PillBox · Reminders, Live Activities & widgets

Notification permission

PillBox needs permission to send reminders. If you haven't allowed it yet, go to iPhone Settings → PillBox → Notifications and turn them on.

Without this, no reminders will come through.

Reminder timing

You set reminder timing in Settings (found in the Profile tab). There you can choose:

Follow-up reminder — how long after a dose is due before the first follow-up fires
Persistent reminders every — how often the follow-up repeats
Stop & mark missed after — how long PillBox keeps reminding before it marks a dose as Missed
Show Live Activity — how many minutes before a dose the lock-screen Live Activity appears

Settings screen showing the Notifications and Reminders section: the Reminders Enabled banner, a follow-up reminder of 30 min, persistent reminders every 5 min, stop-and-mark-missed after 4 h, the lock-screen detail toggle, the Live Activities toggle, and Show Live Activity set to 10 min before — Reminder timing lives in Settings. Changes apply to upcoming reminders immediately.

Turning off reminders for one medication

Each dose card has a reminders toggle. Turning it off stops both:

The notification reminder for that dose, and
The Live Activity on the lock screen for that dose

This is useful if you don't need reminders for a particular medication.

Custom sounds

You can pick a custom notification sound for each medication. Set it on the dose card when adding or editing a medication. See Medications and doses for the full list of sounds.

Quiet hours

PillBox does not have its own quiet-hours setting yet. If you want reminders silenced during certain hours (for example, overnight), use iOS Focus or Scheduled Summary in iPhone Settings. You can allow PillBox through a Focus mode so urgent reminders still arrive, or use Scheduled Summary to bundle them for a specific delivery time.

Live Activities — your dose on the lock screen

When a dose is coming up, PillBox shows a Live Activity at the bottom of your lock screen: the medication name across the top, the strength and quantity, the scheduled time, and a live countdown — with Taken and Skip buttons you can tap without unlocking your phone.

Lock screen showing a Dexamfetamine Live Activity — name across the top, 5 mg and 1 tablet with Due 08:40 on the left, a live counter on the right, and Taken and Skip buttons — The Live Activity sits at the bottom of the lock screen. Tap Taken or Skip right here — no unlocking needed.

If the dose passes its time without action, the countdown turns into a red Overdue count-up, and the persistent reminder notifications begin:

Lock screen showing an overdue Dexamfetamine Live Activity with the Overdue label and elapsed time, above a Time Sensitive reminder notification with the same details — Overdue doses switch to a count-up, and reminder notifications stack up beneath the Live Activity until you act.

A few things to know about Live Activities:

Only one Live Activity shows at a time — the soonest upcoming dose.
Live Activities need iOS notification permission, and the Live Activities toggle in PillBox Settings must be on.
The Live Activity appears when you've used the app within its lead window (set with Show Live Activity in Settings). Notifications are the always-reliable reminder; the Live Activity is a bonus surface.
To turn it off for one medication, turn off that dose's reminders toggle.

The Dynamic Island

On iPhones with a Dynamic Island, the countdown lives there too while a dose is active: the pill icon on the left and a compact timer on the right — "in 9:48" before the dose, switching to a red "27:25 late" once it's overdue. Press and hold the island to expand it and use the Taken/Skip buttons.

Home-screen widgets

PillBox has home-screen widgets in two sizes, showing your next outstanding dose with a live countdown and a Take button that logs the dose straight from the home screen.

Home screen widget gallery showing the medium PillBox widget — Dexamfetamine, 5 mg and 1 tablet, Due 08:40, an overdue count of 1 hr 0 min, and Take and Skip buttons — and the small widget with the same details in a compact layout, with the Dynamic Island timer visible at the top of the screen — The medium widget mirrors the lock-screen Live Activity; the small widget fits the same information in a 2×2 space.

Medium — the full layout: name, strength and quantity, due time, countdown, and both Take and Skip.
Small — the medication and brand name, dose details, due time, countdown, and a Take button.

To add one: press and hold your home screen → tap Edit → Add Widget → search PillBox.

Like everything else, an overdue dose shows its time in red on the widgets.

Lock-screen dose details

By default, PillBox shows the medication name and dose on the lock screen. If you'd rather keep that private, turn off Show dose details on lock screen in Settings — reminders switch to generic wording, and the Take and Skip buttons still work.

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