Oil change reminders by miles or months

How to track oil changes on iPhone with AutoKeep

Short version: Most oil change schedules read "every X miles or Y months, whichever comes first". AutoKeep lets one reminder carry both intervals, checks each car against both, and resets itself when you log the oil change. It is free, needs no account, and keeps your records on your iPhone.

Why a calendar reminder is not enough

An owner's manual usually gives the oil change interval as a distance and a time limit together. A car that covers long distances reaches the mileage first. A car that sits in the garage most of the week reaches the time limit first, because oil ages even when the engine is not running. The interval itself depends on the engine, the oil, and how the car is driven, so take the numbers from your manual or your service book.

A repeating calendar event only covers the time half. A note with the next due mileage only covers the other half, and it goes stale after every service. What you need is one reminder that watches both and tells you whichever arrives first.

How AutoKeep handles it

• Up to three triggers on one reminder. By date, by distance, and by engine hours. Fill in any combination. The reminder turns due as soon as any one of them is reached.
• Your units. The distance interval follows your unit setting, miles or kilometres.
• Lead time. Get a heads-up a set number of days before the due date, so you can book the service before it is late.
• Per-vehicle state. One "Oil change" reminder can apply to several cars. Each car has its own next due date and mileage, shown as ok, due soon, or overdue.
• Completes itself. When you log the oil change as a service, the reminder rolls forward from that date and odometer reading. There is no separate "mark as done" step to forget.
• History stays. Every oil change you log sits on the vehicle's timeline with its cost, odometer reading, notes, and receipt photos, and you can export it as PDF or CSV.

Set up an oil change reminder

1. Install AutoKeep and add your car, with its current odometer reading.
2. Open the Reminders tab and tap +, or use the Quick Add button and choose Reminder.
3. Name it, for example "Oil change".
4. Under By date, set the time interval from your manual, for example every 6 or 12 months.
5. Under By distance, set the mileage interval from your manual.
6. Set the Category to Service, so logging a service completes the reminder.
7. Add the vehicle, or every vehicle on the same schedule.
8. Allow notifications when iOS asks, so the date trigger can reach you.

If your last oil change was a while ago, log it as a service entry with its date and odometer reading. The reminder then counts from the real last change instead of from today.

Keep the mileage current

AutoKeep does not connect to the car or track it by GPS, so the distance trigger knows only the odometer readings you enter. Every fill-up asks for the odometer, pre-filled with the last reading, and the Quick Add menu has an odometer update for the weeks you do not refuel. Each new reading updates every distance-based reminder on that car.

The date trigger sends an iOS notification before it is due. The distance trigger shows on the Reminders tab and in the garage as soon as a reading crosses the line, but it does not send a notification on its own, because there is no date for iOS to schedule against. That is one more reason to set both triggers on an oil change reminder.

More than oil

The same reminder works for the rest of the service schedule:

• Tyre rotation, brake fluid, air and cabin filters, timing belt: by distance, date, or both.
• Inspection, registration, and insurance renewal: by date. Expense reminders complete when you log the payment.
• Machines that count engine hours instead of miles, such as tractors, boats, generators, or a work van with an hour meter: by engine hours.

What AutoKeep does not do

• No car connection. No OBD reader, no connected-car account, no automatic mileage.
• No shop records. It does not pull service history from garages. You log what was done.
• No cloud sync. Records live on one iPhone or iPad. Move them with a ZIP backup.
• iOS only. There is no Android or web version.

Questions

Does AutoKeep read my mileage from the car?

No. AutoKeep does not connect to the car, an OBD adapter, or GPS. It knows the mileage you enter: the odometer on each fill-up, service, or quick odometer update. The more often you log, the more accurate the distance trigger is.

Will I get a notification when the oil change is due by mileage?

The date trigger sends an iOS notification, lead time ahead. The distance trigger changes the reminder to due soon or overdue on the Reminders tab and in the garage as soon as a logged odometer reading crosses the line, but iOS has no date to schedule a notification against, so it does not send one on its own. Setting both triggers gives you the notification and the mileage check.

Do I have to mark the reminder as done?

No. Logging the oil change as a service entry completes the reminder for that vehicle. The next due date and mileage are counted from that entry.

Can one reminder cover several cars?

Yes. Add every vehicle that follows the same schedule to one reminder. Each vehicle keeps its own baseline and its own due state.

Is it free, and do I need an account?

AutoKeep is free, with no subscription or in-app purchases, and there is no account. Your records stay on your iPhone.

Get AutoKeep

Free on the App Store. No account, no subscription.

Coming from another app? See how AutoKeep compares with Drivvo,Fuelio, and Simply Auto.