How Plum tracks birth control and sends reminders

By the Plum team · Checked against the app on September 18, 2026

Plum keeps your birth control next to your cycle, so one app holds both. You tell it which method you use, it reminds you about the ones that run on a schedule, and it adjusts what it predicts to match the method.

One thing is worth knowing before you start. On hormonal birth control, Plum hides ovulation and the fertile window by default, on purpose. Those two predictions read the cycle you would have without hormones, and on the pill or the shot they stop meaning what they usually mean. If you still want them, they are a switch away in Cycle Preferences.

How Plum works out the rest of your predictions is on how Plum predicts your period, and the reminders Plum sends for everything else are on which reminders Plum sends. If you are coming off a method rather than starting one, what happens to your cycle afterwards is on periods after stopping birth control.

Step by step

Open Me, then Birth Control. If you have never set a method, the screen offers to add one. If you already have, it shows your current method and lets you change it.
Choose the method you use now. Pill, patch, ring, shot, hormonal IUD, copper IUD or implant. Choosing the pill adds two more questions, whether it is combined or progestin-only, and which pack schedule you follow.
Turn on a reminder, if your method has one. The pill, patch, ring and shot each take a reminder. Pick the time and Plum asks for notification access if it does not have it yet.
Say when you started, and save. Plum asks for a start date and tells you an estimate is fine. Saving stores the method and schedules the reminder.

Common questions

Which birth control methods can Plum track?

Seven. The pill, the patch, the ring, the shot, a hormonal IUD, a copper IUD and the implant. The pill asks whether yours is combined or progestin-only.

Can Plum remind me to take my pill?

Yes, at a time you pick each day. Plum follows the pack schedule you chose, either a 21/7 pack, a 24/4 pack or continuous. Reminders come with the app and don’t need Plum Premium.

What reminders do the patch, ring and shot get?

The patch reminds you on the weekday you change it. The ring follows whichever preset you use, three weeks in and one week out, or continuous. The shot reminds you a set number of days before your next dose date.

Do an IUD or the implant get reminders?

No. Plum records that you use one, and the screen says plainly that the method has no reminders, because there is nothing to do on a schedule.

What happens to my period predictions on hormonal birth control?

Plum lowers its confidence and hides ovulation and the fertile window by default, because hormonal birth control changes bleeding patterns and makes cycle-based predictions less reliable. You can switch both back on in Cycle Preferences if you want to keep seeing them.

Does a copper IUD change my predictions?

No. A copper IUD has no hormones, so predictions carry on as normal and Plum adds a short note rather than hiding anything.

What happens to my reminder when I travel?

Plum notices the new timezone and asks. You can keep the original time, which is what keeps a pill schedule intact, or shift the reminder to local time.

How do I change or stop a method?

Open Me, then Birth Control. Change the method to swap one for another, or tap Stop using birth control, which cancels that method’s reminders and clears it from your settings.

Can my Plum group see my birth control?

No. A group sees your period dates, and your workout days if you track exercise. Your method, your reminders and your start date stay with you.

Is Plum a form of birth control?

No. Plum tracks the method you already use and reminds you about it. Plum isn’t a medical device, and its predictions aren’t contraception.

Still stuck?

Write to plumsupport@stickyricelabs.com and a person will answer, usually within a couple of days. Say what you were doing and what you expected. Leave health details out, we never need them to help.

More help

How to delete your Plum account and dataOpen Me, then Security & Privacy, then Delete account. Everything under the account is erased from Plum's servers. Cancel Premium separately.How groups work in PlumCreate a group, send friends the invite link, and see each other's period dates on one timeline. What a group is for, who can join and who runs it.What your group can see, and what stays privateMembers see your last period, your next expected one, whether you're on it today and, if you track exercise, your workout days. Notes stay with you.