Jul 26, 2026 · 98,400 mi11,400 mi since last
5W-30 synthetic · Filter changed · $89.00 · Main Street Garage
The rule
Whichever comes first.
Manufacturers print two limits for an oil change: a time and a distance. The service is due at whichever one you reach first. Oil ages in the engine even when the car barely moves, and it wears out faster when the car covers a lot of ground, which is why both limits exist.
Oil Change Reminder tracks both halves for every car, counts down from the one that will run out sooner, and says which it is, in plain words: “Distance will run out before time”, or the reverse.
Set a car to time only, distance only, or both. A car that sits in a garage most of the year does best on time alone; a delivery van on distance.
Try it with your own numbers. The app does the same sum, with your real odometer readings instead of a guess.
The clever part
It learns how much you drive.
A mileage limit is no use if you have to open an app every week to check it, and iOS can only remind you on a date. So the app turns distance into time.
Give it two odometer readings at least ten days apart. From the oldest and newest readings of the past year it works out how far the car goes in a day, then projects the day you'll reach the limit, counting from your latest reading. Logging an oil change with its mileage counts as a reading.
Until it has two readings, the car's screen says so instead of inventing a date, and the time limit carries the reminder. When the latest reading is 45 days old, it asks for a fresh one, so the estimate never quietly goes stale.
The record
Every oil change, kept.
Log an oil change in a few taps: the date and the odometer, and if you like the oil, whether the filter was changed, what it cost and where it was done. Each entry shows how far the car went since the one before.
It all syncs through your own private iCloud, so a new phone picks up exactly where the old one left off, and your iPad shows the same garage. There is no account to create, and nothing of it ever reaches me.
A fair question
How often should you change your oil?
Use the interval in your car's owner's manual or service booklet. It gives two limits, a time and a distance, and the oil change is due at whichever comes first. There is no single right number: it depends on the engine and the oil it was designed for, so a rule of thumb from someone else's car can be far too early or too late for yours.
- Many manuals also list a shorter schedule for severe use, such as mostly short trips, towing, dusty roads, or very hot or cold weather. If that describes your driving, use that one.
- The time limit still applies to a car you hardly drive. Oil ages in the engine even when the miles stay low.
- Many cars that work out their own oil life on the dashboard still have a maximum time between changes in the manual.
Intervals the app offers
3 months469121824 months
and distances
3,000 mi5,0006,0007,50010,00015,000 mi
In kilometres: 5,000 to 30,000 km. Any other distance can be typed in, and each car keeps its own interval.
The price
One car, free. The whole garage, once.
Free
Everything, for one car
- Time, distance, or whichever comes first
- Reminders ahead of the due date, and on it
- Driving-rate estimate and odometer check-ins
- The full service history
- iCloud sync between your devices
- No ads, no account, no tracking
Full version
As many cars as you like
- Cars, SUVs, trucks, vans, motorcycles and boats
- Each with its own interval, colour and reminders
- A one-time purchase: no subscription, nothing else to buy
- Family Sharing, and restore on every device
Cars you already have are never hidden or deleted, whatever has or hasn't been bought.
Support
Questions, answered.
Nothing here that fits? A real person reads this address:
oilchangereminder@frekvens.aiReminders
How does the app decide when an oil change is due?
The way manufacturers write it: a time and a distance, whichever comes first. The app tracks both halves and counts down from the one that will run out sooner. The car's screen names it under the two tiles: “Distance will run out before time”, or the reverse.
Until you log the last oil change there is nothing to count from, so the car shows “Not set up”.
Can I track only time, or only distance?
Yes, and it is set per car. Open the car, tap the slider icon at the top right, and switch Track by time or Track by distance off.
When do the reminders arrive?
Two per car: a heads-up ahead of the due date, and one on the day. The heads-up can be 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks or 30 days before, set per car under Heads-up; it is 2 weeks unless you change it. Both arrive at the time of day under Settings → Reminders, 9:00 unless you change it.
A reminder whose moment has already passed is not sent late. The car shows as due or overdue instead.
