Reminders per habit

Each habit has its own reminder time. Set the water reminder for mid morning, the reading reminder for after dinner and the stretch reminder for right before bed. For a habit set to specific days, the reminder follows that schedule, so a habit set to weekdays does not ring on Saturday. A weekly target habit can be done on any day of the week, so it reminds you every day at its reminder time.

Wording that changes

A notification you have seen fifty times stops being a notification. HabitFlame rotates the wording of each reminder, so the message on Tuesday is not the message from Monday. It is a small change that keeps the alert readable for longer than the first week.

Choosing a reminder time that works

The best reminder time is not the moment you intend to do the habit. It is a few minutes before a moment you already have. Tie the reminder to something that happens every day anyway: after the morning coffee, when you get home, after dinner, before you brush your teeth. The reminder then lands when you are able to act on it, instead of in the middle of a meeting.

If you keep swiping a reminder away, move it rather than ignoring it. A reminder you dismiss every day teaches you to dismiss it. Try a later time for a week and see whether the habit starts getting done.

The Today view

The Today tab lists the habits due today. Each row shows the habit, its streak and a control that matches its type: a tick for yes or no habits, a counter for counts, a timer field for durations and a set of check-ins for multi check-in habits. You can hide completed habits so only what is left stays on screen, and finishing every habit for the day gets a celebration.

Reminders that are not notifications

Notifications are only one way to be reminded. Home screen and lock screen widgets show today's habits and how many are done, and home screen widgets let you complete a habit without opening the app. For many people the widget on the lock screen does more than the alert, because it is there every time the phone is picked up.

The strongest reminder is a person. Pair with an accountability partner and share the habits you keep skipping. With Premium, they see each shared completion as it happens and get an evening alert when a streak of yours is at risk, so a nudge from them arrives as a notification from someone who cares whether you did it. Free accounts include 3 nudges a month, and Premium makes them unlimited.

Four ways to track a daily habit

  • Yes or no, for a single daily action.
  • Count, with a daily goal, for water, pages or reps.
  • Duration, in minutes, for meditation, practice or exercise.
  • Multi check-in, for habits done 2 to 4 times a day, such as medication or brushing.

Every habit can run every day, on specific days of the week, or against a weekly target such as three times a week. Streaks follow the schedule, so a planned day off does not break the chain.

Building a daily routine that lasts

Start with fewer habits than you think you can handle. Two or three daily habits you finish every day build more momentum than eight you finish half of. Once the first few feel automatic, add the next one.

Keep each habit specific enough that there is no doubt about whether it happened. A count habit for glasses of water, or 25 minutes of reading as a duration habit, leaves no room for argument. A habit like be healthier cannot be ticked honestly on any day, so it quietly stops being tracked.

On a day when everything goes wrong, do the smallest honest version of each habit rather than skipping it. A short walk is still a walk, and it keeps you in the rhythm of showing up.

Seeing the pattern

Every completion feeds the stats tab: weekly and monthly completion rates, a full year grid with one square per day, and current and longest streaks for each habit. Milestones at 7, 14, 21, 30, 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, 365, 500 and 1000 days get a celebration, and 16 achievement badges fill in over time. Premium adds smart insights, which look at your history on the device and point out your most consistent and most fragile habits, your best day for each habit and weekday versus weekend patterns.

Free and Premium

Reminders, the Today view, widgets, all four tracking types, streaks, the focus timer, iCloud sync and an accountability partner are all free, for up to 5 habits. Premium is a one-time $9.99 purchase, not a subscription, and adds unlimited habits, habit stacking, smart insights, real-time partner updates and unlimited partner nudges.

Questions about reminders and the daily view

Can I set more than one reminder time for a habit?
Each habit has one reminder time. For something you do several times a day, use a multi check-in habit, which tracks 2 to 4 check-ins, and place the reminder at the time you are most likely to forget.
Do reminders ring on days a habit is not scheduled?
Not for habits set to specific days: their reminders only ring on the days you picked. A weekly target habit can be completed on any day, so its reminder rings every day at the time you set.
Can I complete a habit from the notification or widget?
Yes. Home screen widgets let you complete a habit without opening the app, and a habit reminder has a Mark Complete action. Lock screen widgets show today's habits and your progress.
Does the app need an account for reminders?
No. Reminders are local to your phone, and the app never asks you to sign up.
Can I hide habits I have already finished?
Yes. Completed habits can be hidden from the Today tab, so the list shows only what is still open.