How to Remind an Elderly Parent to Drink Water
The hard part is rarely the reminder itself. It is setting something up on a phone that is not yours, for somebody who will not want to ring you about it later.
What usually goes wrong
Three things, over and over. An app asks for an account, and the password is lost within a week. An app rings on a fixed timer, including while they are having a cup of tea and at ten at night, and gets deleted. Or the type is too small to read without hunting for glasses, so it is never opened.
Whatever you choose, check those three before anything else: no login, no fixed alarm, readable at arm's length.
Setting Sip up in about five minutes
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Install it and open it together
Sip is free and needs an iPhone running iOS 17 or later. There is nothing to register and no email address to confirm.
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Answer the three questions
A first name, which can be skipped. When they get up and when they go to bed. And one of three starting goals. That is the entire setup.
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Set the goal to whatever the doctor said, if there is one
The three presets are 1,500, 1,800 and 2,200 millilitres, and the exact number is adjustable afterwards under Settings, then Daily goal. If a doctor has given them an amount, put that in and leave it.
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Check that notifications are allowed
Open the iPhone Settings app, go to Notifications, find Sip, and make sure Allow Notifications is on. This is the single most common reason a reminder app appears to do nothing.
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Record one glass with them, then hand the phone back
Tap the wide button, pick a glass, watch the level rise. Once they have seen it happen once, there is nothing further to explain.
Free. No account to set up.
What they will see during the day
An ordinary iPhone notification, no more often than every 45 minutes and no less often than every four hours, and none at all between their bedtime and the time they get up. Once the daily goal is reached, the reminders stop until the next day rather than carrying on into the evening.
On the home screen a glass shows where the day stands, and a small drawn glass with a face, called Pip, adds a short line about how it is going. Pip can be switched off in Settings if it feels childish; the screen is complete without it.
Be honest with yourself about monitoring
Sip is a reminder for the person holding the phone. It is not a way to check on somebody from a distance, and it is worth being clear about that before you install anything.
- Sip has no accounts and no server, so nothing about their day reaches your phone, ever.
- There is no family dashboard, no shared view and no alert to a carer.
- If remote visibility is the actual requirement, look at apps built around a carer dashboard instead. They ask for accounts on both sides, which is the trade you would be making.
If what you want is a phone that quietly nudges them and never asks them for anything, that is exactly what Sip is.
Common questions
How do I set up a water reminder on my parent's iPhone?
Install Sip, open it once with them, answer three questions, then check that notifications are allowed in the iPhone Settings app under Notifications. That is the whole setup, and nothing will ask them to log in later.
Can I check from my own phone whether they drank?
Not with Sip. It has no accounts and no server, so nothing leaves their iPhone. If seeing their day from a distance is the point, look at apps built around a family dashboard instead.
How many reminders will they get?
It depends on their goal, their glass sizes and the length of their day. Sip never sends one within 45 minutes of a recorded drink, never leaves more than four hours between them, and stops entirely once the goal is reached.
Will it disturb them at night?
No. Nothing is sent between the bedtime and the wake time set during setup. With Premium you can also block out an afternoon nap or a standing appointment.