Reminders
Medicines, movement, readings, water. AskDoc rings your phone.
What to remind yourself about
Medicines first: a missed dose is the one that costs something. After that, only the things that need to be regular to mean anything. A blood pressure before coffee. A fasting sugar before breakfast. One weigh-in a week, not seven.
Common questions
How do the reminders actually reach my phone?
AskDoc sends your phone a notification at each time you set. Turn on Ring my phone, allow notifications once, and it rings whether or not the app is open, installed or remembered. On an iPhone this works after you add AskDoc to your home screen, which Apple requires for any web app to send notifications. If your phone cannot take notifications at all, the same times can go to your own calendar instead, which rings on every phone ever made.
Do I need an account?
No. The times are stored on your device, and if you turn notifications on, the times and an anonymous address for your phone go to our server so it knows when to ring. That address is issued by your browser and identifies nothing about you: no name, no email, no readings. Turning notifications off deletes it.
Will this work on an iPhone and on Android?
Yes, on both, and on a computer. Android and desktop work as soon as you allow notifications. On an iPhone, add AskDoc to your home screen first, from the Share menu, because Apple only allows notifications from web apps that have been added. The calendar fallback works everywhere, with no permission at all.
How do I change or stop a reminder later?
Change the time here and it takes effect immediately, with nothing to re-add. Turn a reminder off and it stops. Turn Ring my phone off and every one of them stops and the record of your phone is deleted from our side. If you used the calendar fallback instead, edit or delete the repeating event in your calendar app.
Can it remind me about more than one medicine?
Name the one that matters most and set as many times a day as you need; the notification then says the name rather than just Medicine. For several different medicines, a single list is usually the better tool, because a reminder that names one tablet cannot tell you the other three are due. Keep a medication list and set one reminder for the round.
Will the notification show my condition on the lock screen?
No. It says Medicine, or Blood pressure, or Water, and if you named a tablet it says that name because you chose to put it there. It never names a condition and never shows a reading. A notification arrives on a lock screen, where anyone standing near you can read it, so nothing about your health goes into one.
Is a reminder a substitute for what my doctor told me?
No. A reminder is a prompt at a time you chose. It does not know your doses, your other medicines or your kidney function, and it cannot tell you to stop something. Keep the instructions you were given, and keep a current list of what you take so any doctor seeing you can see it too.
Reminders are prompts, not medical advice. Keep a current medication list so any doctor seeing you can see what you take. Anything urgent, including chest pain or trouble breathing, needs your local emergency service, not this form.