How to Get Birthday Reminders on Android

In the Google Contacts app, open the person, tap Contact settings, then Reminders, then New reminder, and choose when to be notified: on the day, or 2, 7 or 14 days before, at a time you pick. On a Samsung Galaxy, you can also add each birthday in the Calendar app as an event that repeats every year. If you'd rather get the reminder by email with a message ready, Greetigo works in Chrome on Android, free for up to 10 saved dates.

Google Contacts can remind you of a birthday, as long as the contact is saved in your Google Account.

1. 1.Open the Contacts app and tap the person.
2. 2.Tap Contact settings at the top right, then Reminders, then New reminder.
3. 3.Choose the label Birthday and set the date.
4. 4.Check when you'd like to be notified: the day of the event, or 2, 7 or 14 days before. You can check more than one.
5. 5.Set the time of day, then tap Save.

Then make sure the Contacts app may notify you: in your phone's Settings, go to Apps > Contacts > Notifications, turn notifications on, and turn on Reminders. Google's help page adds two details: a notification has to be added at least 24 hours before the date, and birthdays also show as reminders inside the Contacts app.

Birthdays saved in Google Contacts also show in Google Calendar. A birthday you create in the Google Calendar app (Create, then Birthday) reminds you a week before and on the day, and you can change those notifications. Step by step, with what it won't do: birthday reminders in Google Calendar. Asking Google or Gemini out loud instead? See birthday reminders by voice.

Samsung's Calendar app can repeat an event every year, which suits a birthday:

1. 1.Open Calendar, select the date, and tap +.
2. 2.Enter a title, like "Sam's birthday", and the date.
3. 3.Tap Don't repeat, choose to repeat it every year, then go back.
4. 4.Tap Save.

Put the person's name in the title, so the alert says who it's for. Start with the people you'd hate to miss and add the rest later.

• •The contact is saved in your Google Account. Google Contacts reminders need that.
• •The app may notify you. In your phone's Settings, under Apps, check notifications for Contacts, Calendar or Samsung Calendar, whichever should remind you.
• •The reminder was added at least 24 hours before the date (Google Contacts).
• •Do Not Disturb is off, or lets that app through.

Even when it all works, a phone notification is easy to swipe away. If that keeps happening, a reminder that waits in your inbox may suit you better.

Greetigo is one option, and it runs in Chrome or any other browser on Android, so there's nothing to install. Save a birthday once and it repeats every year. Greetigo emails you in the morning, your time: the day before by default, or on the day, or 1, 3, 7 or 14 days before, and you can pick more than one. The email stays in your inbox until you deal with it.

Each reminder comes with a message already written: a free template with their name, or on Plus and Premium the AI-written draft you saved for that date. Open the reminder on your phone and tap Copy message, or Share… to open your phone's share sheet and pick Messages or WhatsApp. If you saved their email address, you can send it from Greetigo instead. Nothing is sent until you click Send.

It's free for up to 10 saved dates. To bring in the birthdays on your phone, export your contacts as a file: in the Contacts app, tap Fix & manage, then Export to file, choose the account, and tap Export to .VCF file. Then import it on the Dates page in Greetigo. It's a one-time copy, not a sync. To send the text at a set time, see how to schedule a birthday text.

• •There's no Android app. Greetigo works in Chrome or any other browser on your phone, with the same account as on a computer.
• •No phone notifications or text messages. Reminders come by email.
• •It doesn't read your phone's contacts. Dates come in by hand, from a pasted list, or from a file you export.

Would you rather have a free Android app? See how Greetigo compares with Birday, an open-source Android birthday app.