Frequently asked questions

PillCare Reminder is a medication management app that helps you build consistent medicine routines. It sends smart reminders, tracks your doses, and lets you share your progress with family caregivers.

PillCare uses Google Sign-In — tap the "Sign in with Google" button and select your Google account. No separate password needed. Your account is tied securely to your Google account.

After signing in, tap the + button on the Today screen or go to the Treatment tab and tap "Add medication". Enter the medicine name, dosage, and when you need to take it. It takes less than a minute.

Yes, PillCare has a free plan that lets you track up to 3 medications with 7-day history and basic reminders. A Premium plan is available for ₹99/month with unlimited medications, 90-day history, full yoga routines, and more.

PillCare Reminder is currently available for Android. An iOS version is planned. The app works on Android 8.0 and above. For best experience, we recommend Android 10 or later.

PillCare works offline for basic dose marking — your doses are saved locally and sync when you reconnect. Reminders, nearby search, AI insights, and caregiver alerts require an internet connection.

During first launch, you'll be asked for your name (pre-filled from Google), birth year, gender, and optional phone number. Location is detected automatically for emergency services. You can update all this later in My Profile.

Each Google account has its own separate PillCare account with completely private data. To switch users, sign out from My Profile and sign in with a different Google account.

No. PillCare is a reminder and organisation tool only. It does not provide medical advice. Always follow your doctor's instructions, and contact a healthcare professional if you have questions about your medications or health.

Go to My Profile → About PillCare. The version number is shown at the bottom. This is useful when contacting support — always mention your app version and Android version.

Free plan users can add up to 3 active medications. Premium plan users can add unlimited medications. If you reach your limit, you'll see an upgrade prompt.

Yes. You can type any name — brand name, generic name, or just a description. Our drug resolver uses the FDA database to identify the medication. You can also use the medicine scanner to scan the label.

The Brand vs Generic feature (available on Premium) lets you enter a brand-name medication and find its generic equivalent — or vice versa. Generic medicines are usually cheaper and equally effective. Access it from the Medications tab.

Tap the scanner icon when adding a medication, take a photo of the medicine label or strip, and PillCare will try to identify the medication name and dosage automatically. This feature is available on Premium.

Yes. When adding or editing a medication, you can set different times for each dose — morning, afternoon, evening, and night. Each can have its own time and frequency.

When adding a medication, enter your current stock count. PillCare tracks how many doses you've taken and alerts you when stock is running low — typically 3–7 days before you run out.

Yes. Each medication has a notes field where you can add instructions like "take with food", "avoid grapefruit", or any other reminder from your doctor.

Go to the Medications tab, tap the medication, and toggle it inactive. Inactive medications are paused — no reminders are sent and no doses are tracked until you reactivate.

Swipe left on the medication in the Medications tab and tap Delete. This permanently removes it and its dose history. This action cannot be undone, so only delete if you've permanently stopped the medication.

Yes. PillCare supports daily, twice daily, three times daily, weekly, every other day, and custom frequency schedules. Select your frequency when adding the medication.

If our FDA database doesn't recognise the name, PillCare's AI fallback tries to identify it. If that also fails, you can add it manually with a custom name — this is perfectly fine. Not all medications (especially Indian brands) are in the FDA database.

Absolutely. PillCare works for any supplement, vitamin, Ayurvedic medicine, or health product you need to take regularly — not just prescription medications.

Check these in order: (1) Notifications are enabled in phone Settings → Apps → PillCare → Notifications, (2) Battery saver or Doze mode is not restricting background activity, (3) Do Not Disturb is off or PillCare is exempt, (4) Notifications are enabled inside the app under My Profile.

PillCare uses your phone's default notification sound for standard reminders. Medication reminders use the maximum priority channel so they make a sound and appear on the lock screen even on silent mode (if your phone allows).

Reminders appear at the exact time you scheduled the dose. A take button is active from 2 hours before the scheduled time until 4 hours after — outside this window, the dose is locked to prevent logging errors.

Yes — if a medication is taken multiple times per day, each scheduled time gets its own reminder. You can also set a second follow-up time for any dose if you tend to miss the first alert.

PillCare's medication channel uses Android's highest notification priority (PRIORITY_MAX). On most Android phones this bypasses silent mode. However, this depends on your phone manufacturer's implementation — some phones (especially MIUI, ColorOS) may still block it.

Yes. Go to My Profile and toggle "Enable notifications" off. This pauses all reminders but keeps your medications and history intact. Turn it back on when you're ready.

