OkBell for you and your family

This guide explains the Personal space of OkBell in the words its screens use. It covers the web app at app.okbell.app and the OkBell phone app for iPhone and Android. Examples use Ravi, who lives in Dubai, and his mother Lakshmi (78), who lives alone in Hyderabad.

In one minute

OkBell reminds you of anything that falls due: a passport, car insurance, rent, a school fee, a birthday. It reminds you early enough to act, then on the day, then again if nothing was marked done. On the Family plan it can also tell a second person in your family when a reminder is missed.

• Your Personal space holds your own items. It is private to you.
• A family space is shared with up to 6 adults in your family. Each item can be private, shared or given to one person.
• Reminding other people works only after that person says yes themselves. You send the first invite from your own WhatsApp. OkBell never messages anyone before they agree, and never sends them offers.
• Family care is a daily "I'm OK" check-in for a parent who lives alone.
• Just in case keeps private messages for the people you choose, and shares them only if you stop checking in for a long time. It is not a safe, and it is not a will.
• OkBell never touches your money. It does not take payments for your bills, sell insurance or show "renew now" offers.

A reminder from OkBell is advice, not legal advice. Where an item follows an official rule, the app shows when the rule was last checked and links to the official page.

Getting started

1. Sign in. Open app.okbell.app in a browser, or the OkBell app. Type your email and tap Send me a code. Type the code from the email (it works for 10 minutes) and tap Sign in. There is no password. On the web you can also tap Sign in with a passkey once you have one.
2. Say what you need (if you see "Let's set up OkBell"). Four short steps: Who is it for? (Me, My family or My business), What do you need? (pick one or more), a template to fill in your first reminders (or Skip for now), then Start. You can change this later with Change what you use on Home.
3. Home. Home has a card for each of the six Roots you use: Due, Collect, Pass, Nearby, Care and Just in case. Each card shows its own news, such as what falls due next or what is still owed, and Needs you now at the top lists what cannot wait. Tap a card to open it; its menu is the bar at the bottom. If you have no Personal space yet, tap Start my Personal space. The logo at the top right of a tab always brings you back to Home.
4. Start my Personal space. Check the home country (two letters, like `IN` or `AE`) and the time zone; both come from your device. While the Personal space is in its small beta, you also enter the beta code you were given. Tap Start.
5. Add your first item. Tap Add something due, choose what kind it is, give it a title and a date, and tap Save. For example: Passport, a Document, expiry 14 March 2027.
6. Turn on notifications on the phone when OkBell asks. Your reminders come as notifications first.

Done. OkBell now plans the reminders for that item. With the default settings, Ravi's passport is reminded 90, 30 and 7 days before 14 March 2027, then on the day.

Good to know: the home country and time zone cannot be changed after you start the space yet. Pick them with care.

Plans and what each can do

Every Personal space is on one of three plans: Personal Free, Personal Plus or Personal Family. Everyone starts on Free. okbell.app/pricing says what is on sale in your country. Some things are on every plan:

• as many items as you like, with app notifications and email;
• repeats (every day, every week, chosen days, several times a day and more), times of day, alarms, photos, lists, saved places, Work and money, templates and the job offer check, where these are open;
• the calendar feed, and your home country's due list.

A plan never deletes your items. The add form simply does not offer what your plan does not include.

Free

For trying OkBell and for most personal reminders.

• Reminders by app notification and email. No WhatsApp.
• The due list for your home country only.
• A family space with you and one other adult.
• Family care basics: one person, check-ins in the app, and alerts by app notification to up to 2 contacts who use OkBell.
• Not included: WhatsApp reminders, telling a second person when you miss something, reminders for other people, Hijri dates and Just in case.

Your space and items

What is due (Due soon on the phone). The first screen of your space lists what falls due next, nearest first, with its kind and date. On the phone, the next one sits on a big card at the top with Done and Later; tap any other row to open its buttons. On each row:

• Done marks this time done. A repeating item moves on to the next date.
• Later (on the phone) or the snooze buttons (on the web): In an hour, Remind me tomorrow or Next week.
• Place (when saved places are on) links the item to a place.

On the web, the links at the top open People I remind, Family, Calendar feed, Family care, Places, Lists, All my items, Add from your country's list, Templates, the job offer check and Download my data (everything in this space as a file). On the phone the bar at the bottom has Due, Calendar, Family, More and + to add something due. More has the rest: All my items, People I remind, Family care, Places, Lists, Work and money, Just in case. Each shows only while its feature is open.

