Water reminders in the HydraTag app: schedules and phone permissions
HydraTag's reminders are gentle nudges scheduled on your phone. You choose how many a day, they can stop once you have logged a drink, and they only appear if Android lets the app post notifications. This guide covers all three parts.
Turn reminders on
- Open Settings and find Gentle reminders.
- Switch on Remind me to drink water.
- Pick a Reminder schedule. The times are shown under the choice in 24-hour local time.
- Tap Save preferences. If your phone has not asked yet, it now asks whether HydraTag may send notifications.
| Schedule | Reminder times (24-hour) |
|---|---|
| 3 a day | 09:00, 13:00, 17:00 |
| 4 a day | 08:00, 12:00, 16:00, 20:00 |
| 6 a day | 07:00, 10:00, 13:00, 16:00, 19:00, 22:00 |
A new install starts with reminders on at 09:00, 12:30, 15:00 and 19:00 until you choose one of the three schedules. Custom times are not available in the current version.
What a reminder looks like
The notification is titled "Time for a sip" with the text "Ready for some water? Log a drink when you have one." On Android it arrives in a notification category called Hydration reminders with a short chime. It does not log anything by itself; you still choose the amount in the app or tap your sticker.
Pause after my first drink
Below the schedule is Pause after my first drink, which is on by default. With it on, the rest of today's reminders are skipped as soon as you log water, by hand or by sticker, and resume tomorrow. Turn it off if you want every reminder regardless of what you have logged. The setting is saved with Save preferences.
Allow notifications on your phone
If Settings shows "Notifications are not allowed yet, so reminders will not appear", the app is saving your schedule but Android is blocking delivery.
- Tap Allow notifications. Android shows its permission prompt.
- If the prompt no longer appears, the phone has blocked HydraTag. The button changes to Allow notifications in phone settings and opens the app's notification settings. Turn on notifications there, including the Hydration reminders category, then return to the app; the notice updates on its own.
- The same path works from the phone side: Settings, Apps, HydraTag, Notifications.
Keep them scheduled
HydraTag schedules reminders about a week ahead each time you open it or log a drink, so open the app at least once a week. Phone features such as Do Not Disturb, battery optimisation or notification snoozing can delay or hide any app's notifications; check them if reminders stop while the app still shows "Notifications allowed".
Two other notifications
- Daily water progress (Android): a silent bar that fills toward your goal as you log, with its own switch under Notifications. It saves immediately and resets each day.
- Daily Drop: one water fact a day with a source link, at a time you set (10:00 by default). It is separate from reminders and has its own switch.
All three use the same Android notification permission but different categories, so you can keep reminders and silence the others in phone settings. What the app stores for notifications is listed in the privacy guide.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Check |
|---|---|
| No reminders at all | Switch is on, a schedule is chosen, Save preferences tapped, Settings shows "Notifications allowed". |
| Only the morning reminder arrives | Pause after my first drink is on and you logged water early. That is working as designed. |
| Reminders stopped after a quiet week | Open the app; the week ahead is rescheduled. Check Do Not Disturb and battery settings. |
| Reminders at odd times after travel | Times follow your phone's local clock. Review the schedule after a time-zone change. |
Reminders work with or without a sticker. For ideas on pairing them with a routine, see building a daily water-logging routine.
HydraTag guide ยท Updated October 2, 2026