PillCare uses your device's local time. If you travel across time zones, reminders will adjust automatically to local time — so a "9 AM" reminder will fire at 9 AM in whatever time zone your phone is in.

In the Treatment tab, tap on Yoga Therapy and then tap "Start Routine". A time picker appears — select your preferred practice time. A daily notification will be scheduled at that time every day. You can change or cancel it from the same screen.

On the Today screen, find the dose under the correct time section (Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night) and tap the "Take" button. The dose is marked with the exact time you tapped it. This is permanent and cannot be changed.

No. Once a dose is marked as taken, it is permanent. This is by design — your medication history is a medical record and should not be editable after the fact. If you made a mistake, contact support@pillcare.in and we can review your case.

If you don't mark a dose within the active window (2 hours before to 4 hours after scheduled time), it is automatically marked as missed. Missed doses affect your adherence percentage and may trigger a caregiver alert. Always consult your doctor about what to do when you miss a dose — PillCare does not give medical advice on this.

The Take button is only active within a window — 2 hours before the scheduled time until 4 hours after. Outside this window, the button shows a lock icon with a countdown (" in 3h"). This prevents accidental early logging.

PillCare focuses on real-time dose tracking. You cannot retroactively log doses for past dates — this keeps your history accurate and trustworthy.

Adherence is the percentage of scheduled doses you've taken. 100% means you took every dose on time. It is calculated as: (doses taken ÷ total doses scheduled) × 100. A higher percentage means a more consistent routine.

Your streak counts consecutive days where you took all your scheduled doses. Missing any dose in a day resets the streak to zero. The streak is shown on the Today screen and in Progress.

Yes — Premium users can export dose history as a CSV file from the History screen. This is useful for sharing with your doctor. The export includes medication name, scheduled time, actual time taken, and status for each dose.

Free plan users can view the last 7 days of history. Premium plan users can view 90 days. Your full history is stored securely on our servers — you can request a complete export at any time by emailing support@pillcare.in.

The caregiver feature lets you connect a family member or trusted person — like a parent, child, or spouse — so they can receive WhatsApp alerts about your daily medication adherence. They do not need to install PillCare.

Go to the Support tab → Connect via WhatsApp. Enter your caregiver's phone number (with country code). They'll receive a WhatsApp message from our system when you miss doses. You can test it immediately with the "Send test alert" button.

Caregiver alerts are sent once daily at 10 PM IST with a summary of your day — how many doses were taken, missed, and overall adherence. An alert is only sent if you missed at least one dose that day.

No. Caregiver alerts are sent via WhatsApp. As long as your caregiver has WhatsApp installed on their phone, they'll receive the alerts. They don't need a PillCare account.

Free plan users can connect 1 caregiver. Premium plan users can connect unlimited caregivers. Alerts are sent to all connected caregivers simultaneously.

Go to Support → Connect via WhatsApp → clear the phone number field and save. The caregiver will stop receiving alerts immediately.

Caregivers receive a simple daily summary: how many doses were taken vs missed, your overall adherence percentage, and an encouraging message. They do not receive medication names, dosages, or any other personal health details unless you share them directly.

Check that: (1) The number is entered correctly with country code (e.g. +91 for India), (2) WhatsApp is installed and active on that number, (3) The number has not blocked our service. You can also send a test alert from the Support tab to verify the connection.

The Nearby screen uses your GPS location to find pharmacies, diagnostic labs, and hospitals close to you. Results come from Google Places API (when available) or OpenStreetMap as a free fallback. Tap any result to get walking directions in Google Maps.

You can access Nearby from the Treatment tab → "Find Nearest Medical Store" at the bottom, or from the Support tab → Quick actions. You can search for pharmacies, diagnostic labs, or hospitals and clinics.

Try increasing the search radius — use 2km or 5km instead of 500m. If you're in a rural area, OpenStreetMap coverage may be limited. You can tap "Open Google Maps instead" to search directly in Google Maps.

Free users see up to 5 nearby results. Premium users see up to 20 results. Results are sorted by distance from your current location.

Yes. Tap "Directions" on any nearby result and it opens Google Maps with walking directions to that location. You can switch to driving or transit in Google Maps.

Nearby requires location permission to work. If you denied it, go to phone Settings → Apps → PillCare → Permissions → Location → Allow while using the app, then try again.

Yoga Therapy recommends specific yoga poses and breathing exercises based on the medications you're taking. It maps your medicines to likely health conditions and suggests complementary yoga routines from verified AYUSH sources including Swami Ramdev and Sadhguru's channels.

