Turn on plant care reminders on iPhone and Android

Reminders are a push notification from Keep Growing to your phone, tablet or computer. This guide shows how to set them up, how to prove they work, and what to check when they do not arrive.

How reminders work

One notification a day. It lists everything that is due that day, so you are not buzzed once per plant. With a single plant due it says what that plant needs ("Monty needs a drink"); with several it says "3 plants need you today" and lists them.
Nothing on quiet days. If nothing is due, nothing is sent.
At a time you choose. Reminders go out on the quarter hour (:00, :15, :30 or :45) in your own time zone.
Per device. Each phone or computer you want reminded has to be set up once. Reminders are written in your account's language.

Before you start: install the app on iPhone and iPad

On an iPhone or iPad, notifications only reach an app that is on your Home Screen, and the device needs iOS 16.4 or newer. In Safari:

Open keepgrow.ing and sign in.
Tap the Share button at the bottom of Safari.
Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen, then Add.
Close Safari and open Keep Growing from your Home Screen. Turn reminders on there, not in the browser tab.

If you use another browser on your iPhone, open that browser's Share menu, tap Add to Home Screen, then Add. If your browser does not offer it, open the page in Safari instead.

Before you start: Android and computers

On Android, and on a computer, installing is optional: reminders also work from a browser tab. Installing makes the app open like any other app. The steps depend on the browser:

Chrome: open the ⋮ menu and tap Install app, or Add to Home screen.
Edge: open the ⋯ menu, tap Add to phone, then Install or Add.
Samsung Internet: open the ≡ menu, tap Add page to, then Home screen.
Firefox on Android: tap Install, or Add to Home screen.
Chrome or Edge on a computer: click the install icon at the right of the address bar, or find Install in the ⋮ menu.
Safari on a Mac: open the File menu and choose Add to Dock.
Firefox on a computer cannot install web apps, but reminders still work in the browser.

Inside the app, Profile also has an Install Keep Growing row under About whenever your browser can install it.

Turn reminders on

Open Profile (your avatar at the top of any main screen).
In the Reminders card, switch on Daily reminder.
Your browser asks for permission to show notifications. Choose Allow.
Press Remind me at and pick the hour and minute. The time sheet only offers quarter hours, because that is when reminders are sent.

The time is in the time zone saved on your account. If you had never chosen one, turning reminders on adopts your device's zone for you. Change it any time under Profile, Preferences, Timezone: it keeps working across daylight saving, because the app stores the zone and not a fixed offset.

If something stops this device from receiving reminders, the top of the card shows the single problem that matters most (add it to your Home Screen first, notifications are blocked, this browser cannot show notifications, or this device is not set up) with a Set up button.

Prove it works

Press Send a test notification. It goes through our server and the same push service a real reminder uses, so if it arrives, reminders will too. The notification says "Keep Growing reminders are on".

Preview on this device is different. It only asks your phone to draw a notification locally, so it shows what a reminder looks like but proves nothing about delivery. Use the test for that.

Group updates

The Group updates switch, just below, sends a notification when someone shares to one of your groups. To silence one group only, open its Members list and switch off Mute notifications. Details are in Groups and invite links.

If nothing arrives

The test notification arrives but reminders do not. Reminders are only sent on days something is due, and not for plants you have snoozed. Check Today: if it says "All caught up", there is nothing to send.
"Notifications are blocked." Open your browser's site settings for keepgrow.ing, set notifications to Allow, then come back and press Set up.
iPhone: nothing at all. Make sure you opened the app from the Home Screen icon, that the phone runs iOS 16.4 or newer, and that you turned reminders on inside that app.
"This device isn't subscribed yet." Switch Daily reminder off and on again.
A phone with battery saving on can delay notifications. Allow Keep Growing in the phone's notification and background settings.
Wrong time. Check the time zone under Preferences, not only the hour.

In a shared household every person has their own reminders over every plant they can see. A log by anyone clears the reminder for everyone, so the plant is not watered twice.

Still stuck? Write to us and tell us which phone and browser you use.