Nudge โ Everything it does
A reminder app that actually gets your attention, because it talks to you the way you want to be talked to.
What Is Nudge?
Most reminder apps fail because they're ignored. The notification looks the same every time, says the same bland thing, and doesn't earn your attention. You swipe it away and forget about it.
Nudge solves this by letting you choose the tone of your reminders โ from calm and neutral to genuinely, unapologetically harsh. The smart scheduling system means nudges fire at the right moment, respect your Do Not Disturb settings and quiet hours, and back off if you keep ignoring them.
No account required. No internet needed. Everything stays on your device.
Getting Started
Creating a reminder takes about ten seconds:
- Tap + on the Nudges screen
- Type what the reminder is for (e.g., "Drink water", "Move", "Take meds")
- Choose how often โ every X minutes, X times per day, at a fixed time, or manually
- Tap Save
Everything else โ tones, quiet hours, advanced scheduling, streak tracking โ is optional and stays out of your way until you go looking for it.
Tones
Every reminder has its own tone setting that controls the personality of the messages you receive.
Neutral
Dry. Factual. No filler. Tells you what to do and gets out of the way.
Encouraging
Warm, positive, genuinely supportive. Good for habit building.
Playful
Light sarcasm, jokes, and a little ribbing. Makes you smirk even as it reminds you.
Harsh Pro ยท 18+ opt-in
No filter. No softening. Blunt, direct, and occasionally mean. For people who have tried every gentle reminder app and gotten nowhere.
Two intensity settings: Mild (blunt and direct, no strong language) and Full (crude, unfiltered, adult language).
Reminder Types
Interval
Fire every N minutes within an active time window. Set a window (e.g., 8amโ10pm) so it doesn't buzz you at 3am.
Fixed Time
Fire at a specific time of day, every day or on selected days of the week.
Times Per Day
Fire exactly X times per day, spread evenly across your active window. Set a daily goal and track your progress.
Countdown / One-Time
Fire once after a delay, or at a specific date and time. Good for one-off reminders.
Tracker (Manual)
No automatic notifications โ just a tap-to-log tile. Track habits you want to count without being reminded. Numeric values supported (e.g., log "8" for 8 glasses of water).
Smart Scheduling
Every potential notification passes through a decision pipeline before it fires:
- Daily cap โ Set a maximum number of nudges per day across all reminders. Great if you want reminders to stay in the background without overwhelming you.
- Minimum gap โ Require a minimum number of minutes between any two nudges, globally. No getting hit with three reminders back-to-back.
- Quiet hours โ Set a window where no nudges fire. Sleep in peace.
- DND respect โ Nudge optionally checks Android's Do Not Disturb mode and holds notifications until it's lifted.
- Backoff on dismissal โ If you keep swiping away a reminder without tapping Done, Nudge backs off. Stops firing after too many consecutive dismissals, resets the next day.
- Stop for today โ Dismissed too many times? Nudge stops that reminder for the rest of the day automatically.
- Suppress if already done โ If you've already tapped Done for a reminder today, Nudge won't fire it again.
Device-Aware Rules Pro
- Screen-on only โ Only fire when the screen is actively on. Doesn't buzz your pocket.
- Suppress while driving โ Android Activity Recognition detects if you're in a vehicle and holds nudges until you've stopped.
- Suppress while moving โ Optionally hold nudges while you're walking or in motion.
- Auto-complete on movement โ For movement habits: if you're actively moving when the nudge would fire, Nudge automatically counts it as Done. No tap needed.
Escalation Pro
If you ignore a nudge, Nudge can automatically re-fire it after N minutes โ with a stronger tone, higher urgency, or both. Set up a chain: first reminder fires normally, second fires 10 minutes later if not acknowledged, third fires 20 minutes after that.
Trackers + Health Connect
Trackers live on their own Trackers tab and display as a grid of tiles for quick tapping. Manual logging supported for any numeric value.
Trackers can also pull data directly from Android Health Connect, so your step count and active calories sync automatically โ no manual logging needed. If your step goal is 10,000 and you've hit it, the tracker shows it. Your linked nudge reminders see that data too: if you've already hit your goal, the reminder won't fire.