On the phone, every tap is saved at once and sent when there is a signal, so Done and Later work offline.

More (on the phone). The last item on the bottom bar: All my items, Add from your country's list, and whatever else is on for you (Templates, People I remind, Family care, Places, Lists, Work and money, Just in case). The bottom bar stays on every screen, so you can always move on from here. The logo at the top right of a tab goes back to Home. + adds something due.

Add something due. On the web the form is at the bottom of the first screen; on the phone it is the + on the bottom bar.

• What kind: Bill, Renewal, Document, Occasion, Deadline, Countdown, Something else, and (where open) Pay day, Monthly instalment and Interest due.
• Title, Note (optional), Due date and Time (optional).
• Repeats: Once, Every month, Every year; where open, also Every day, Every week, Every few days, weeks or months, On chosen days of the week, Several times a day, Custom, and Ends (never, on a date, or after a number of times). On Plus and Family, where open: Every year by the Hijri date (dates follow the Umm al-Qura calendar and may shift by a day where the month starts by moon sighting).
• Remind me this many days before. Each kind has its own default: Document 90, 30 and 7 days; Renewal 30, 7 and 1; Bill 3; Occasion 7 and 1; Deadline 14 and 3; Something else 1. A Countdown shows the date but sends no reminder. A repeat that comes round within days (every day, several times a day) does not ask: "It reminds you at its time, each time."
• How it reminds you (where alarms are open): Notification (the default), Ring like an alarm, or Silent. See Alarms.
• Photo (where open): one picture, shown on the alarm screen.
• In a family space: Who sees it (Only me, Everyone in the family, One person), Who gets the reminders and Tell someone if it is missed.
• Who is reminded (Family plan, where open): Just me, or one of the people who said yes to your invite.

Example: Ravi adds "Car insurance", a Renewal, due 12 November, repeating every year. OkBell reminds him on 13 October, 5 November and 11 November at 09:00, then on 12 November.

How reminders reach you. Reminders before the date go at 09:00 your time. On the due day the reminder comes at the item's time (09:00 if it has none). If nothing is marked done, a reminder goes the next day at 09:00: by WhatsApp first on Plus and Family, else by email. On a family item with Tell someone if it is missed, that person is told two days after the due date. Then OkBell stops for that date. WhatsApp and email never go out at night (21:00 to 08:00); only a notification at a time you chose yourself comes at that minute.

All my items. Every item in the space. A document waiting for its new expiry date comes first, then the rest, then what you Put away, with Bring back. Each status says what is happening: Reminders on, Finished, Waiting for the new expiry date, Put away.

One item (Change this item). Open an item to:

• Save changes to its title, note, date, time, repeat, days before, who sees it, who it reminds or the second person. Its kind cannot change. Only the person who added it can change it. If someone changed it elsewhere in the meantime, the app says so and does not save over it.
• Enter the new expiry for a document. When you tap Done on a document, OkBell waits for the new date ("Waiting for the new expiry date") and stops reminding. Anyone who can see it may enter the new date.
• Put away: nothing is sent for it until you bring it back.
• Delete: after "Delete this for good? This cannot be undone.", the item and its reminders are gone at once. Put it away instead if you may want it later.

Limits: a note on an item that reminds someone else is at most 80 characters, with no links, phone numbers or requests for money. Editing the reminder steps beyond "days before" is not possible yet.

Lists, calendar and templates

Calendar feed

Calendar feed shows your due dates in any calendar app (Apple, Google, Outlook). Tap Make my link, then Add to my calendar. "Anyone with the link can see the titles, so keep it to yourself." Notes stay out unless you tick Show my notes in the calendar too. Turn every link off stops every link at once. Google Calendar can take up to a day to show a change; your reminders always come from OkBell itself. The feed is read-only: you cannot add items from your calendar.

Due packs

Add from your country's list shows the papers and renewals that fall due in your country, as OkBell checked them: for example a passport, a driving licence, vehicle papers or an Emirates ID. Each row shows "Rules checked on <date>. Check with the official page before you act." and an Official page link.

1. Open Add from your country's list (from What is due or Add).
2. Tick what you have and type its Expiry or due date.
3. Tap Add what I ticked. The items appear in All my items, with reminders that start early enough to renew in time.

