How to set up movement break reminders on iPhone

To set up movement break reminders on your iPhone, choose times you can act on, enable reminders in your app, and allow its notifications in iOS. Raffi connects scheduled exercise reminders to your daily plan, so the prompt can lead into a guided routine. You do not need AirPods for scheduled exercise reminders.

Raffi’s exercise reminder setting requires Pro access. Check the current offer and any trial terms in the app before subscribing. Raffi is designed for iPhone with iOS 17 or later.

Choose reminders you can actually follow

Start with the shape of your workday. Look for a gap between calls, the end of a study block, or a transition before lunch. A reminder during a meeting you cannot leave is less useful than one at a time when you can change activity.

Decide what you will do when the reminder appears. That might be stepping away from the screen, taking a brief walk when practical, changing position, or opening a comfortable guided routine. A specific next action makes the alert easier to use than a vague instruction to “fix posture.”

Set up the routine in Raffi

1. Open your daily exercise plan and review the scheduled sessions. Choose routines that fit your day.
2. Adjust session times where needed. In the exercise schedule, use the session’s time control to move it to a practical gap in your day.
3. Open Raffi Settings and enable exercise reminders. Depending on your version, the control may be labeled Reminders or Position changes.
4. Allow notifications when iOS asks. If you previously declined, open iPhone Settings, then Notifications, then Raffi to review permission.
5. Check that reminders remain enabled and that the next scheduled session is still ahead of you. Verify an upcoming reminder on your own device before relying on the schedule.

Raffi schedules exercise reminders from the sessions in your plan. This is different from an alert that automatically fires every time you have been sitting for a certain number of minutes. Review the plan’s times rather than assuming it is a continuous inactivity detector.

How often should you take a break?

The UK Health and Safety Executive recommends short, frequent breaks or changes of activity during display-screen work, rather than saving everything for one long break. Its work routine and breaks guidance also says the timing depends on the work being done. That is general workplace guidance, not a tested Raffi schedule.

For a practical starting point, place a reminder around an existing transition in your day and see whether you act on it. That is a scheduling example, not a recommended medical interval. Add or move sessions as your work allows, and keep ordinary opportunities to change activity even when no notification appears.

If the reminders do not appear

• Check both places: the reminder control inside Raffi and notification permission in iPhone Settings.
• Check the scheduled session time. A reminder set for an earlier time is not a useful test of an upcoming alert.
• Review the active Focus. Work or Do Not Disturb settings can silence app notifications. If you want Raffi alerts during that Focus, review its allowed apps.
• Check the alert styles you selected for Raffi, such as Lock Screen or banners, so you know where to look.
• If Raffi reports that reminders could not be scheduled, follow the message, review notification permission, and enable reminders again.

Apple explains these controls in its guides to notification settings and allowing apps during a Focus. For an unresolved issue, contact Raffi support with your app version, iOS version, and the scheduled time you tested.

Do you need AirPods or camera monitoring?

No. Scheduled exercise reminders are separate from optional sensor-based feedback. A scheduled notification prompts you at a planned time; AirPods monitoring uses compatible headphone motion input during a posture session. One does not imply that the other is active.

If you already use supported AirPods and want to understand calibration and head-position feedback, read how to use AirPods for posture reminders at your desk. Head-motion feedback does not measure your whole spine or diagnose a condition.

Make the reminder useful tomorrow, too

At the end of the day, ask whether the prompts led to a break or were simply dismissed. Move an inconvenient session to a better time and choose an action you can repeat. Our movement-break guide and everyday habits article offer more background.

Keep movements comfortable. Stop an exercise that hurts, and seek appropriate advice for persistent symptoms. Raffi supports general wellbeing; it does not diagnose or treat a medical condition.