Medication reminders that ring like an alarm

Yes. In Buzzley you create one reminder per dose time, set its notification style to Alarm so it rings instead of buzzing once, and repeat it every day or every few hours. If someone else should know when a dose is missed, add them under "If missed, tell" and Buzzley sends them a notification after the time you choose.

Buzzley is a reminder app, not a medication tracker. It does not keep a dose log, count pills or refills, check interactions or give medical advice. Follow your doctor's or pharmacist's instructions for what to take and when; Buzzley's job is to make sure you hear the reminder.

Set up a daily medication reminder

1. Tap the add button and type the title, for example "Evening tablets". You can type the time into the title too ("Evening tablets every day at 8pm"). Buzzley suggests the date, time and repeat it found, and Apply fills them in.
2. Open Repeat and pick Every day.
3. Open Notification style and pick Alarm ("Full-screen, persistent until dismissed").
4. Add the dose or the instructions to the notes, so they show with the reminder.
5. Save. Repeat for each dose time: a morning and an evening dose are two reminders.

If you take something several times a day at fixed intervals, use Custom... under Repeat: choose Hours as the unit, set Every to 8 (or whatever your schedule is) and turn on Only between set hours, so it never rings at 3 a.m. For a course that ends, set Ends to On a date or After a number of times.

Why the Alarm style matters for pills

An ordinary notification makes one sound, or none on silent, and one swipe clears it. A missed tablet often starts exactly like that.

• On Android, an Alarm-style reminder plays on the alarm sound channel, loops, and rings through silent mode and Do Not Disturb. When the screen is locked it fills the screen; when you are using the phone it appears as a notification you tap to open. It also rings after the phone restarts, even while the phone is still locked.
• On iPhone with iOS 26 or later, Buzzley uses Apple's alarm system, so Alarm-style reminders ring through silent mode and Focus once you allow alarms for Buzzley. On older iOS versions they arrive as a short series of notifications, which silent mode can mute.

On Android, the ring screen lets you snooze for 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, pick a custom time, or tap Done. If nobody opens the ring screen, the sound stops after 10 minutes and the alarm rings again 5 minutes later by default, for up to an hour.

You can also make the alarm gentler or louder in Settings > Alarm on Android: Rising volume starts quiet and gets louder, and Read the reminder aloud says the title, which helps if the phone is across the room.

Let a relative know when a dose is missed

This works inside a Buzzley sharing group, which you can read about on the family reminders page.

1. Open the reminder and set Visibility to All devices, so the group can see it.
2. Under If missed, tell, pick the people who should hear about a missed dose.
3. Under Counts as missed after, choose 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour or 2 hours.
4. Turn on Also tell them when it is done if they want to know it went fine.

If the reminder is not marked done by then, those people get a notification such as "Dad hasn't done: Evening tablets". A snooze moves the deadline. Dismissing the alarm does not count as done; tapping Done does.

If the medication is for someone else, set Who is it for? to that person. The reminder then rings only on their phones, and you can be the one who is told about a miss. The page on setting a reminder for someone else walks through it.

What to check on your phone

Some Android phones hold back alarms to save battery. Open Settings > Full-screen alarms > Alarm not ringing? in Buzzley: it checks notifications, "Alarms & reminders", full-screen notifications and battery limits, and shows the steps for your phone's brand. Our guide to reminders that ring like an alarm covers the settings in more detail.

Common questions

Can Buzzley track which doses I took?

No. Buzzley records when a reminder is completed, but it has no dose log, pill count, refill reminder logic or interaction checks. If you need those, use a dedicated medication app and let Buzzley handle the reminders that must not be missed.

Can I get a heads-up before the dose time?

Yes. Use Early warning on the reminder to add up to three heads-ups before it is due, from 5 minutes to 1 day before.

What does it cost?

Buzzley has no free plan. You can try it for 7 days with every Plus feature and no card. After that, Core costs $2.99 a month for 2 devices; a family that shares reminders across more phones usually needs Plus at $5.99 a month for 5 devices. See all plans and prices.