Why medication reminders get silenced on iPhone, and how to fix it

You set a reminder for 9:00, and at 11:00 you notice it was never shown. It is one of the most frustrating things that can happen with a medication app, and it is usually caused by an iPhone setting, not by the app.

1. Notifications are turned off

The simplest cause. Open Settings › Notifications, find your reminder app and make sure Allow Notifications is on, with sounds and Lock Screen alerts enabled.

2. A Focus is filtering them

Focus modes, such as Do Not Disturb, Sleep or Work, silence notifications from apps you have not allowed. Apple lets you choose which apps and people can reach you in each Focus, and whether time-sensitive notifications get through.

What to check:

• Open Settings › Focus, choose each Focus you use, and add your medication app to the allowed apps, or
• make sure Time Sensitive Notifications are allowed for that Focus.

PillRem sends its reminders as time-sensitive notifications, so they can get through a Focus when time-sensitive alerts are allowed.

3. The Scheduled Summary is holding them

The Scheduled Summary collects notifications and delivers them at set times. If your medication app is in the summary, a 9:00 reminder may only appear at the next summary. Time-sensitive notifications are delivered right away, but it is worth checking Settings › Notifications › Scheduled Summary and leaving your medication app out.

4. The silent switch is on

On silent, notifications still appear but make no sound. For doses you cannot miss, this is where critical alerts help: they are a special kind of notification, approved by Apple for specific apps, that play a sound even when the iPhone is on silent or in Do Not Disturb. In PillRem, critical alerts are off by default, and you choose which medications use them.

5. The app has not run for a while

iPhone limits how many future notifications an app can schedule. Good reminder apps schedule the coming days in advance and top them up each time you open the app. Opening your medication app from time to time keeps the schedule full.

A two minute checklist

• Notifications allowed, with sound and Lock Screen
• Medication app allowed in every Focus, or time-sensitive alerts on
• Medication app left out of the Scheduled Summary
• Critical alerts on for the doses you cannot miss
• Open the app from time to time