A reminder didn't arrive
Reminders are scheduled on your device. Worth checking, in order:
- In the app, Settings → Reminders is on.
- In iOS Settings → Notifications → Oil Change Reminder, Allow Notifications is on. The app's Settings warns you when it isn't.
- A Focus or Do Not Disturb wasn't holding it back.
- The car had a date to remind on. A car with no oil change logged has nothing to count from, and a car tracked by distance only needs two odometer readings before it has a date.
It keeps saying “Add an odometer reading”
The distance countdown starts from the odometer at the last oil change. If that oil change was logged without a mileage, new readings don't help: delete the entry under History and log it again with the odometer filled in.
Mileage
How does it turn a mileage limit into a date?
It works out how far the car goes in a day. That takes two odometer readings at least ten days apart; the app uses the oldest and newest from the past year and projects the day you'll reach the limit, counting from your latest reading. An oil change logged with its mileage counts as a reading.
With fewer readings the car's screen says so instead of guessing, and the time limit carries the reminder.
Why does it keep asking for my odometer?
A projection built on a reading from months ago is a guess. When a car's latest reading is 45 days old, the app sends an odometer check-in, as long as the car tracks distance and the oil change isn't due first.
Turn off Odometer check-ins in Settings if you'd rather it didn't. Distance tracking keeps working; it just gets less accurate as time passes.
I typed the wrong odometer reading
If it came with an oil change, delete that oil change under History; the reading goes with it. Then log it again.
A reading added with Update odometer can't be deleted on its own yet. Add the correct figure as a new reading: the estimate uses the oldest and newest readings of the past year, so a wrong one in between stops counting.
Cars and history
How do I fix a mistake in the history?
Swipe left on the entry under History and delete it, then log it again; entries can't be edited in place. Deleting an oil change also removes the odometer reading it created, so a mistyped figure stops skewing the estimate.
To change a car's interval, name, colour or heads-up, tap the slider icon at the top right of its screen.
How many cars can I add?
One, free, with nothing held back: reminders, the full history, odometer tracking and iCloud sync all work the same. A second car takes the full version, a one-time purchase that removes the limit for good. There is no subscription and nothing else to buy.
Does it work for motorcycles, vans and boats?
Yes. Pick the type when you add it: car, SUV, sedan, truck, van, motorcycle or boat. The app counts distance, so for a boat or anything else serviced by engine hours, track by time only.
How do I delete a car, or everything?
Swipe left on the car in the garage and confirm. Its oil changes and odometer readings go with it, on every device it syncs to.
Deleting the app removes its data from that device. The synced copy is under iOS Settings → your name → iCloud → Manage Account Storage. I hold nothing, so there is nothing to delete on my side.
Sync and purchases
I got a new phone. Where are my cars?
They sync through your own private iCloud. On the new phone, sign in with the same Apple Account, check that iCloud is on for Oil Change Reminder under iOS Settings → your name → iCloud, and open the app. The first sync can take a minute on a slow connection.
I bought the full version but can only add one car
Tap Restore purchase in Settings, or on the upgrade screen. The purchase belongs to your Apple Account, so it comes back at no cost on any device signed in to that account, and Family Sharing extends it to your family.
If nothing is found, check that the device is signed in to the Apple Account you bought it with. That is very nearly always what has happened.
Miles or kilometres?
Settings → Units. The first time, the app follows your region. Distances are stored independently of the unit, so switching converts everything you've already entered without rounding anything away.
Does it work without an internet connection?
Completely. The app makes no network requests of its own and works everything out on the device. iCloud sync catches up when you're back online, and reminders arrive either way.
The small print
Worth knowing.
- Works on
- iPhone and iPad
- Requires
- iOS or iPadOS 18.6 or later
- Languages
- English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish
- Price
- Free for one car. The full version is a one-time purchase
- Account
- None. Syncs through your own iCloud
- Privacy
- No data collected. Read the policy
Write to a human
Bugs, questions, or wording that's wrong in your language. Replies usually within two business days, and your device and iOS version save a round trip.
oilchangereminder@frekvens.ai