Medisafe Meds and Pill Reminder

The Medisafe Meds & Pill Reminder app helps you keep track of your medicines. It allows you to create a medication list and set reminders or prompts to remind you when to take a particular medicine. The app also allows you to record medical tests, measurements and results, add medical appointments to a dairy, and record how you're feeling.

For the complete app description, go to Google Play(external link) (Android) iTunes(external link) (Apple) and, for a detailed review, see reviews below.

Clinical review

Reviewer: Emma Riddell, clinical pharmacist, Health New Zealand
Date of review: November 2024
Platform: Android
Version: 9.43.4
Comments: Medisafe is a very easy app to use. I find it helpful for keeping a list of current medications, automatic reminders of when to take medications, and reminders on when to get refills. I would recommend that you show your doctor your recorded list each time you see them, so they can check that it's up-to-date and accurate and let you know if any changes are made. If a healthcare professional asks what medications you take, it's very easy to show them a list using the app, including information on when you have taken previous doses.
Some of the other features I liked were the option to add appointments to your phone calendar when recording the details in the app, and the ability to add dependents (i.e. anyone else that you're helping with their medications) and record/get reminders for their medicines as well (this is recorded under a separate profile that's easily accessed in the app).
The main downside to this app is that it's US-based. This means that the list of medications stored in the app’s database is not all relevant to New Zealanders, and many medicines commonly used in Aotearoa New Zealand aren't in the list of medications on the app. You can add these medicines manually, however I did find this a bit more complex as the app prompts you to choose an indication for each medicine, and it can sometimes be difficult to find the right option in the extensive list (note, you can skip this section).
It can take a bit of time to set up your medication list initially as you need to add all the details eg, strength, frequency, what time doses are due etc, but once they're all added it's very easy to log when you take a dose.
Safety concerns: None.
New Zealand relevance: Yes.
Concerns: As the app is US-based, many of the medications and brands in the app’s database aren't available in Aotearoa New Zealand. Some medications commonly used in New Zealand aren't in the app’s database and must be entered manually.