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Kidney Navigator
(APP). Your kidney health, organized.

A daily companion for living with chronic kidney disease and dialysis — built by someone who does it three times a week. Track what matters, photograph what you don't understand, and keep your whole care picture in one place. Almost all of it is free, permanently — see exactly what's free and what's paid below.

Works in any browser. Add it to your home screen and it behaves like an app.

Free vs. paid, in plain numbers

One thing in this app costs money. Everything else is free, permanently — no trial, no account, no catch.

Free

$0forever
  • All manual logging — labs, weight, fluid, blood pressure, medications, dialysis sessions, journal, appointments
  • Lab trend charts, symptom pattern detection, blood pressure dashboard, fluid-removal trend
  • 4 typed/pasted scan tools — symptom check, lab report text, medication name, food label (no camera needed)
  • Medication timing checker
  • Ask MAV chat — 20 messages/day, same limit for free and paid
  • Care team directory, ER card, Apple Health import, dark mode, PIN lock, English/Spanish/Portuguese
First 30 days free

Premium

Trial + codenot a self-service subscription
  • Everything in Free, plus:
  • Unlimited AI photo scanning — take a photo or upload one of a lab report, a medication bottle, or a menu and get it read back to you

Every new account gets full Premium access free for 30 days. This is the only feature that costs anything, because each camera scan calls a paid AI vision service — so after the trial, continued Premium access is granted through an access code rather than an automatic monthly charge. Don't want to wait on a code? Every scan type also has a free type-it-yourself version — see Free, above.

Your health data stays on your device

There is no sign-up, no account, and no health database on our end. Everything you log — labs, weights, medications, journal entries — is stored in your own browser and never leaves your phone unless you choose to export or share it. That is a deliberate design decision, not a limitation: the safest place for your medical history is your own pocket. The trade-off is real and worth knowing — clear your browser data and it is gone, so use Back Up My Health Data in Settings.

The six areas of the app

Each one is a tab along the bottom of the screen.

Today Daily

The screen you open every morning. What needs doing, and what already got done.

  • Today's checklist — meds, fluids, weight
  • Today's log, with a running overview
  • Quick vitals entry
  • Log a dialysis session
  • Quick actions for the things you do most

Scan AI

Point your camera at something you don't understand and get it explained in plain language.

  • Lab report — photograph the page, get it read back
  • Medication — identify a pill or a label
  • Food label — check it against a kidney diet
  • Symptoms — describe what's happening and get guidance

Health Tracking

The long view. Numbers only mean something when you can see them move.

  • Weight log
  • Lab results and lab trends over time
  • Fluid tracking
  • Medication adherence log
  • Weekly summary of your numbers
  • Health journal
  • Import labs from Tampa General

People Care team

Kidney care involves a lot of people. This keeps them straight.

  • Care team and providers
  • Appointments
  • Questions for your care team — write them down before you forget them at the visit
  • Pre-transplant evaluation checklist
  • Share with a caregiver
  • ER card — the sheet you hand over in an emergency

Ask MAV AI

The part that answers questions at 11pm when the clinic is closed.

  • Ask MAV — ask anything about CKD, 20 messages/day
  • CKD education library
  • Food reference database

Settings Control

Your data, your rules.

  • App PIN lock
  • Back up my health data
  • Clear all data
  • Privacy and what we store (nothing)

Wherever you are in this, there's a starting point

Kidney disease looks different depending on the stage. Here's what tends to matter most at each one.

Newly diagnosed

Start with the basics before anything else.

  • Log your first labs and see them in plain language
  • CKD education library
  • Ask MAV — ask the questions you didn't get to ask at the appointment

Dialysis patients

Built by someone who does this three times a week.

  • Log every dialysis session
  • Fluid and weight tracking between treatments
  • ER card for the days something goes wrong

Transplant candidates

The evaluation process has a lot of steps to keep straight.

  • Pre-transplant evaluation checklist
  • Questions for your care team
  • Lab trends to show your transplant team

Caregivers

You're tracking almost as much as they are.

