Reminder Offsets

Reminder offsets decide how far before a birthday Cakeday should remind you, and at what time of day. In Cakeday each friend has a reminder plan: an ordered list of reminder times, where every entry is either on the birthday itself or a set number of days, weeks, or months before it.

Where to Set Reminder Times

There are two places to adjust reminder times:

• Settings > Notification Settings > Default Reminder Times: The plan used automatically when you add a new friend. You cannot delete the last reminder time here, so a new friend always starts with at least one.
• Friend Detail > Edit > Notifications > Reminder Times: The plan for one specific friend. This row appears once App Notification is on for that friend.

Changing the default plan does not rewrite friends you already saved. When the default changes, Cakeday asks with a Default Reminder Times Changed prompt whether to update friends that still use the old default; choose Review to update them or Not Now to leave them. A friend that differs from the default also shows a Use Default Times button so you can snap back at any time.

Anatomy of a Reminder Time

Each reminder time is built in its own editor sheet:

• Timing: Choose On Birthday or Before Birthday.
• Lead time (Before Birthday only): Pick a number and a unit. Units are Days (up to 99), Weeks (up to 12), or Months (up to 3). The longest lead time is 99 days before the birthday.
• Reminder Time: The clock time of day the reminder fires, set to the minute.
• Time Sensitive Notifications: A per-reminder toggle that lets that reminder break through Focus and appear prominently. See Time Sensitive Notifications.

Editing the Plan

In either editor you can:

• Tap Add Reminder Time to add a new entry.
• Tap an existing reminder time to edit its timing, lead time, clock time, or Time Sensitive setting.
• Swipe a row to Delete it, or use Delete Reminder Time inside the editor.

You can keep several reminder times for the same friend. For example, an important friend can have 2 Weeks Before, 1 Day Before, and On Birthday all scheduled at once.

On the Birthday

The On Birthday reminder is the same-day alert:

• It can be marked as Time Sensitive.
• It contributes to the app badge when the birthday is today.

Birthday Alarm is independent of the reminder plan. It rings at its own alarm time on the birthday whether or not you keep an On Birthday reminder, so removing On Birthday no longer turns the alarm off.

Interaction With Other Reminder Features

Scheduling Limits

iOS limits how many local notifications an app can keep scheduled. Cakeday protects the most important birthday reminders first, especially same-day and 1-day-before reminders, then schedules farther reminders as capacity allows.

If you track many friends and keep many reminder times for each one, a far-future reminder may be scheduled closer to the birthday instead of immediately.

Tips

• Use fewer reminder times for casual acquaintances and more for close friends.
• Keep an On Birthday reminder if you want a badge count on the actual day.
• Use a 1 Month Before reminder for gifts, reservations, or travel planning.
• Set the clock time to match your routine — for example an evening reminder the day before, and a morning reminder on the day.