The yoga recommendations are sourced from Ministry of AYUSH guidelines and trusted yoga practitioners. They are complementary wellness suggestions, not medical treatments. Always consult your doctor before starting any new exercise programme, especially if you have a health condition.

PillCare analyses your medication list to identify likely conditions (e.g. diabetes medications → recommends Mandukasana and Kapalbhati). Recommendations are condition-based, not diagnosis-based. We use a curated database of medication-condition-yoga mappings.

Tapping a yoga routine opens a verified YouTube video from official sources like the Ministry of AYUSH, Swami Ramdev, or Sadhguru's channels. The video opens in YouTube or your browser.

In the Treatment tab → Yoga Therapy → tap "Start Routine" → select your preferred time from the clock picker → confirm. You'll receive a daily notification at that time. To cancel, tap "Start Routine" again and dismiss the reminder.

Poses include Mandukasana (frog pose for diabetes), Pawanmuktasana (wind-relieving pose), Anulom Vilom (alternate nostril breathing), Kapalbhati (breathing exercise), Bhujangasana (cobra pose), Ardha Matsyendrasana (spinal twist), Setu Bandhasana (bridge pose), Surya Namaskar, and more.

The free plan includes basic yoga recommendations. The full yoga library with all poses, detailed instructions, and personalised routines is available on the Premium plan.

These are companion tracking tabs alongside your medications. Measurements lets you log health readings (blood pressure, blood sugar etc). Activities tracks physical activity. Mood lets you log your daily emotional wellbeing. All help you see the complete picture of your health routine.

Go to the Support tab → Book Appointment, or access Appointments from the navigation. Fill in the doctor's name, specialty, date (calendar picker), time (clock picker), location, and any notes. Tap Save to store it.

Yes. If you've saved the doctor's phone number when adding the appointment, a "Call" button appears on the appointment card. Tapping it opens your phone's dialler with the number pre-filled.

On any appointment card, tap "Add to Google Calendar". This opens Google Calendar with the appointment details pre-filled. Confirm to save it to your calendar. This requires Google Calendar to be installed on your device.

Free plan users can store up to 3 upcoming appointments. Premium plan users can store unlimited appointments. Past appointments are archived automatically and don't count toward the limit.

Yes. When creating an appointment, select your reminder preference — 1 day before, 2 hours before, or 30 minutes before. PillCare will send you a notification at the selected time.

On any appointment card in the Upcoming section, you'll see Edit and Delete buttons. Edit opens the appointment form pre-filled with existing details. Delete removes it permanently after a confirmation prompt.

The Progress screen shows your daily adherence bar chart, current streak, 7-day average (free) or 30-day average (premium), and a list of recent dose history. It also shows an AI-generated wellness insight based on your adherence patterns.

AI insights analyse your adherence patterns, the medications you're taking, and your activity to generate personalised wellness tips. They are generated using an AI language model (we use Groq). Insights are updated weekly on the free plan and daily on Premium. They are suggestions only — not medical advice.

This usually means you have medications scheduled but haven't been marking them as taken. Open the Today screen and look for doses with the "Take" button — tap it each time you take your medicine to build your history.

Currently, Progress shows overall adherence across all medications. Per-medication adherence is a feature we're building for a future update.

Free plan users see 7 days of history on the Progress screen. Premium users see 90 days. Your complete history is stored on our servers — you can request a full export by emailing support@pillcare.in or using the CSV export on the History screen (Premium).

A streak counts consecutive perfect days — days where you took every scheduled dose. Missing even one dose resets the streak. To maintain your streak: take all your doses, enable reminders, and check the Today screen daily.

Premium users can export history as a CSV file from the History screen, which can be shared via email or printed. We're working on a formatted PDF health report as a future feature.

Go to the Support tab → My Profile. You can update your name, gender, birth year, city, phone number, and caregiver phone number. Tap Save when done. Changes are reflected immediately across the app.

Your email is tied to your Google account and cannot be changed within PillCare. If you need to use a different email, you would need to create a new PillCare account with that Google account. Contact support@pillcare.in to transfer data.

Go to My Profile and scroll to the bottom — tap "Sign out". Your data remains safely stored on our servers and you can sign back in at any time with the same Google account.

Go to My Profile → Account → Delete account. Confirm the deletion. All your data — medications, doses, history, profile — is permanently deleted within 30 days. You can also request deletion at support@pillcare.in or from our account deletion page.

Your data is stored securely on our servers, not just on your device. Simply install PillCare on a new phone and sign in with the same Google account — all your medications, history, and settings are restored automatically.

