Disclosure. We make Paperlock, which appears in the last column of the table below.
Five ways to be reminded
| Approach | Who types the date | Default lead time | Document attached to the alert | Correcting a date | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calendar or Reminders app | You | Whatever you set; most people set the expiry day | No | Edit the event by hand | Free |
| Wallet or ID apps | Sometimes read from the card | Varies; often none | Yes, for the cards they hold | Varies | Free to subscription |
| Dedicated expiry trackers (including our browser tool) | You | Per type; our tracker uses 270 days for passports, 90 for permits, 30 to 60 for the rest | No, a list entry | Edit the row, re-export the calendar file | Free |
| Scanner apps and cloud drives | Nobody | None | The file, but no date is read | Not applicable | Free to subscription |
| Reading vaults (Paperlock) | The app, from a photo of the document | 30 and 7 days; 6 months for passports and IDs | Yes, the document itself | Edit the date; the reminder moves with it | Free tier; Plus $4.99/month |
The three things that decide whether a reminder works
Who typed the date. Every manual system fails at the same step: the date never gets entered. Not because people cannot type, but because the moment they hold the document is never the moment they open the calendar. A tool that reads the date off a photo, and lets you correct it, removes the failing step.
How far ahead it fires. A reminder on the expiry date is a notification that you are already too late. For a passport the useful alert is nine months out, because renewal takes weeks and the six-month rule closes most destinations long before the printed date. For a residence permit, three months. For insurance, six weeks, so there is time to compare. The expiration dates checklist lists lead times by document; a reminder system that cannot vary the lead time by type will fire too late for the documents that matter most.
Whether the document comes with the alert. A reminder that says "passport expires" sends you to the drawer. One that opens the passport's data page tells you the number, the issue date and the office in the same tap. The difference is small until the reminder arrives while you are booking a flight.
What each approach is good for
Calendars are fine for a handful of dates you already know. Use the document expiry tracker or the checker to generate a calendar file with the right lead times built in, then never think about it again until the alert.
Wallet apps are good for the cards they were designed for, and useless for the lease, the warranty and the vaccination record.
Dedicated trackers are the manual system done properly: right lead times, one list, export to any calendar. They still depend on you typing the date and updating the row when you renew.
Reading vaults take the typing away. In Paperlock, you photograph the passport, the insurance card or the warranty; it reads the expiry, files the document, and, once you have turned reminders on in Settings, schedules alerts 30 and 7 days before, plus 6 months before for passports and ID documents. If it misreads a date, you correct it on the document's card and the reminder follows. The reminders are opt-in because iOS requires permission for notifications; the app asks once.
How to test a reminder feature in ten minutes
- Import a document with an expiry date and check what the app read.
- Change the date by a year. Confirm the reminder moved.
- Check the lead times. If the only option is "on the day," it is a calendar with extra steps.
- Turn the phone's notifications for the app off and on again. Reminders that silently vanish when permission changes are a common failure.
- Import a document with no expiry date. The app should not invent one.
Honest limits
No reminder system knows about the document you never photographed or typed. That is what the household inventory kit is for. And reminders are only as good as the date on the document: a passport issued for a shorter term than usual, or a permit with conditions, needs a human to read the fine print once. The tools here handle the calendar; the reading is still yours.