Doz ↔ Apple Health

Doz vs Apple Health

Checked October 4, 2026

The short answer

Apple Health can remind you to take a medication. Doz is built to manage them. It keeps a stock count and warns you before you run out, which Apple Health cannot do; groups medications under the prescription they came from; anchors doses to meals; and lets you ask Siri what you take today or what is running low.

Switching costs nothing: on iOS 26 Doz can import your medications, schedules and past doses straight from Apple Health (Doz Pro), and it never writes back. If you take one or two medicines and never need to know how many are left, Apple Health may be enough. For anything more, Doz fills the gaps.

Why choose Doz over Apple Health

Know when you are running low. Doz counts down as you log and flags low stock at a level you set. Apple documents no pill count or refill tracking in Health.
Prescriptions, not one long list. Each prescription keeps its medications, doctor, clinic and course dates together.
Doses tied to meals. Before, with or after breakfast, lunch or dinner, and with Doz Pro the doses move when your mealtimes do. Apple does not document meal-based timing.
Set up by typing the label. Type an instruction such as “1 capsule twice daily for 7 days” and Doz builds the schedule on your iPhone (in English).
Ask Siri about your medicines. What you take today, what is running low, when you last took something: free, without opening the app.

Try Doz free. No account, no ads. Up to 4 medications free; Doz Pro is $19.99 once or $9.99 a year.

Get Doz on the App Store

Doz vs Apple Health at a glance

Feature	Doz	Apple Health
Price	Free. Doz Pro is $2.99 a month, $9.99 a year or $19.99 once	Yes Free, built into iOS 16 and later. No paid tier
What the free version includes	Up to 4 medications and 1 prescription, reminders, stock count, every schedule type, 7 days of history	Everything
Account needed	No No account or sign-up	No No separate account; syncing uses your Apple Account
Ads	No No ads	No
Where your data lives	On your iPhone, with optional sync through your own private iCloud. The developer cannot see it. Anonymous usage and crash data only	On your devices, encrypted with your passcode. iCloud sync is end-to-end encrypted
Grouping by prescription	Yes Each prescription is one card holding its medications, doctor, clinic and course dates	No One medication list
Set up from the label text	Yes Type the instruction as written, such as “1 capsule twice daily for 7 days”, and Doz builds the schedule on your iPhone (English)	Partly Identify a medication with the camera (US only)
Meal-based timing	Yes Before, with or after breakfast, lunch or dinner. Auto-shift when meal times change is Pro	Not stated
Running-low warning	Yes Stock count with a low-stock warning in the app, at a level you set per medication. No push alert	No Apple documents no pill count or refill tracking
Reminders on a silenced iPhone	Pro Critical Alerts break through Silent and Focus	Yes Critical Alerts per medication (iOS 17 and later), once follow-up reminders are on
Follow-up if a dose is not logged	Pro One follow-up nudge, 5 to 60 minutes later	Yes A follow-up 30 minutes after the scheduled time if the dose is not logged
Log a dose from the notification	Pro Take or Skip from the notification	Not stated
Hide medication names in notifications	Yes Free option	Not stated
Schedule types	Every day, chosen weekdays, every 2 to 90 days, on/off cycles such as 21/7, as needed. No every-N-hours interval	Several times a day, every few days, specific weekdays and cycles (the last two need iOS 18), as needed
Time zone changes	Doses keep their local clock time when you change time zone	Notifies you when the time zone changes; a Time Zone Change option keeps the original times or moves them to local time
Siri	Yes Ask about schedule, stock and progress free; log, skip and refill by voice with Pro	Not stated
Apple Health	Pro Imports medications and dose history (iOS 26). Never writes to Health	It is Apple Health
Widgets	Pro Home Screen and Lock Screen, with a Take button	Not stated
Works offline	Yes Fully	Yes Data is on the device; a connection is needed only to sync
Platforms	iPhone (iOS 17 or later)	iPhone, iPad (iPadOS 17 and later) and Apple Watch
Apple Watch app	No	Yes Medications app on Apple Watch
Caregiver or family sharing	No	Partly Your medication list can be shared with family through Health Sharing. Apple does not say whether they are told about a missed dose
Drug interaction checks	No	Partly Interaction warnings, United States only
Reports or export for your doctor	No	Yes PDF of your medication list

“Pro” means the feature needs Doz Pro ($2.99 a month, $9.99 a year or $19.99 once). “Not stated” means Apple Health does not say either way in its own materials.

