Reminders don't ring, or ring late

What you might see

• A reminder never shows up at its time.
• It shows up late, sometimes by as much as an hour.
• It shows up without a sound.
• It rings the next time you open Memlow, with a title that starts "Missed:".
• Tasks shows a banner such as "Notifications are off", "Reminders may be late. Allow Alarms & reminders for on-time alerts." or "Your phone restricts Memlow in the background, so reminders may not ring."

Check your reminder settings in one place

Memlow looks at the three settings that decide whether a reminder rings, and tells you which one is off.

1. Open Settings from the bar along the bottom.
2. Under Notes, tap Reminders not ringing?.
3. The sheet Make sure reminders ring shows three cards: Notifications, Exact times (Alarms & reminders) and Background activity. A card with a problem says what's wrong, for example "Off: reminders can't show".
4. Tap the button on that card. Memlow opens the page in your phone's settings and shows what to look for.
5. Change the setting, then come back to Memlow. A green tick shows it's done.

Memlow also checks when you save a reminder. If something would stop it, the sheet Make sure this reminder rings opens. Your reminder is saved either way.

Notifications are off

This is the most common cause. Without notifications, a reminder can't show at all. It still waits in Tasks.

1. Open Settings, then Reminders not ringing?, and tap Turn on notifications.
2. On Android 13 and newer, Android may ask "Allow Memlow to send you notifications?". Choose Allow, and you're done.
3. If you chose Don't allow before, the button opens Memlow's notification settings instead. Turn on All Memlow notifications (on Android 12 and older, Show notifications).
4. Check that the Reminders category is on as well. It can be turned off on its own, and then only reminders go quiet.
5. Come back to Memlow.

Exact alarms aren't allowed

On Android 12 and newer, an app needs permission to ring at an exact minute. Without it, the card says "Off: reminders may ring up to an hour late". Android 14 and newer don't give this permission to newly installed apps, so many people see this one.

1. In Reminders not ringing?, tap Open Alarms & reminders.
2. Turn on Allow setting alarms and reminders.
3. Come back to Memlow.

You can also find it yourself: search your phone's settings for "Alarms & reminders" and pick Memlow.

Battery saving stops Memlow

Android can hold back apps it thinks you don't need. The card says "Restricted: reminders may not ring" or "Battery saving may stop it: allow unrestricted battery use".

1. In Reminders not ringing?, tap Open battery settings.
2. On Android 14 and newer, tap Allow background usage, then choose Unrestricted.
3. On Android 12 and 13, choose Unrestricted.
4. On Android 9 to 11, if Memlow is restricted, tap Battery, then Background restriction, then Remove.
5. On Android 8 to 11 otherwise, tap Not optimized, pick All apps, find Memlow and choose Don't optimize.

Your phone maker's own battery saver

Some phones stop apps beyond Android's own settings. If reminders still come late or not at all, change your phone maker's setting too. Memlow's Background activity card shows the tip for your phone. Menu names change between versions, so look for the closest match.

• Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO: in Memlow's App info, set Battery saver to No restrictions and turn on Autostart. You can also lock Memlow in recent apps so clearing them leaves it alone.
• Samsung: open your phone's Settings, then Battery (on older models, Battery and device care, then Battery), then Background usage limits. Open Never sleeping apps, tap +, pick Memlow and tap Add. Make sure Memlow isn't in Sleeping apps or Deep sleeping apps.
• OPPO, realme and OnePlus: in App info, open Battery usage and turn on Allow background activity and Allow auto launch.
• vivo and iQOO: in App info, open Battery, allow High background power consumption, and turn on Autostart.
• Huawei and Honor: open Settings, then Battery, then App launch. Set Memlow to manage manually and turn on all three switches.
• Infinix, Tecno and itel: in Phone Master, turn on Memlow under Auto-start.

On any phone, try not to swipe Memlow away from recent apps.

It rings, but without a sound

Android's own quiet settings can silence a reminder that did arrive.

1. Check that Do Not Disturb is off, or that it lets Memlow through.
2. Check that your phone isn't on silent or vibrate.
3. In your phone's settings for Memlow's notifications, open the Reminders category and check its sound.

Why some reminders say "Missed"

A reminder rings late, with "Missed:" before its title, when your phone was off at its time, or when the phone had stopped Memlow. Memlow rings it as soon as it can, so you still hear about it. It's also in the bell at the top of Home, under Notifications.

Reminders on the web

On the web, reminders ring while Memlow is open in a tab or installed as an app. A reminder you miss shows up in the bell when you come back. For reminders that always ring, use the Android app.

1. Open Settings, then Reminders.
2. Look at the Notifications row. If it says Not asked yet, choose Allow, then allow notifications when the browser asks.
3. If it says "Blocked in the browser's site settings", open the site settings for app.memlow.com. It's the icon at the start of the address bar. Set notifications to allow, then reload the page.
4. Keep a Memlow tab open, or install the web app.
5. Check that your computer's own focus or do-not-disturb mode isn't hiding notifications.

Still not working?

Write to [email protected]. Please include:

• your Memlow version (Settings, then About, then Version);
• your phone's make, model and Android version;
• a screenshot of the Make sure reminders ring sheet;
• when the reminder should have rung, and when it did (or that it didn't).

There's no need to send your PIN or the text of the note. For how reminders work in general, see Set, repeat and snooze reminders.

Questions and answers