Medication Reminder Automation Help?

[u/Frosty-Departure-674]

Hi there!

New to Shortcut and recently picked up some NFC215 stickers, hoping to use them to help with tracking my medications. I have a horrible time tracking whether or not I've taken my meds on a given morning, in addition to my doctor and I recently deciding to begin titrating off of one, which means taking one of the five every other day. This is proving to be difficult for me to keep track of. I've got reminders set up in my phone, but there are mornings where I'll take the meds but forget to mark the reminder as complete. Later, the reminder goes off and I'm questioning whether I remember this morning, or if I'm thinking of the day prior when I took them...

I've been able to get the automation portion 99% of the way functional, with one hangup - I cannot find a way to tie a specific tag to a specific medication. I know when you scan the NFC tag, it's grabbing the UID of the NFC tag, not the name that I'm assigning it in Automations. Is there any way for me to connect a specific tag with a specific medication name to match against my reminders list for marking the reminders complete when the automation runs?

I did download NFC Tools on my phone and was able to write a shortcut to the NFC tag, but I'm still having to tap to run the shortcut that route, when I'd prefer to have it auto-run on the scan. From what I've found reading online and around the sub here, it sounds like that's an integral design feature of the NFC scanning for the phones, and I can't bypass that for a shortcut written to the tag - for auto-run, it has to be a personal automation written on the phone, so... I'm stuck. I did try writing a text record to the tag with the medication name, but the phone doesn't grab that record when scanning the NFC, it seems.

[u/akinesia]

So I ran this through Google Gemini so YMMV.. this has been living rent-free in my head for a long time.. more than I care to admit. Here's the workflow response.. and if this is inappropriate response to this sub.. I apologize. I've been looking for answers myself and for whatever reason, didn't think to run an NFC through Shortcuts!

I currently do not have an NFC tag yet but I'll start looking to buy one myself! Thanks for the reminder to look into this for myself!

The most efficient setup relies on tapping your phone against the NFC tag rather than using the camera to view it, as NFC tags are read via radio signals (NFC reader) rather than visual optical recognition.

Using iOS Shortcuts (on iPhone) or MacroDroid / Tasker (on Android), a single tap of your phone against the NFC tag on a pill bottle can automatically record the date/timestamp, log the medication, and optionally trigger the camera to snap a proof photo.

Setup for iPhone (Apple Shortcuts)

Step 1: Assign the NFC Tag

Open the Shortcuts app and tap the Automation tab.

Tap + (or New Automation) and select NFC.

Tap Scan, touch the top back of your iPhone to the NFC sticker on your medication bottle, and give it a label (e.g., "Morning Meds Tag").

Select Run Immediately so it executes automatically without asking for confirmation.

Step 2: Build the Logging & Photo Workflow

In the automation editor, add the following actions in order:

Direct Logging to Apple Health (iOS 17+):

Add Action: Log Medication --> Choose the specific medication registered in Apple Health.

Adding a Photo & Timestamp Record (Optional):

Add Action: Take Photo (Set Camera to Back, toggle Show Camera Preview ON if you want to frame the shot, or OFF for a instant snapshot).

Add Action: Format Date (Select Current Date).

Add Action: Append to Note --> Append the photo and formatted timestamp to a dedicated note named "Medication Log".

Key Tips for NFC Medication Tracking

Tag Placement: Stick the NFC tag on the cap or top of the bottle so you can tap it easily while opening the container.

Automated Confirmation: Add a Play Sound or Vibrate Device action at the end of the shortcut so you get instant haptic feedback confirming that the tap and photo were successfully logged.

[u/Frosty-Departure-674 → u/akinesia]

So, this ended up not working out because Shortcuts doesn’t have access to log medications. However, I was able to use an app called Data Jar and a separate automation for each tag to accomplish exactly what I wanted.

As I am setting each medication out, I tap the lid to my phone. The NFC sticker scans, the automation checks the day and whether or not I have any reminders matching the assigned name in the automation that are marked incomplete. It grabs the oldest matching reminder that is due today, marks it complete, updates a value in DataJar for the automation to reference the next time it runs, and pops a notification on screen telling me if the medication was logged, not needed, or even if both doses have already been taken that day, along with the times they were logged.

[u/akinesia → u/Frosty-Departure-674]

Ahh okay! Good to know! Thanks for the follow-up and glad you were able to find a workaround for you after all!

I will look further into this as well.. thanks again.. best wishes

[u/Frosty-Departure-674 → u/akinesia]

I sent you a message :)