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How to set medication reminders on iPhone

Updated

To set medication reminders on iPhone, add the medication in the Health app. Open Medications, tap Add a Medication, enter the name, type and strength, then set a schedule. Your iPhone then reminds you at each scheduled time to log the dose. For a single, simple routine, a repeating reminder in Reminders or an alarm in Clock works too.

iOS steps below were checked against Apple’s iPhone User Guide for iOS 26 and iOS 27 and Apple Support’s article on adding and logging medications.

Before you start

Have the label or prescription in front of you. A reminder only knows the schedule you give it. Enter the name, the amount per dose and the times exactly as your doctor, pharmacist or the label says.

A reminder doesn’t replace advice. Neither Apple’s tools nor the app in this guide suggest doses or times. If you’re unsure when or how to take something, ask your pharmacist or doctor.

Set medication reminders in the Health app

The Health app can track medications, vitamins and supplements, and remind you on a schedule.

  1. Open the Health app.
  2. On iOS 27, tap Browse, then tap Medications. On iOS 26, tap the Search button at the bottom right, then tap Medications.
  3. Tap Add a Medication to start your list, or Add Medication to add to it.
  4. Type the name, then tap Add.
  5. Choose the medication type and tap Next, then choose the strength and tap Next.
  6. Follow the onscreen instructions to set how often and for how long you take it, then tap Next.
  7. Choose a shape and colors if you like, then tap Done.

To use a different schedule type, tap Change under “When will you take this?”. Options include On a Cyclical Schedule and Every Few Days. Apple notes that the cyclical and specific-days-of-the-week schedules need iOS 18 or later.

In the U.S., suggestions appear as you type a name, and you can also identify a medication with the camera. Outside the U.S., or if a medication isn’t listed, type the name and tap Add, then enter the strength yourself.

Get a second reminder if you haven’t logged a dose

By default, Health reminds you at each scheduled time. You can also get a follow-up reminder if a dose hasn’t been logged 30 minutes after the scheduled time.

  1. In Health, open Medications as above.
  2. Tap Options at the bottom of the screen.
  3. Turn on Follow Up Reminders.

With follow-up reminders on, you can also turn on Critical Alerts for each medication, which play a sound even when a Focus is on or your iPhone is muted. See how to make a medication reminder loud enough to notice.

When a reminder arrives, touch and hold it to log the dose. If you travel across time zones, Health sends a notification asking you to confirm your medication schedule.

Simple options: Reminders and Clock

If you take one thing at the same time every day, a repeating reminder or an alarm may be all you need.

  • Reminders: Create a reminder, tap the Edit Details button, turn on Date or Time, tap Repeat, then choose how often. Turning on Urgent in the same details gives you an alarm when the reminder is due.
  • Clock: Open Clock, tap Alarms, then tap the Add button. Set the time, choose the days under Repeat, give it a Label, then tap the Done button.

Neither one knows what the medication is, its strength or its schedule, and neither keeps a dose history like the Health app does.

Set reminders with Daily Pill Reminder

Daily Pill Reminder is a reminder app built around one question: did I take it? You enter the schedule from your prescription, a notification arrives at each time, and you record the dose with one tap.

  1. Open Pill Reminder and tap Add medication.
  2. In Step 1 of 3 · Details, enter the Medication name, the Form and the Amount per dose with its unit. Strength, Category and Instructions from your prescription are optional. Tap Next.
  3. In Step 2 of 3 · Schedule, under How often, choose Every day or Specific days. Under Times, set a time, and tap Add time for each extra one.
  4. Under Duration, choose when it Starts, and No end date or End on a date. Tap Next.
  5. Check Step 3 of 3 · Review, then tap Save medication.
  6. When asked “Get reminded at …?”, tap Allow.
Medications list with active, paused and archived tabs, each medication showing its dose and times.
Each medication shows its amount, strength, days and times.

When a reminder arrives, tap Taken on the notification to record the dose without opening the app. Not yet opens the app, where you can skip the dose or choose Remind me later: in 10 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour or at a time you pick. It moves only that one reminder, never your schedule.

To check that reminders reach you, go to the app’s Settings and tap Send a test reminder. It arrives after about five seconds and isn’t recorded as a dose.

  • Amounts and forms: tablet, capsule, ml, drops, puff, unit or other, with an optional strength in mg, mcg, g, ml, IU or %.
  • Travel: when your time zone changes, the app asks whether to keep the same clock times or the original timing.
  • What it doesn’t do: every-few-hours intervals, pill-pack cycles, as-needed doses, refill reminders, Health app sync and Apple Watch aren’t supported.

What’s free and what isn’t: the download is free and includes one medication with notification reminders, the dose log and progress charts. Premium, a weekly or yearly subscription, adds more medications, alarms, Home Screen widgets and the doctor PDF report. It runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later.

There’s no account to create. Your medications and dose records are stored on your device.

Which one should you use?

  • You want reminders and a log without another app: use the Health app’s Medications. It’s free and already on your iPhone, and it supports cyclical and as-needed schedules.
  • One thing, once a day, and you don’t need a record: a repeating reminder or a Clock alarm is enough.
  • You want a one-tap record on the notification, “Remind me later” and a PDF for your doctor: try Daily Pill Reminder.

To keep track of what you’ve already taken, see how to keep a medication log on iPhone.

Quick answers

Does iPhone have a built-in medication reminder?

Yes. The Health app’s Medications feature reminds you at the times you schedule and lets you log each dose as taken or skipped. Open Health, go to Medications and tap Add a Medication.

How do I get a second reminder if I miss the first one?

In the Health app, open Medications, tap Options and turn on Follow Up Reminders. You’re reminded again if a dose hasn’t been logged 30 minutes after the scheduled time. In Daily Pill Reminder, choose Remind me later to move just that reminder.

Can I set a reminder for several times a day?

Yes. The Health app lets you set the times when you add the schedule. In Daily Pill Reminder, tap Add time in the schedule step for each extra time.

Can Daily Pill Reminder remind me every 8 hours?

No. It supports every day or specific days of the week, at one or more fixed times. It doesn’t do every-few-hours intervals, cycles or as-needed doses.

Does Daily Pill Reminder sync with the Health app?

No. It doesn’t read from or write to the Health app, and there’s no Apple Watch app. Your medications and dose records are stored on your device.

One less thing to remember.

Set it up once, then just tap Taken.

Download on the App Store