Walkthrough: Set medication reminders

It is hard to hold every dose time in your head, on top of everything else. This walkthrough sets up a medication once so the reminders, the supply count, and the refill warning do the remembering for you.

You will do four things: add the medication to your supply, set the daily dose times, learn how the reminder banner works, and set a low-stock alert so a refill never sneaks up on you.

Med Supply and dose reminders are both in the app today. Available

CareHaven helps you keep track. It does not give medical advice or replace your prescriber or pharmacy. Always follow the directions on the prescription, and check with your pharmacy about refills.

Before you start

• Make sure you have the right person selected. Tap the colored name pill at the top of the screen to switch if you need to. Each person has their own medications.
• Have the prescription handy so you can enter the name, the dose, and how many you have on hand.

Step 1 — Add the medication to your supply

1. Open the Medical area and choose Med Supply.
2. Tap to add a medication.
3. Enter the name and the dosage (for example, 5 mg).
4. Enter the quantity on hand — how many you have right now, in whatever units the pharmacy uses (pills, mL, patches).
5. If it applies, you can also note the pharmacy, mark it as compounded, and keep a running side-effects note over time.
6. Save.

The medication now lives in your supply list, where you will set its reminders and watch its count.

Step 2 — Set the daily dose times

Reminders are set on each medication, one at a time.

1. In Med Supply, swipe left on the medication and tap Reminders (the alarm icon).
2. The reminder sheet opens. The first time you open it, your phone asks permission to send notifications — tap to allow, or the reminders cannot fire.
3. Tap Add dose time.
4. Pick the time of day for this dose.
5. Leave As needed off for a scheduled dose, then tap Save.
6. The dose time appears in the list. Repeat Add dose time for each dose in the day (for example, a morning dose and an evening dose).

Each device keeps its own schedule. If a second caregiver gives a dose somewhere else — at school, say — they can set their own times on their own phone without changing yours.

For an as-needed medication

If a medication is only given when it is needed (a rescue dose, or something for pain or fever), add a dose time and turn As needed on before saving. It is kept in the list as a reminder that this is an as-needed medication, but it does not ping you at a set time.

To change or remove a dose time

• To change a time, tap the dose row, pick the new time, and save. The old reminder is replaced.
• To remove one, swipe left on the dose row and delete it. That reminder stops.

Step 3 — Use the reminder banner

When a dose time arrives, a notification appears with the medication's name and dose. You can act on it without opening the app.

1. When the banner shows up, pull down on it (or press and hold) to reveal its actions.
2. Tap Mark as given to acknowledge the dose.
3. Or tap Snooze 10 min to be reminded again shortly.

These reminders are scheduled by your phone itself, so they keep arriving even if the app is fully closed.

If reminders stop arriving, open the reminder sheet for that medication. If notifications were turned off, a banner at the top says so and points you to your phone's Settings to turn them back on.

Step 4 — Set a low-stock alert and track refills

This is the part that keeps a Friday-afternoon scramble from ever happening.

1. In Med Supply, open the medication.
2. Set its low-supply threshold — the point at which you want a heads-up. A week's worth is a common choice, so you have time to call the pharmacy.
3. As the supply runs down toward that threshold, the app lets you know it is time to refill.
4. When you pick up a new prescription, tap Refill and enter the new total. The count resets, and your refill is recorded in the medication's history so you can see when each one happened.

The supply count is a safety net, not the pharmacy's own system. Prior authorizations, backorders, and insurance changes can all delay a refill beyond what the count expects, so always confirm with your pharmacy.

A few things worth knowing

• One person at a time. Reminders and supply belong to the person you have selected. Set them up again for each person who takes medication.
• As-needed entries do not ping you. They sit in the list for reference only.
• The schedule lives on this phone. A reminder set here does not automatically appear on a co-caregiver's phone — each device keeps its own dose times.

Where to go next

• Heading to an appointment? A Care Report (PDF) pulls your records into one shareable document.
• Leaving your person with a sitter? A handoff packet lays out today's plan, cues, and medications in plain language.
• Want the plain-language story on a medication? See Smart help (Apple Intelligence) and the explainers in the Medical area.