ON IPHONE
Birthday reminders
on your iPhone.
Add birthdays to Contacts, see them in Calendar, or use an app built for birthdays. Here is how each option works.
GIFT IDEAS
Art supplies, pottery class, museum membership.
- Art
- Pottery
- Museums
THE SHORT ANSWER
Two ways to get birthday reminders on iPhone
iPhone can show your contacts’ birthdays in the Calendar app: add the birthday to the contact in Contacts, then turn on the Birthdays calendar in Calendar. Apple describes these steps in its guides: Edit contacts on iPhone and Set up multiple calendars on iPhone.
An app such as Birthday Reminder adds a countdown for each person, reminder timings you choose, and a place for interests and gift ideas.
ON IPHONE
Show birthdays in the Calendar app
- 1
Add the birthday to a contact
Open Contacts, tap the contact, tap Edit, add a birthday, enter the date and tap Done.
- 2
Open Calendar
Open the Calendar app and tap Calendars.
- 3
Turn on Birthdays
Select Birthdays so contact birthdays appear with your events. On newer versions of iOS the option can be named differently, for example together with holidays.
- 4
Edit in Contacts
Birthdays come from Contacts, so edit a birthday there. Changes can take until the next day to appear in the iCloud Birthdays calendar.
ON IPHONE
Using Birthday Reminder on iPhone
Birthday Reminder can pull birthdays from your contacts or from birthday events in your calendar, so you do not retype them. Allow access to Contacts or Calendar when the app asks. You can also add a birthday by hand.
- A countdown to each birthday in days, hours, minutes and seconds.
- Reminders from the day itself up to a month before; the free plan has one reminder at 9:00 AM.
- Interests and gift ideas saved for each person, and AI gift suggestions with Premium.
ON IPHONE
Which should you use?
If you only need to see a birthday on the right day, Contacts and Calendar are built in and need no extra app. If you want a countdown, a choice of reminder timings and somewhere to plan gifts, Birthday Reminder is made for that.
QUESTIONS
Birthday reminders on iPhone: questions
How do I get birthday reminders on my iPhone?
Add the birthday to the contact and turn on the Birthdays calendar in the Calendar app, or use an app like Birthday Reminder, which schedules reminders from the day itself up to a month before.
Does Birthday Reminder work with my contacts?
Yes. It can import birthdays from your contacts after you allow access. You can also import from birthday events in your calendar or add people manually.
Is Birthday Reminder free on iPhone?
It is free to download. The free plan has limits, and Premium is an optional subscription through the App Store.
Is there an Android version?
Yes. Birthday Reminder is also on Google Play.
See also: birthday countdown app and birthday calendar app.
More birthday guides
Birthday calendar app
See every birthday on a month calendar and in an upcoming list.
Read the guide →AI gift ideas
Get gift suggestions from a person’s age, interests and saved ideas.
Read the guide →Import birthdays from contacts
Bring birthdays in from Contacts or Calendar instead of typing them.
Read the guide →Birthday notifications
Choose how many reminders you get and how far ahead they arrive.
Read the guide →iPhone birthdays calendar
Show, hide and fix birthdays in the iPhone Calendar app.
Read the guide →Gift ideas tracker
Save gift ideas for each person, with an optional price and link.
Read the guide →ON IPHONE
Get Birthday Reminder on iPhone
Download it from the App Store and import your contacts’ birthdays.