What each plan gets: Free shows your home country's list. Plus and Family show every country with a checked list, which helps if you hold papers in two countries. If there is no checked list for a country yet, the screen says so and you can still add your own items.

Limits: this is advice, not legal advice. A rule can change; when OkBell updates a list, reminders already sent stay sent and new ones follow the new rule.

On the website, okbell.app/due-packs lists the countries with a checked list; each country's page lists its rules, and each rule has its own page with how long it lasts, when you can renew, any grace period and the official link.

Your family space

A family space sits next to each person's own Personal space. Its members see the items others share and the family calendar. Each person's private items stay theirs.

Family. In your Personal space, this screen lists Your families, Start a family space (a name is optional) and Have a code from someone in your family?. Inside a family space it shows:

• Members and the seats used ("3 of 6 adults"). The person who made it is the Owner; everyone else is a Member.
• Invite an adult: type who it is for (only you see this), tap Make an invite, then Send on WhatsApp or Send from my phone. You send it yourself; OkBell sends nothing. "The code works once, for 7 days." Each invite shows Not answered yet, Joined, Said no, Taken back or Ran out, with Invite again and Take back.
• Family calendar: one month at a time, every member's shared items on their dates, each with the member's name. "Other members' private items are not shown."
• Leave this family (members) or Remove (owner). A person who leaves takes their private items and their "remind them" items to their own space. What they shared stays with the family.

Join a family. The invited person opens the link (or types the code on the Family screen), signs in or makes an account, sees who asked and how many are in the family, ticks I am 18 or older and taps Join the family, or No, thanks. Nothing is sent to anyone either way.

Who sees what: Only me (private), Everyone in the family (shared, the default in a family space) or One person (that person gets the reminders). A private item never reaches another member: not in lists, the calendar, the calendar feed, the export or any link.

Seats: the owner's plan sets them. Family: 6 adults. Free and Plus: 2 (you and one other). An open invite holds a seat. "This family is full" means: remove someone or take back an invite.

Limits: one family space each as owner; you can be in up to 3 family spaces. The owner cannot leave; if the owner deletes their account, the family passes to the adult who joined first and owns no family. While the Personal space is in its beta, only people who already have a Personal space (or a beta code) can join.

Work and money

These parts help when you work away from home, for example in the Gulf. Each one shows only where it is open.

Your account

Account (on the phone, the Account button at the top right of Home; it is laid out in cards):

• Who you are, and Your spaces: personal, family or business, and Just in case when it is on for you.
• Dark mode: OkBell starts light. This switch turns it dark and it stays that way on this phone.
• Language: the app's language.
• Private code: while Saved places, Just in case or Work and money is open (see Your Private code).
• Work and money backup: on the phone, while Work and money is open (see Work and money backup).
• On the phone: Your plan (Personal only, where plans are on sale in the app), Turn on notifications, Privacy, Terms, Help (the support email) and the app version.
• Sign out. On the phone, if some taps are not synced yet, it asks Sync now or Sign out anyway (they are kept and sent when you sign in again).
• Delete my account. Type DELETE to confirm. "Your reminders stop at once and you are signed out everywhere. Your data is erased after 30 days." OkBell then tells you the date ("Your account is being deleted. Everything is erased after…") and signs you out. On the phone you may be asked to sign out and sign in again first, then delete within 15 minutes. If you are the only owner of a business, choose to delete it too or add another owner first.

What deletion means: the people you remind, your lists, items and places are erased after 30 days. Family care stops at once, for good. Just in case holds and sends nothing. A plan bought in the App Store or Google Play must be cancelled there (Open what I bought in the store). If you change your mind within the 30 days, write to hello@okbell.app; Family care does not come back and must be set up again.

Your data. Your Personal space data is kept apart from any business, even one you work in. Titles and notes are encrypted. On the web, Download my data saves everything in a space as a file.

okbell.app/delete-account explains how to delete your account, also for people who cannot sign in.

Terms and privacy

The first time you open OkBell, and whenever we change our Terms of Use or Privacy Policy in a way that matters, a card says Please agree to our Terms of Use (or Privacy Policy). It is on Home in the phone app and at the top of Spaces on the web. Tap it, read each document (Read opens it on okbell.app in your language), then tap I agree. The card goes away.

Until you agree, the card stays and comes back each time you open OkBell. Nothing is locked meanwhile. A small fix, such as a typo, does not ask you again. We keep a record of what you agreed to and when.

