Pillsy: This smart pouch reminds you to take your birth control

It baffles me that in 2015 the most effective way to not get pregnant (behind abstinence, obviously) is to pop a pill each and every day. A method that, admittedly, is achingly simple, yet could be deemed useless if you forget to take it just once, have a stomach bug or (in some cases) take it at the wrong time. Until science delivers a better method, Pillsy wants to make the whole process a bit smarter with a new app and pill pouch combo.

According to PSFK, Pillsy comprises of a special pill pouch, which monitors when you’ve popped a pill out of it, and an app that connects to the pouch via Bluetooth to remind you to take it at the right time of the day. It sounds simple, but if you don’t trust yourself to take it on time it could be a pretty life-changing little invention.

The co-creator, Tony S.Z., told PSFK, “As it turns out, many women actually chose to stop taking oral birth control because they were so stressed out about it; some would regularly forget it, then not know if it’d effective after a certain time, negating the original purpose.”

If it all sounds a bit simple and just like a souped up phone alarm, then there are a few other features that make Pillsy more unique and, well, worth the money. For instance, the app works a bit like fertility apps and learns how you use it to tell you what your risk of pregnancy is at any given time and what to do if somehow (despite all the reminders) you forget to take one – there are different things you can do at different times of your cycle. It’ll also tell you which days of the week you’re the most forgetful and rewards you when you take one on time, which admittedly sounds a little patronising. Reminders are more discrete and tailored then a regular alarm and they’ll obviously shut off as soon as you take the pill.

Granted the smart-ification of pretty much everything from kettles to jewellery is getting a little tiresome. “Ohh a door handle that tells me I’m stressed? Neat!”. But in the case of Pillsy we can excuse the sickeningly twee brand name because the idea might, might make contraception more reliable and, we hate to say it, way smarter.

Pillsy hasn’t launched just yet, but you can visit the website to get on the mailing list and be the first to find out when it does.