Permissions required: Health Connect read access for steps and/or active calories. Requested only if you use this feature.
Streak Tracking
Nudge tracks how many consecutive days you've completed each reminder.
- Streak counter shown on every reminder tile
- Completing a reminder at least once counts as meeting the day's goal
- Missing a day resets the streak to zero
- Save your streak Pro โ If it's late in the day and you haven't done the thing yet, Nudge sends a high-priority reminder before midnight
- Tone shifts on milestones โ Hit 7, 30, or 100 days? Your reminders respond to that
History & Stats
The History tab shows your full completion history:
- 12-week heatmap โ GitHub-style grid showing which days you completed each habit, color-coded by intensity
- Current streak โ How many days in a row right now
- Best streak โ Your all-time record
- 30-day completion rate โ What percentage of days in the last 30 you followed through
- Total completions โ All-time count
Filter by All habits, Nudges only, or Trackers only. Or drill into a single habit for its individual history.
Phrase Library
Every nudge message is chosen from a library of hundreds of phrases organized by tone, category, intensity, and context tags. The selection algorithm picks the best phrase for the moment based on time of day, streak status, recent history, and consecutive dismissals. You'll rarely see the same message twice.
Theming
Nudge ships with several color themes that change the accent color, page backgrounds, and card surfaces โ applied live, no restart needed.
Backup & Restore Pro
Export your reminders and settings to a file and save it anywhere โ Google Drive, email, local storage. Restore on a new phone by importing that file.
Your Google account also backs up your app data automatically in the background, so reinstalling on the same account usually restores everything on its own.
Pro
- Harsh tone (18+ opt-in, mild and full intensity)
- Device-aware rules (screen-off, driving, movement suppression)
- Auto-complete on movement detection
- Escalation chains
- Save-your-streak before-midnight notifications
- Tone adjustments on streak milestones
- Backup & Restore
Privacy
No Account
No sign-in, registration, or account at any tier.
Offline
No data transmitted. Everything stays in a local SQLite database on your device.
No Analytics
Nudge does not phone home, track usage, or send anything anywhere.
Health Data
Health Connect data is read locally. Nothing leaves the app.
Permissions Nudge may request
- Exact alarm scheduling โ required to fire notifications at the right time
- Boot completed โ to reschedule your reminders after a device restart
- Physical activity recognition โ for driving/movement detection (only if you use Pro device-aware rules)
- Health Connect โ for step/calorie sync (only if you set up a Health Connect tracker)
Coming Soon
Home screen widget
Your next upcoming reminder and current streak, at a glance on your home screen.
Custom messages
Write your own phrase for any reminder. Your words, your tone.
Custom sounds
Choose from a built-in library or pick any audio file from your device.
Calendar awareness
Suppress nudges during calendar events โ meetings, appointments.
Year in Review
A shareable summary of your best habits, streaks, and completions for the year.
iOS support
Same app, same features, on iPhone and iPad.
FAQ
Does Nudge work without an internet connection?
Yes. All functionality is entirely local. No network connection is needed for any core feature.
Do I need to create an account?
No. Nudge has no accounts, sign-in, or registration at any tier.
What happens to my reminders if I uninstall?
They're deleted with the app. Use Backup & Restore (Pro) to save them before uninstalling.
What's the difference between "Times Per Day" and "Interval"?
Interval fires every N minutes continuously. Times Per Day fires exactly X times spread evenly across your active window โ planned spacing vs. rolling repetition.
Is Harsh tone really that bad?
It's intentionally blunt and can include strong language. That's the point. If gentle reminders haven't worked for you, this is for you.
Does Nudge work in the background?
Yes. Nudge uses Android WorkManager for background delivery โ battery-efficient and survives the app being closed or the device restarting.
What is the minimum reminder interval?
15 minutes. Android WorkManager enforces this floor to preserve battery life.
Will Nudge fire during Do Not Disturb?
Only if you turn off DND respect in the reminder's settings. By default, Nudge respects DND.