The phone app

The OkBell app for iPhone and Android does everything the web app does for your Personal space, plus the parts that need a phone: alarms, Nearby now and arrival alerts, the widget, Work and money, and the parent's I'm OK screen for Family care. It signs in with an email code only.

Saved taps. Done, Later, a new item, a list line, I'm OK: every tap is saved on the phone at once and sent when there is a signal. If one could not be saved, a note says "1 could not be saved. Tap to see why." The screen lists what is waiting and what was refused, with the reason. You can Discard a refused tap after a warning; nothing is dropped by itself.

Other phone notes:

• Notifications. Android has separate channels: Reminders, Silent reminders, Alarms, Place reminders, Family care alerts and Family care: all OK. Keep Alarms and Family care alerts on.
• The widget (where open): touch and hold the home screen, add the OkBell widget. It shows what is due today, and "Something is due here" at a saved place. Off, it says only "Open OkBell".
• Please update OkBell. When a version no longer works, the app asks you to update. Nothing you saved is lost.
• The phone app never shows a business plan or its price.

On the OkBell website

okbell.app explains OkBell before you sign up. The home page shows its parts; okbell.app/personal explains the Personal space and how reminding someone works only after they agree; okbell.app/due covers reminders for anything with a date; okbell.app/how-it-works shows the reminder steps, quiet hours and the invite; okbell.app/templates and each category page show the template cards, each marked live or "coming".

Help: okbell.app/help has short step-by-step guides; okbell.app/faq has short answers; okbell.app/guides/personal is this guide.

About OkBell: okbell.app/about (who runs it), okbell.app/contact (one address for everything, and the grievance officer), okbell.app/security (how data is protected and how to report a problem), okbell.app/legal (the terms and privacy policy for your country) and status.okbell.app (whether OkBell is working right now).

A page about a part that is not open yet says "coming". OkBell's website is okbell.app.

Questions

Is OkBell free? Yes, the Free plan has no time limit: unlimited items, app notifications and email. Plus and Family add WhatsApp, more countries, family features, Just in case and full Family care.

Why did my WhatsApp reminders stop? Either your plan ended, or you used this month's WhatsApp messages. Reminders keep coming by notification and email.

I marked a passport Done, and the reminders stopped. Why? A document waits for its new expiry date. Open it in All my items and tap Enter the new expiry.

Can my wife see my items? Only what you share. In a family space, choose Only me to keep an item private. Your Personal space is never shared.

Can OkBell remind my mother? Yes, on the Family plan, once she says yes herself on WhatsApp. Reminders reach her on WhatsApp, so she needs it on her phone. For a daily check-in instead, see Family care.

Does OkBell message the people I add before they agree? No. You send the first invite from your own phone. OkBell sends nothing until they say yes, and never sends them offers.

Why does my alarm not ring? Open the item's Alarm sound and checks and look at Will it ring? It names what to fix on this phone.

I changed phones. Where are my places and my Work and money diary? Where these parts are open, sign in on the new phone with the same email, type the one-time code, then your Private code, and they come back. Payslip photos come too. Open Places once with your code: until then the new phone has no copy, so no alerts come when you arrive. If you turned off Work and money backup, the diary stays on the old phone, and a lost phone means lost records.

I moved country. Can I change my home country or time zone? Not yet. Ask support at hello@okbell.app.

What if I forget my Private code? Ask for a one-time code to your verified phone or email, then set a new Private code. Your messages, places and records are still there.

Can OkBell open my private messages, places or records? In rare cases, yes. OkBell's senior admins can open them if the law requires it, or to help you recover them. Support staff cannot. Do not keep passwords, PINs, card numbers, seed phrases, wills or legal papers in OkBell. It is not a safe, and it is not a legal transfer.

Can OkBell staff send my Just in case messages early? No. Staff can only pause it, with two people agreeing. Only missed check-ins and the person you trust can move it forward.

My father missed his check-in but is fine. What now? A contact taps "She is OK" (or "He is OK") on the alert, or he checks in. To stop alerts while he travels, Pause until a date.

Is Family care an emergency service? No. In an emergency, call your local number (112 in India).

I bought Plus on my iPhone. Can I cancel on the website? No. Cancel in your iPhone's subscription settings. Only plans bought on the web are stopped with Stop renewal.

How do I get my data? On the web, open your space and tap Download my data.