There are many factors that contribute to people with glaucoma not sticking to their eye drop regimen, such as side effects, drug prices, and difficulty getting into their eye correctly. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the most common reason for patients not using their eye drops as directed is forgetfulness. The consequences of nonadherence are further vision loss and visual disability, potentially leading to eventual blindness. Fortunately, advances in technology provide new tools to help you track your eye drops and preserve your sight. Here are just a few eye drop alert apps for your smartphone to help keep you on track.* 

Using medication alert apps

After downloading, most apps require you to type in:

• The names of your medications
• Their dosages
• When you take each one, and
• When you want to be reminded to take each one. 

Here are just a few medication reminder apps available from the Apple App Store for iOS users and/or the Google Play Store for Android users.

EyeDropAlarm

This free app was created by ophthalmologist Kayur Shah, M.D. as a charitable project. It’s downloadable from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, and can be helpful for anyone who needs to use eye drops on a regular basis, including people with glaucoma, uveitis, dry eyes, and allergies.

Per its website, features of the EyeDropAlarm medication reminder app include:

• A quick setup with no login required
• A database from which to choose your eye drops without having to type them in
• Eye drop reminders include the bottle cap color of the drops to use, and which eye to use them in.

Medisafe 

Medisafe is also free from both the App Store and Google Play. The app requires you to type in your medications, after which it builds a report of when you take each one. The app can also:

• Allow you to share the report with a family member or caregiver
• Alert you when a medication is potentially running low and needs to be refilled
• Check to see if you’ve missed a dose
• Provide medication and food interaction warnings 

Dosecast: My Pill Reminder App 

The basic version of Dosecast is free to download  both iOS and Android, but has premium features with paid access. The free version enables you to track oral (pill) medications. The paid features enable you to:

• Track other medications like eye drops and injections
• Syncyour data across multiple devices
• Set up refill alerts
• Choose drugs from a database during setup instead of having to type them in 
• Take photos of your medications, to help you keep them straight 
• Keep a personal log to help you see when you missed a dose

EveryDose

EveryDose is a free, customizable app for iOS and Android, similar to the other apps on this list. It also features a virtual assistant named Maxwell that can answer certain questions concerning your medications. 

Which medication alert app is best for me?

When deciding which medication reminder app to use, some questions to consider are:

• Does the app have good security features?
• Who has access to the data that you input, and how is it used?
• Is there research evidence that the app works?
• Does the app have other useful features like keeping track of refills?

You may need to try out a couple of different apps in order to determine which one is easiest, most convenient, and most effective for your needs. 

If you ultimately decide that you don’t want to download an app to your phone, you can still:

• Set a simple daily alarm on your phone. 
• Use a preinstalled reminder app. 
• Set up a voice assistant like Siri or Alexa to remind you to take your drops through your phone.

*Aungst, T. (2022, June 9). 6 Popular Medication Reminder Apps Available for Apple and Android. GoodRx Health. https://www.goodrx.com/healthcare-access/digital-health/medication-reminder-apps  

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