Dose Buddy: a Medicine Reminder That Reads Prescriptions Locally with Gemma
This is a submission for the Hacktoberfest Weekend Challenge: Build for a Friend What I Built Dose Buddy is a privacy-first medicine reminder that turns a doctor's instructions into a ready-to-use schedule. I built it for two people I care about: my dad and my friend Abhay . Reminder apps are only useful if someone has the patience to set them up. Entering every medicine, dose and timing by hand…
Dose Buddy is a medicine reminder application designed to simplify the process of managing prescriptions. The software allows users to input their prescription instructions either as text or by uploading a photo of the prescription. Using local AI models, the application reads the instructions and creates a personalized schedule for the user. This eliminates the need for users to manually input every medication, dose, and timing, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors.
The app then displays an editable table of the schedule for the user to review and confirm. Once the user approves, Dose Buddy sets reminders for each dose, both on the laptop and on a phone. The schedule can also be exported as an .ics calendar file, which enables offline reminders on any phone without internet connection. Additionally, the application can send desktop alerts at specified times.
Dose Buddy operates on a privacy-first principle, ensuring that no health data leaves the user's laptop. It utilizes an open-source model called Gemma 3, running locally through Ollama, to interpret the prescription text and photos. Users are always required to review and confirm the generated schedule before any reminders are set, ensuring that the program's output is accurate and reliable.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