Yes. Sign in with the same Google account on any Android device and your data syncs automatically. However, notifications are device-specific — each device you install PillCare on will send reminders independently.

Go to My Profile → Routine settings. Toggle on the times of day you follow — Morning, Afternoon, Evening, Night. This helps PillCare organise your doses correctly on the Today screen.

Currently each person needs their own PillCare account. A family plan where you can manage medications for multiple family members (e.g. elderly parents) is on our product roadmap. Follow pillcare.in for updates.

Yes. Your data is protected with 256-bit encryption in transit and at rest, stored on certified enterprise cloud infrastructure. Access is controlled by your Google account — our team cannot read your health records without your explicit permission.

No. We never sell your personal or health data to anyone — not advertisers, not pharmaceutical companies, not data brokers. Your data is used solely to provide and improve PillCare's services.

Only you can see your full medication list. Caregivers only receive adherence summaries (taken/missed counts) — not medication names. Our team cannot access your records. No third party has access to your medication details.

Only medication names (not your identity) are sent to an AI service for drug resolution and wellness insights. No personal information is ever included. We use Groq AI under a strict data processing agreement. AI providers cannot identify you from the data shared.

PillCare complies with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (DPDP Act), the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and equivalent data protection standards globally. We are committed to your privacy regardless of where you are in the world.

Yes. Email privacy@pillcare.in with your registered email address and subject "Data request". We will provide a complete export of all data associated with your account within 30 days, as required by applicable data protection law.

HIPAA is a US law applicable to healthcare providers and their business associates. As an Indian health-tech app, PillCare is not subject to HIPAA. We comply with India's DPDP Act and GDPR, which provide strong health data protections.

Location is used for: (1) finding nearby pharmacies and hospitals, (2) determining your country for emergency helpline numbers. Location is not stored continuously — it is only accessed when you use Nearby or during onboarding. You can deny location permission and use the app with limited functionality.

We collect: account information (name, email from Google), medications and schedule you enter, dose history (when you tap Take), approximate location (city/state level), device type and app version, and usage patterns. We do not collect biometric data, financial information, or communications. Full details in our Privacy Policy.

Email privacy@pillcare.in with full details of your concern. We take privacy seriously and will respond within 48 hours. For data deletion requests, see our account deletion page.

Try these steps in order: (1) Force close and reopen the app, (2) Check for an update in Google Play, (3) Clear the app cache (Settings → Apps → PillCare → Storage → Clear cache), (4) Restart your phone. If it still crashes, email support@pillcare.in with your phone model, Android version, and what you were doing when it crashed.

Check your internet connection. PillCare syncs data in the background — pull down on the Today screen to force a manual refresh. If sync still fails, sign out and sign back in. If the problem persists, contact support.

This usually happens if your phone's date/time is set incorrectly. Go to phone Settings → General management → Date and time → turn on "Automatic date and time". Then restart PillCare.

This usually means you're using an older version of the app that's no longer supported. Update PillCare to the latest version from Google Play and try again. If the issue persists, email support@pillcare.in with your Android version.

The Take button is locked outside the active dose window (2 hours before to 4 hours after scheduled time). If your scheduled time hasn't arrived yet, a countdown is shown ( in 3h). If the window has passed, the dose is marked missed automatically.

Check: (1) Location permission is granted, (2) You have a stable internet connection, (3) Try a larger radius (2km or 5km). If results still don't appear, the OpenStreetMap database may have limited coverage in your area — tap "Open Google Maps" as an alternative.

Phone OS updates sometimes reset notification permissions. Go to Settings → Apps → PillCare → Notifications → Allow all. Also check Settings → Battery → Background app usage → PillCare → set to "No restrictions". Then open PillCare and verify notifications are on in My Profile.

PillCare is designed to be battery-efficient. Most battery usage comes from background sync and notifications. You can reduce background activity in Settings → Apps → PillCare → Battery → Optimise. Note that this may delay some notifications.

Email support@pillcare.in with: (1) Description of the bug, (2) Steps to reproduce it, (3) Your phone model and Android version, (4) App version (found in My Profile → About). Screenshots or screen recordings are very helpful. We aim to respond within 24 hours.

Open Google Play Store → tap your profile icon → Manage apps → find PillCare Reminder → tap Update. We recommend keeping auto-updates enabled for PillCare to always have the latest bug fixes and features.

PillCare requests: Location (for Nearby search) — safe to grant "While using the app only". Camera (for medicine scanner) — safe, only used when you tap the scanner. Notifications — required for reminders. All permissions are optional and you can use most features without them, with reduced functionality.