesn't wants unreasonable permissions **.

I'm happy (almost happier) to pay a one-off fee, I'm not all that interested in something that wants a regular payment.

**I'm aware that the way perms work the developer possibly has to ask for more than they want but really this is about as simple an app as can be imagined so I'm happy to allow notifications I'm not happy to allow access to my contacts etc.

posted by southof40 to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)

Response by poster: Sorry I forgot to say that a key thing I want is to record that I have taken the tablet so most calendar type approaches don't work as they don't allow you to say ".. Yes I did that".
posted by southof40 at 6:06 PM on October 19, 2016

Perhaps this would help you?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.outlook.healthyapps.reminder
posted by LOOKING at 6:13 PM on October 19, 2016

I struggled with this too, but now at the beginning of every week I fill up a 7 day pill container, and then use the alarm clock function on the phone (7:15am TAKE THE PILL). If there's not a pill in the pill container for the current day I know I took the pill.
posted by gregr at 6:22 PM on October 19, 2016 [9 favorites]

I use Loop Habit Tracker for this kind of thing, though obviously may work (aesthetically, at least) a bit better if you have multiple things to track.

That said, the newest version of Android allows you to set granular permissions for every app you want. Here's some instructions on how to do this.
posted by tapir-whorf at 6:30 PM on October 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

I hope this isn't against mefi posting guidelines, but my own to-do list app should be able to handle that. Sign up on the website, set up a daily recurring todo, and then log into the Android app to click the todo done each day you take the pill. (If a todo is undone at the end of a day, it will roll over to the next day.)
posted by mark7570 at 6:38 PM on October 19, 2016

I use the Planned Parenthood period tracker Spot On, which asks every day if you took your pill. It doesn't necessarily have to be a birth control pill.
posted by ChuraChura at 7:36 PM on October 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

The med app Medisafe I use has no such requirement and also can remind you in Yoda, Obi-Wan and Darth Vader voices to take your medication if you like.... this is a feature for me. You can have it silently pop up a note to ask if you've taken a med at various routines and then click it to record, snooze or skip.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 7:56 PM on October 19, 2016 [2 favorites]

Another vote for Medisafe. I don't use any of the newer features, just the little pill-box rattle noise, and I frankly enjoy that I color coded my capsule to match the real one. I don't recall it asking for any fancy permissions on my last phone, but I will note that newer versions of Android do seem to tweak the excessive permission requests.
posted by cobaltnine at 9:20 PM on October 19, 2016

Seconding the built-in alarm functions in the clock app that comes with Androids - you can set as many alarms as you want, with different sounds / vibration settings, and label them appropriately ("Pill"). But I really came here to share my life-changing pill hack: setting a Fitbit alarm! I don't always have my phone with me, but I'm always wearing my Fitbit, and it vibrates very discreetly if I am in a meeting or in public. For me, this worked way better than a phone alarm did.
posted by beyond_pink at 6:03 AM on October 20, 2016 [1 favorite]

I can't give an Android rec, but the app I use on iOS (Round Health) has a couple of features you might find really handy and want to use to winnow down options for Android. I found finding a medication specific app worked way better for me than pure alarms.

- You set up what meds you want to take (and you can pick some days, or all days, or whatever: I finally went looking for an app because I had two different things I was taking twice a week, and one medication that has different doses on different days. I do a weekly pill case, but the app also helps me set that up right by having all the info about what I take when in one place.

- On my app, you can set dose timing differently for weekends (i.e. I have one thing I take when I get up, but I want to sleep in on the weekend).

- You tell it a window you want reminders in, and then you can customise the reminders. I have mine pop up the badge on screen at the start of the window, and then do a notification every 30 minutes through a 2 hour window to remind me, until I tell it I've taken the med. (It also tracks when I took things.) This turns out to be huge for me, because a single reminder I might miss or ignore if I'm in the middle of something.

- Nice optional extra I turn out to really like is you can put in 'take as needed' meds, which I'm finding useful for tracking things like 'did I really need allergy meds that much last week'
posted by modernhypatia at 7:40 AM on October 20, 2016

Can you explain why calendar reminders or the built-in clock alarm doesn't suit you? If we know what you dislike about them we can better direct you to apps that you will prefer.
posted by ananci at 10:11 AM on October 20, 2016

I also use Medisafe. I like that it gives me weekly summaries, and refill reminders. I also like that I can match pill color/shape, since I take different things.
posted by ApathyGirl at 12:49 PM on October 20, 2016

Nthing Medisafe. I like that it combines reminder with record, so I can see what I've taken and when.

Otherwise, Wunderlist is great for plain old reminders, of anything.
posted by bizarrenacle at 5:27 PM on October 20, 2016

Response by poster: > Can you explain why calendar reminders or the built-in clock alarm doesn't suit you?

I'm afraid I didn't mention this in the actual question but in the first 'answer' where it wasn't so visible.

One feature I want is not just to be reminded but to be able to acknowledge/record that I have done what I'm being reminded of. It's too easy to receive reminders at times when I can't do anything about it and then ... forget I had the reminder ;-). Similary by the end of the day I sometimes find myself wondering whether I had in fact taken the tablet ... "or was that yesterday". I hope that makes sense.

> The med app Medisafe I use has no such requirement

I do appreciate everyones help and I don't wish to be snarky but Medisafe is a perfect example of 'permissions overreach' . They want access to my contacts in order to remind me that I need to take a pill ? If you review the permissions in the app store you'll find what must be close to a record breaking set of permissions they require. That said I understand it's good for many and I thank you for reminding me of it.
posted by southof40 at 6:43 PM on October 20, 2016

The app HabitHub (formerly called Rewire) has been working well for me. I added "Morning Meds" and "Evening Meds" as two separate habits and set corresponding reminder alarms. When the alarm goes off, it shows up in my notification bar along with radio buttons for "Done," "Fail," and "Skip," so I can just swipe down and mark that I took my medicine without needing to open the app.
posted by brookedel at 8:06 PM on October 23, 2016