Pairing with a caregiver

Pair DoseAlert on your phone with DoseAlert on a family member's phone. They get alerted if you miss a dose — without needing access to your medication list or history.

What pairing does

Pairing creates a private link between two phones. After pairing:

• If you miss a scheduled dose by more than the alert window, your caregiver's phone receives a push notification.
• The caregiver can acknowledge the alert so you know they've seen it.
• No medication history, schedule, or personal data is ever shared — only the specific missed-dose alert.

What you need

• DoseAlert installed on both phones.
• An active internet connection on both phones during the pairing step (you can go offline afterwards).
• Notifications enabled on both phones.

Pairing, step by step

On the patient's phone (the person whose doses are tracked)

1. Open DoseAlert and tap the Family tab.
2. Tap Pair a caregiver.
3. Enter your name (so the caregiver knows who they're paired with).
4. Tap Generate code. A six-digit code appears.
5. Leave the screen open — the code is valid for 10 minutes.

On the caregiver's phone

1. Open DoseAlert and tap the Family tab.
2. Tap Pair with patient.
3. Enter your name.
4. Type the six-digit code the patient shared.
5. Tap Connect.

Both phones confirm the pairing is complete. On the patient's phone, the caregiver's name appears in the Family tab with a status indicator.

Setting when alerts fire

Pairing alone doesn't send any alerts. You choose which medications should trigger a caregiver alert and how long to wait.

1. On the patient's phone, open the medication.
2. Scroll to Reminders.
3. Set Alert caregiver after to a number of minutes (e.g. 30 minutes past the scheduled time).
4. Save.

See Missed-dose alerts for timing recommendations and what the caregiver sees.

Multiple caregivers

You can pair multiple caregivers to the same profile — for example, both of an elderly parent's adult children. Every caregiver receives the same alerts independently.

Unpairing

On either phone, open the Family tab, tap the caregiver's name, and tap Unpair. The pairing is removed immediately on both phones. No further alerts are sent.

Testing the pairing

Once paired, tap the Send test alert button on the caregiver entry. The caregiver's phone receives a "Test alert" notification within a few seconds. If they don't receive it, see Caregiver is not getting alerts.

SMS fallback

If the caregiver's phone is offline or push fails for some reason, DoseAlert can optionally fall back to an SMS text message — if you provided the caregiver's phone number during pairing. This uses your phone's built-in messaging, which may incur text charges depending on your plan.

What data is shared

Only the specific alert details: medication name, scheduled time, and patient name. Nothing else. Your medication list, your dose history, and your personal settings stay on your phone. See Privacy and data for the full picture.