Reminders

Both apps can follow up on a missed dose and ring through Silent with Critical Alerts. In Doz you choose how soon the follow-up comes, from 5 to 60 minutes, and you can hide medication names on the Lock Screen; Apple Health's follow-up comes at 30 minutes. In Doz, Critical Alerts and follow-ups are part of Doz Pro.

Reminder feature	Doz	Apple Health
Rings on Silent / Focus	Pro Critical Alerts	Yes Critical Alerts, per medication
Follow-up if not logged	Pro After 5 to 60 minutes, your choice	Yes After 30 minutes
Log from the reminder	Pro Take or Skip on the notification	Log on Apple Watch; iPhone notification actions not stated
Hide medication names in notifications	Yes Free option	Not stated

Running low: the biggest gap

Apple Health has no idea how many pills you have. Apple's documentation covers the name, type, strength, schedule, shape and colour of a medication and nothing about supply, so it cannot tell you a refill is due.

Doz counts down as you mark doses taken (never on a skip), and flags a medication as low in the app once it reaches a threshold you set for it, 7 by default. When the new bottle arrives you add it in one tap. There is no push notification for low stock, so the warning appears when you open the app or log a dose.

Schedules and time zones

Schedule	Doz	Apple Health
Several fixed times a day	Yes Up to 10 a day	Yes
Specific weekdays	Yes	Yes iOS 18 and later
Every few days	Yes Every 2 to 90 days	Yes
Cycles, such as 21 on / 7 off	Yes	Yes iOS 18 and later
As needed	Yes	Yes
Before, with or after a meal	Yes	Not stated
Changing time zone	Doses keep their local clock time	Asks you to confirm; can keep home times or move to local

On time zones, Doz keeps every dose on local clock time automatically; Apple Health asks you to confirm each change. If your medication is time-critical across a big shift, read what actually breaks when you change time zones and ask your pharmacist which behaviour you need.

Switching takes a minute

You do not have to choose up front. On iOS 26 and later, Doz can read the medications you already keep in Apple Health and bring them across with their schedules and past doses. It never writes back, so your Health record stays exactly as it was. The import is part of Doz Pro; on an earlier iOS, medications are added by hand. How the import works.

When Apple Health may suit you better

You want an Apple Watch app, or Critical Alerts and follow-ups without paying (in Doz both are part of Doz Pro).

Frequently asked questions

Is Apple Health good enough as a medication reminder?

For one or two medicines it can be: it sends follow-up reminders and can use Critical Alerts. What it cannot do is count pills or warn you before you run out, group medications by prescription, or time doses to meals. That is where Doz comes in, and it can import your Apple Health medications so you do not retype them.

Does Apple Health remind you to refill a prescription?

Apple documents no pill count or refill feature in the Medications section of the Health app. Doz keeps a stock count as you log doses and shows a low-stock warning in the app at a threshold you choose for each medication.

Can Doz import my medications from Apple Health?

Yes, on iOS 26 and later, as part of Doz Pro. Doz reads your medications, schedules and past doses from Apple Health and never writes anything back.

Why use Doz instead of Apple Health?

Because Doz manages your medications as well as reminding you. It counts your stock and warns you before you run out, groups medications by prescription, times doses to meals and answers Siri questions such as what is running low. Apple Health does none of those. Doz can import your Apple Health medications, so switching takes no retyping.