Reminders are the core of SubSorted. Everything else — the subscription list, the input methods, the merchant directory — exists to support one thing: making sure you know about a renewal before it happens, so you can decide what to do about it.
Here's exactly how reminders work, what controls you have, and why you can trust them.
When reminders are sent
SubSorted sends you a notification before each subscription renews. The default timing depends on your billing cycle:
- Monthly subscriptions — reminded 3 days before renewal
- Annual subscriptions — reminded 7 days before renewal
- Free trials — reminded 1, 3, and 7 days before the trial ends
These defaults are designed to give you enough time to act without being so far ahead that you forget again. For most people, they work well out of the box.
All reminders are delivered at 9:00 AM UK time. This is early enough to act on them during the day, but not so early that they feel intrusive. SubSorted is a UK-focused app, so all timing is based on the Europe/London timezone.
Customising reminder timing
If the defaults don't suit you, you can adjust when you're reminded. For each subscription, you can set how many days before the renewal date you'd like a notification. Some people prefer a week's notice for everything. Others only want a day. It's your choice.
Premium users can also fine-tune reminders per subscription — useful if you want more lead time for expensive annual renewals but less noise for small monthly ones.
How trial reminders differ
Free trials get extra attention because the stakes are different. With a regular subscription, you've already decided to pay — the reminder is about whether to continue. With a trial, the reminder is about whether to start paying at all.
When you mark a subscription as a trial in SubSorted, the app adjusts its behaviour:
- Multiple reminders — You'll receive up to three reminders as the trial end approaches (at 7 days, 3 days, and 1 day before), so the deadline doesn't creep up on you.
- Clearer language — The notification tells you the trial is ending, not just that something is renewing. The distinction matters.
- Consistent timing — The number of days shown in the notification always matches what you see in the app. If the notification says "2 days left", the app will say the same thing. This sounds obvious, but getting day calculations right across timezones is something we take seriously.
Basic trial-end reminders are available to all users, not just Premium subscribers. We believe protecting people from accidental charges shouldn't be behind a paywall.
What happens if you ignore a reminder
Nothing bad. SubSorted doesn't escalate, pester, or send follow-up notifications if you don't act on a reminder. It simply records that the subscription renewed and calculates the next renewal date automatically.
Your subscription list stays up to date. The next reminder will arrive before the following renewal. There's no penalty, no nagging, and no "you missed this!" warnings. We trust you to make your own decisions.
If you decided not to cancel, that's a perfectly valid outcome. The reminder did its job — it made sure you had the chance to decide.
Why reminders are reliable
You might wonder: can I actually trust these reminders to arrive on time? It's a fair question. Here's why the answer is yes.
Reminders are scheduled on your device
SubSorted schedules all notifications locally using your phone's built-in notification system. They don't depend on our servers, an internet connection, or a background process that might get killed. Once a reminder is scheduled, your phone handles delivery — the same way your alarm clock works.
No cloud dependency
Because reminders are local, they work even if you're offline, in aeroplane mode, or if our servers are down. There's no push notification service sitting between you and your reminder. It's scheduled directly on your device.
Day calculations are normalised
"3 days before" means exactly 3 calendar days. SubSorted normalises dates to the start of each day before calculating differences, so you'll never see a situation where the app says "3 days" but the notification says "2 days". The number is always consistent, whether you're looking at the app at 8 AM or 11 PM.
Reminders update when subscriptions change
If you edit a renewal date, change the billing cycle, or cancel a subscription, the associated reminders are updated or removed immediately. You'll never get a stale notification for something you've already dealt with.
If the reminder text ever contradicts what the app shows, we treat that as a bug — not a rounding issue, not a cosmetic problem, but a trust bug. Consistency between what you see and what you're told is non-negotiable.
Enabling notifications
For reminders to work, SubSorted needs permission to send notifications. The app will ask for this during setup, and will explain why before requesting it.
If you previously declined notification permissions, you can enable them at any time:
- Open your phone's Settings
- Find SubSorted in the app list
- Enable notifications
SubSorted only sends reminder notifications. There are no marketing messages, no "come back to the app" nudges, and no promotional content. Every notification you receive is about a subscription you asked to be reminded about.
A reminder, not a decision
It's worth saying clearly: SubSorted reminds you. It doesn't cancel anything, it doesn't make recommendations, and it doesn't judge your choices. A reminder is information, presented calmly and on time, so you can make your own decision.
Keep, cancel, or think about it later. The choice is always yours. SubSorted just makes sure you have the chance to make it.