Birth control
A calm reminder app for birth control
One tablet, at the same time, every single day — and a warning before the last pack runs out.
Free with one medicine · No account · Nothing leaves your iPhone
The contraceptive pill is the most unforgiving kind of daily medicine: the routine is simple, but consistency is the whole point, and the reminder has to survive a chaotic week, a night out, a flight and a phone on silent. Most people don't need a health dashboard for this — they need one dependable nudge at the same time each day, a way to see at a glance whether today's is already taken, and enough warning to get the next pack before the current one ends. Kounts Dose does those three things and stays out of the way otherwise, with nothing about your prescription leaving your iPhone.
What actually goes wrong: The two failures that actually happen are forgetting in the moment and not being sure afterwards. A notification you swiped away at 8:02am tells you nothing at 11pm, so you're left staring at a pack trying to reconstruct the day.
Setting it up in Kounts Dose
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Pick your time and make it non-negotiable
Add the medicine, choose “once a day”, and set the time you'll realistically be awake and near it — a fixed anchor like brushing your teeth beats an aspirational 7am. Dose will remind you at that minute every day, and the Today screen shows whether it's still outstanding.
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Turn on the critical alarm if you sleep through things
Mark the medicine as critical and its reminder rings through Silent mode and Focus, full-screen. That's a free feature at every tier, and it's the difference between a reminder and a reminder you'll actually hear on a Sunday morning.
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Set up the pack pattern, if yours has a break
For a 21-days-on, 7-days-off pack, use the cycle schedule and Dose tracks where you are in the cycle — reminding you through the active days and going quiet for the break, then starting again on the right date. For continuous packs, plain daily is all you need.
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Tell it how many you have
Enter your current supply — one pack, three packs, however many the pharmacy gave you — and Dose counts down as you log. You'll see “about N days left” on the medicine and get a single nudge before it becomes a scramble.
Please read this part
Kounts Dose is a reminder, not a contraceptive safeguard. It cannot tell you what to do about a missed pill, and it does not know how your specific pill works — the rules differ between combined and progestogen-only pills, and by how late the dose is. For a missed or late pill, follow the leaflet that came with your pack or contact your pharmacist, doctor or clinic, and use additional protection if they advise it.
Why it suits this routine
Answers “did I take it today?” instantly
The most common contraceptive worry isn't forgetting, it's not remembering whether you forgot. Today shows the dose as taken or still due; History's calendar and week grid show the last few weeks as plain dots, so you can check a specific day without reconstructing it from an empty blister.
Discreet by design
There's no account, no cloud profile and no ads, so nothing about your contraception is sitting on someone's server or feeding an ad profile. You can name the medicine whatever you like and choose its colour and icon — the widget shows what you tell it to, and optional sync goes only to your own private iCloud.
Never down to the last pill
Repeat prescriptions have a way of expiring at the worst possible moment. Because Dose knows both your schedule and your supply, it can warn you days ahead — while the pharmacy is open and there's still time to order.
Questions, answered
Is there a private birth control reminder app that doesn't collect my data?
Kounts Dose has no account and no server: your medicines, schedule and history stay on your iPhone. If you switch on iCloud sync, data goes only to your own private iCloud database via CloudKit, which we cannot read. Analytics are anonymous feature counters — never medication names.
Can it handle a 21-day pack with a 7-day break?
Yes. The cycle schedule is built for exactly that pattern — 21 days on, 7 off, repeating — so reminders stop during your break week and resume on the correct day. Fixed-length and continuous packs are supported too. Cycle scheduling is part of the one-time Dose Plus unlock; a plain daily reminder works on the free tier.
Will the reminder work if my phone is on silent?
Yes, if you mark that medicine as critical. Critical alarms use Apple's AlarmKit to ring through Silent mode and Focus, and they're free at every tier — safety isn't something we paywall.
What if I take my pill at a different time when travelling?
Log the dose whenever you actually take it — Dose records the real time, and you can log from the notification, a widget or the Today screen. For guidance on shifting your pill time across time zones, ask your pharmacist or clinic; that's a clinical question, not one an app should answer.
Does it work as a reminder for the patch, ring or injection?
It can. Use the every-N-days schedule for a weekly patch change, or every-N-weeks style intervals for longer gaps, and Dose will remind you on the right day and log it. Follow your prescriber's instructions for what to change and when.
Never miss a dose. Never run out.
Free with one medicine, and a single $9.99 purchase for the rest — no subscription, no account, no ads.
See also: Alarms that ring on Silent · How Dose keeps data private · Refill reminders