A Drink Reminder App for iPhone That Is Not a Fixed Alarm
A reminder every two hours on the dot is the reason these apps get deleted. It goes off while you are drinking, and it goes off at night. Here is what Sip does instead.
Free on the App Store.
Four rules that always hold
Whatever the arithmetic below produces, these four are never broken.
- At least 45 minutes after a recorded drink. Confirming a glass buys you quiet, rather than being ignored by the schedule.
- At most four hours between reminders, so a slow morning does not turn into a day with nothing in it.
- Nothing at night. No reminder is ever placed between the bedtime and the wake time you set. One that would land there is pushed to the following morning.
- Silence once you are finished. When the recorded amount reaches the goal, no further reminder is scheduled that day.
Where the spacing comes from
Sip takes the length of your waking day, divides your goal by the average size of your glasses to get the number of drinks it implies, and divides one by the other. Somebody drinking from a half litre bottle needs fewer reminders than somebody using a small cup, so they get fewer, without either of them setting anything.
The result is then held between the 45 minute floor and the four hour ceiling.
Reminders that follow the day, with Premium
The free version keeps an even rhythm. Premium adds a factor on top of the spacing, based on how much you have had against how much the plan expects by this hour.
| Where you stand | What happens to the gap |
|---|---|
| Under 70 percent of the plan | Shortens to 70 percent of normal |
| Between 70 and 95 percent | Shortens to 85 percent |
| Between 95 and 115 percent | Unchanged |
| Over 115 percent | Stretches to 150 percent, it can be quieter |
The bands are capped on purpose. A poor morning should not turn the afternoon into a drumbeat.
Quiet times, with Premium
An afternoon nap, a service, a standing appointment. Add the range and no reminder is placed inside it; one that would fall there moves to the end of the range instead. Ranges may cross midnight.
What Sip cannot promise
Reminders are scheduled by your iPhone and delivered by iOS. If notifications are switched off for Sip in the iPhone Settings app, nothing arrives, and no app can work around that. Sip is an everyday helper, not a medical device: please do not rely on it as the only prompt for anything that matters medically.
Common questions
How often does Sip remind you to drink?
There is no fixed interval. Sip works out the spacing from the length of your waking day, your goal and the average size of your glasses, then holds it between 45 minutes and four hours.
Does Sip remind you at night?
No. Reminders are only ever placed between the wake time and the bedtime you set. A reminder that would fall in the night is moved to the next morning instead.
What happens after I reach my daily goal?
Sip stops for the day. No further reminder is scheduled once the recorded amount reaches the goal, and the count starts again the next morning.
What do adaptive reminders actually change?
The spacing, by a factor tied to how you are doing against the plan. Well behind, the gap shortens to 70 percent. Slightly behind, to 85 percent. On plan, it is unchanged. Comfortably ahead, it stretches to 150 percent. The 45 minute and four hour limits still apply.