AskMed for Android

What the Android app does

The AskMed Android app answers medical questions with a numbered citation after every claim, the same way the iPhone app and the web app do, because all three use the same AskMed server. On the Home screen you pick Ask Anything or Research, type a question, and set the source filters: the Number of sources slider from 3 to 12, the four source groups and the four study types. You can attach a PDF, an image or a pasted note, tap one of three suggested follow-ups, save answers to Saved, keep questions out of History with Private Mode, rate an answer with a thumbs up or down, and share an answer through the Android share sheet. The app is translated into English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese and Arabic, with a right-to-left layout for Arabic. Two home screen widgets put a question box and your recent questions on the home screen. The app is listed on Google Play as Medical Assistant: AskMed AI.

How it works on Android

The Android app is built for Android and works on Android 8.0 and later. Its screens follow AskMed's own design, and it starts in your phone's language when that is one of its seven. Attachments are read on the phone: Google's on-device ML Kit reads printed text in images, and a PDF reader inside the app reads PDFs, so only the extracted text is sent with your question, never the file. History and Saved answers are stored on the phone and, as AskMed's privacy policy explains, are not backed up. You can sign in with Google or with an email code to use the same AskMed account on the web; there is no Sign in with Apple button on Android. Subscriptions are bought and managed through Google Play, under Payments and subscriptions, then Subscriptions. The widgets are drawn with the launcher's own corner style on Android 12 and later, and show in the widget picker in your app language on Android 15 and later.

The home screen widgets page explains both widgets in detail.

When the Android app helps

The Android app helps anyone whose phone runs Android, which is most phones in many of the countries where AskMed is used. A doctor can ask a question between patients and open the guideline behind the answer with one tap. A nurse can add the Ask widget to the home screen and reach a question box in one touch during a shift. A pharmacist can photograph the printed text of a medication list and ask about interactions, with the text read on the phone. A medical student can study on the bus with Research Mode and suggested follow-ups, then reopen saved answers before an exam. A researcher can check the evidence on a topic on the go and share the cited source list to a notes app. Because the Android app uses the same account as the web app once signed in, the same plan works on a computer too, which helps when a bigger screen suits the task.

Prefer an iPhone or iPad? AskMed is on the App Store as well.

Limits of the Android app

The Android app has the same answer limits as every AskMed platform, plus a few of its own. Answers are AI-written and can contain errors, AskMed never gives drug doses, and it is not a symptom checker or a tool for emergencies. History and Saved answers stay on the phone and are not backed up, so they don't move to a new phone or survive a reinstall; save important answers somewhere else too. There are no Lock Screen widgets on Android. Image text reading uses Google's ML Kit, which may need a moment to set up on a new phone and needs a connection for that, and it reads printed text, not the content of medical images. History in the app is separate from History on the web. Sign in with Apple is not offered on Android. The app runs on Android 8.0 and later, and some features, such as widget previews in the picker, need newer Android versions.