How to use Caffeine vs Water

Everything the app does, in the order you'll meet it. Features marked Pro will be part of an optional upgrade at launch; everything else is free.

Getting started

The first time you open the app, it asks a few things: your usual coffee and when you have it, whether you want a water rhythm through the day, your bedtime and how caffeine hits you. That's enough for it to start counting your usual drinks for you. You can change any of it later, and the Getting started card on Today walks you through the rest.

Today

One line on caffeine. The top of Today tells you where you stand: Last coffee by 3:40 PM, Only ~40 mg more, like a green tea, or No more caffeine today
One line on water. Below it: on pace, ahead or behind on water, with a +250 ml button. Right after a strong coffee it says pair it with water
In your body now. The big number is the caffeine working in you right now, not how much you drank
The curve. The solid line is what already happened; the dashed line is where it's heading. The dotted line is the 50 mg sleep line, and the moon marks your bedtime. Press and drag across it to read any time, or switch to layers to see what each drink still adds. Swipe for Water vs caffeine
Your day. What you've had and what your routine still expects, with Undo, Have it now, Skip today and Bring back

Logging a drink

Quick log. Tap the round + in the middle of the tab bar, then a drink. It's logged straight away. The header says how much you can still have and sleep well, and drinks that won't fit carry a moon
A heads-up first. If a drink would leave too much at bedtime, go over your daily limit or is a big dose at once, the app asks first and offers Log a decaf instead
Search 600+ drinks. Coffees, teas, sodas and energy drinks by brand and size, from Quick log
Earlier, half or double. Tap Log an earlier drink for one you forgot, or touch and hold a drink for Log past drink…, Log half or Log double
Make it yours. Tap Edit in Quick log to pick and order the drinks you have most. Add your own drinks with their own caffeine and volume; three are free, more with Pro
Fix a mistake. In History, swipe a drink to edit its time or amounts, or to delete it. Tap Select to remove several. History shows the last 7 days, or everything with Pro

Routine

Your routine is the drinks you have most days. It counts them for you, so you don't have to log them.

Times. Add the coffee you have and when: every day, weekdays, weekends or custom days. At that time it counts as had
A heads-up first. A Live Activity appears a few minutes before, with Had it and Skip. Leave it and it counts after 20 minutes
Undo any time. Tap Undo on the notification, on Today, or delete it in History. Logging the same drink yourself within the hour counts instead, never twice
Or just a reminder. Turn off Count it on its own and you get a reminder with a button to log it instead
Places Pro. Save your café, and your usual order counts once you've been there 20 minutes. Drive past and it doesn't. It needs location set to Always; the place never leaves your iPhone
Water rhythm. A glass every 1 to 3 hours between the times you choose, counted quietly
Warnings ahead. A routine drink that would break your bedtime target or daily limit is flagged, so you can move it earlier or swap to decaf
It learns. Have caffeine at the same time most days and it offers to add it. Skip a drink often and it asks if you still have it
Day review. In the evening, check what your routine counted today and undo anything that's wrong

Water

Your goal. Worked out from your weight, activity and climate, the same way as the water intake calculator. Change them in Settings › Water goal
Every drink counts. Coffee and tea count toward your water too
A glass with strong coffee. Each strong coffee or energy drink adds a 250 ml glass to today's goal, up to 750 ml. You can turn this off
Water chaser. After a strong drink, a reminder nudges you to have that glass, and you can log it from the notification

Insights

Tonight. Your last coffee time with caffeine now, later and at bedtime. Tap Bedtime or Half-life to change them
Your half-life. How fast your body clears caffeine: Typical (5.5 h), Barely feel it, Hits me hard, I smoke, On the pill or Pregnant, which also sets a 200 mg daily limit
What if Pro. See what one more espresso now would leave at bedtime, with Swap in a decaf
Evening mode. Once no more coffee fits, Insights goes dark as a gentle signal to wind down
This week. Caffeine and water for each day against your limit and goal, and with Apple Health, how late caffeine lines up with how long you slept

Notifications

Before your last coffee. A heads-up 30 minutes before the last coffee that still fits before bed. As a Live Activity in the Dynamic Island with Pro
Your routine. A Live Activity before each routine drink, and a notification with Undo once it counts. Water rhythm glasses stay quiet
Turn them off. Water chaser and last call have switches in Settings. Routine drinks can be turned off one by one

Widgets and controls

Home Screen. Touch and hold the Home Screen, tap Edit, then Add Widget, and search for Caffeine vs Water. The Quick log widget logs your drinks with one tap
Lock Screen. Touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customize, and add caffeine and water
Control Center and Action button. Add Log water and Log caffeine, which repeats your last caffeinated drink

Apple Watch

Log from your wrist. Open the app on your watch for caffeine now, Quick log, the curve and today's drinks. Turn the Digital Crown for any amount of water. It syncs to your iPhone, and asks first before a drink that would cost you sleep
Complications. Add caffeine and water, or a Quick log button, to your watch face, or to the Smart Stack

Siri and Shortcuts

Log a drink. “Log a latte in Caffeine vs Water” or “Log water in Caffeine vs Water”
Ask about coffee. “Can I still have coffee in Caffeine vs Water?”
Shortcuts. Log Drink, Log Caffeine Amount and Get Caffeine Budget are in the Shortcuts app for your own automations

Apple Health and privacy

Saved to Health. Caffeine and water you log are saved to Apple Health
Weight and sleep. Your weight sets your base water goal. Your recent sleep can set your bedtime and powers the sleep insights
No account. Your drinks stay on your iPhone and in Apple Health. Saved places never leave your iPhone. No ads, no tracking

Still stuck? See Support or write to [email protected].