Frequently asked questions
Getting started
How do I sign up? Open the app and enter your phone number. We send a six-digit code; type it in. There is no password to choose or forget.
Do I need an email address? No. A phone number is the whole account. You can add an email address as a second way to sign in if you like.
How do I add a medicine? Tap "+ Add a medicine" and type the prescription the way it is written — TAB. VITAMIN D3 1000IU 1-0-1 A/F x 15 days works, and so does filling in the fields one at a time. DrBell reads the notation and shows you what it understood before saving, so you can correct it.
What does "1-0-1 A/F" become? One dose after breakfast and one after dinner, for 15 days — timed from your meal times, which you set once, rather than a fixed 09:00 that suits somebody else. DrBell shows you the times before it saves anything. If your doctor told you something different, follow your doctor.
Can I take a photo of the strip? Yes, and you should. It becomes the largest thing on the reminder screen, which matters more than the name for anyone on several medicines.
Can I change the language? Yes, per patient, at any time. The app's own words change immediately. Medicine names are never translated — see below.
Reminders
A reminder did not arrive. Almost always the phone rather than us. Check, in this order:
- Notifications allowed for DrBell.
- On Android 12+, "Alarms & reminders" permission granted.
- Battery optimisation turned off for DrBell. Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Realme,
OnePlus and Samsung all kill background apps aggressively by default, and this is the single commonest cause.
- Autostart enabled, on the manufacturers that have it.
- DrBell's reminder sound not turned to Silent (Settings → Apps → DrBell →
Notifications). The phone's own silent mode does not stop DrBell's reminders on Android; this setting does.
- On iPhone: the Ring/Silent switch on the side on Ring, and Sounds on for
DrBell.
The app checks all of these (all but the iPhone switch, which no app can see), walks you through fixing each one when you set up, and warns you on the main screen when one is wrong. On Android it will not open the main screen until they are all on.
Why does the reminder look different on Android and on iPhone? Because the two allow apps different things. On Android, DrBell takes over the screen with the photo of the strip and Taken and Later buttons. On iPhone, DrBell uses Apple's own alarm: it shows Later and slide to stop, rings with Apple's alarm sound, and sounds through silent mode and Focus. Apple allows no Taken button there, so after you slide to stop and unlock, DrBell opens on that dose and you press Taken in the app. Pictures, and what to allow on each phone: How reminders ring.
Who is told when my phone cannot ring reminders? You, and everyone who is told about your missed doses — after the phone has been unable to ring for half an hour, or has not checked in for a day, and only in the daytime where the phone is. They are told again when it is fixed. They are told that it cannot ring, not which setting is off and not what you take.
Do reminders work without internet? Yes. The phone holds its own alarms, so reminders fire offline. Marking a dose taken while offline is saved on the device and sent when you reconnect — and the record keeps the time you actually pressed it, not the time it synced.
What if I snooze repeatedly? Snoozing moves the phone's reminder and nothing on our side. The clock that decides when your caregiver is told does not move. After the last allowed snooze, the app stops offering "Later" and asks for a decision — and your caregivers are sent a gentle note, worded as "not missed yet".
Caregivers
How do I add someone? Invite them by phone number and choose their role. They see who is asking (a first name and a masked number), what they would see and how they would be told, then approve or reject — and you hear their answer. They must sign in with the number you invited — an invitation forwarded to somebody else does not work.
What do they see? Only what their role allows. A viewer sees less than a guardian. You can revoke anyone at any time and it takes effect immediately.
When are they told? On Plus and Family. (On Free a caregiver can see the record, but nobody but you is told about your doses.) When a dose is running late, and more urgently when the window closes without it being taken. Critical medicines escalate faster. A caregiver can tap "I'll handle it" so the others stop being nudged — that does not record the dose as taken, and does not stop the missed alert, because a claim that did not end in a taken dose is exactly when everyone needs to hear.
Organisations
We run a care home. How does this work? Sign up at org.drbell.app. Your organisation starts as pending and cannot hold resident records until we approve it. Once approved you add residents up to your contracted seats, invite staff, and can restrict a nurse to particular wards.
Can we import a resident list? Yes, from a spreadsheet. The import does a dry run first and shows you what it understood, including duplicates against residents you already have.
Is there a shift handover? Yes — outstanding doses first, then rounds in time order, with rooms sorted the way a corridor is walked.
Records and reports
Can a DrBell report prove that a medicine was taken? No. DrBell records what someone reported — a press of Taken — and what DrBell did about reminders and alerts. It cannot see whether a medicine was swallowed, how much, or whether it worked. Reports, summaries and downloaded records are a log of reminders and reports, not a medical record and not proof of taking medicine, of treatment or of cure. Show them to your doctor as exactly that.
Privacy and data
Do you sell my data? No. See Privacy.
Do you use analytics? Only if you say yes. DrBell asks once whether you will share anonymous app usage — which screens are opened, never what you take — and you can change your answer in Account at any time. DrBell does not read your advertising identifier.
If I installed DrBell from an advertisement, do you track me? No. Google Play tells the app which link or advertisement led to the install, and the app passes that to DrBell's own servers once, with the date and the app version. We add up, as totals with no names, how many people from each source sign up, add a medicine, come back and subscribe, so we know which advertising is worth paying for. Nothing is sent to Google, DrBell does not read an advertising identifier, and this is never used to show you advertising or sold.
What is the statement? A dated list of everything that happened on a record, like a bank statement: doses, medicine changes, who was invited and what they agreed to, and every alert with whether it arrived. Nobody can edit it. Download or print it from the record.
Can I get everything you hold? Settings → Export. One file, everything, immediately, no waiting.
Can I delete everything? Settings → Delete account. There is a 30-day grace period so an accidental deletion can be undone, then it is complete and irreversible.
Why won't you translate my medicine names? Because a translated medicine name may not be the medicine in the packet. Names differ between countries and a converted name can match a different drug. If the packet is in one script and you read another more easily, you can add a second label yourself — your words, on purpose, with a warning shown first.
Billing
Is there a free plan? Yes: unlimited medicines, the alarm that keeps ringing on your phone, photographs of every strip and tablet, 30 days of history, and one caregiver who can see your record. On Free DrBell sends no notifications, so nobody is told about your doses; Plus and Family send push alerts, tell your caregivers when a dose is late or missed, and add diet reminders. Deliberately generous where others are stingy — reminding somebody to take their tablet should not be behind a paywall.
How do I cancel? Any time, from settings. See Refunds.
What help comes with each plan? On Plus, Family and organisation plans, a person answers your email about using DrBell. On Free, the help centre and these questions are there for you. On every plan, you can email hello@drbell.app about your account, your privacy or a complaint, and reach our Grievance Officer. Every email, on every plan, is acknowledged within 72 hours.
Still stuck?
hello@drbell.app — on a paid plan, a person answers anything about using DrBell; on every plan, your account, your privacy and complaints.
Who we are
DrBell is operated by Newtact Lab Private Limited (OPC) (https://newtact.in), registered in India.
Grievance Officer: Naveen Davuluri, Director and Grievance Officer Email: hello@drbell.app
We answer every message to that address. If you are writing about your own data — to see it, correct it, or have it erased — say so in the subject line and we will treat it as a formal request under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.