  • Share access on the same device
  • Weekly summary of how things are trending
  • Medication adherence log

The scanner, in detail

Four tools, all driven by a photo. Take the picture, get an answer you can actually read.

Lab Report

Photograph the printout. It pulls out your values and tells you what each one means and which direction is the good direction.

Medication

Photograph the bottle or the pill. Identifies it and flags anything that matters for kidney function.

Food Label

Type in or photograph the nutrition panel — free either way. Checks the sodium, potassium and phosphorus against a renal diet.

Symptoms

Describe what you're feeling. Gives you guidance on whether it's a call-the-clinic or a watch-and-wait.

Menu

Photograph a restaurant menu. Get your 3 safest picks, what to watch out for, and an exact line to tell your server — "no salt, dressing on the side" — not just a vague warning.

Medication Timing

Checks your own medication list for the best timing — with meals, empty stomach, spaced from your binders — and flags combinations worth a conversation with your pharmacist. Never tells you to start, stop, or change a dose.

Free vs. paid

Only the camera-based scans above (lab report, medication label, menu) cost anything, and even those are free for your first 30 days. Full pricing and the complete free-feature list are in Free vs. paid, in plain numbers, near the top of this page.

What it is not

This is a tool for understanding your own information, not a doctor. It does not diagnose, it does not prescribe, and it does not replace your nephrologist or your dialysis team. If something feels wrong, call them — that is what the ER card is for.

Apple Health

Where this genuinely stands today.

No live sync — and here's the honest reason

A website cannot read Apple Health directly. HealthKit is a native iOS feature and Apple deliberately gives web pages no access to it, for the same privacy reasons that make it trustworthy in the first place. Any web app claiming a live two-way Apple Health sync is not doing what it says.

There are three real routes, and they are not equal:

  1. Import your Health export — live now. In the Health app: tap your photo → Export All Health Data, then open that file from Settings → Your data → Import from Apple Health. It reads weight and blood pressure readings directly in your browser — nothing uploaded, nothing sent to a server. This is what's built today.
  2. Apple Shortcuts. Shortcuts can read Health data and send it somewhere automatically each day. Closest thing to live sync without the App Store — but it means your numbers leave the device, which cuts against the privacy promise above. Not built.
  3. A native iPhone app. The only way to get true two-way HealthKit access. It also means an Apple Developer account, App Store review, and a separate codebase to maintain forever. Not built.

Option 1 is live. It is the only one that keeps your data on your device.

Questions people actually ask

Do I need to create an account?

No. There is no sign-up and no password. Open it and start using it. That is also why your data lives on your device — there is no account for it to live in.

What happens if I lose my phone?

Your data is on that device, so it goes with it. This is the real cost of the privacy model, and it is why Back Up My Health Data exists in Settings. Do a backup now rather than after you need it.

Is it really free?

Yes, with one exception: camera photo scanning (labs, medications, menus). That's free for the first 30 days on every account, because each scan costs us money to run. After the trial, continued access is granted through an access code rather than an automatic subscription charge. Everything else — including the type-it-yourself version of every scan tool — is free permanently. See the full breakdown above.

Does it work on Android and desktop?

Yes. It runs in any modern browser. On a phone you can add it to your home screen and it opens like a normal app.

Can my wife, husband or caregiver see it?

There's a "Share with a caregiver" option in Settings, but be aware: it currently only works if they open the link on the same device you generated it on — for example a second browser tab on your own phone. It does not yet work for a caregiver checking your dashboard from their own separate phone. We're not going to pretend it does more than it does — a real cross-device version is on the roadmap.

Who built this?

Michael Moore, who has been on dialysis three times a week for years and got tired of tracking all of this on paper. More about that here.

Tell Michael what you think

This goes straight to his inbox — not a support desk, not a ticket queue. He built this app for his own dialysis life, so if something is broken or missing, he wants to know.

Please do not include lab values, medications or anything medical about yourself. Your health data stays on your device and this form should not be the thing that takes it off.

More from the person who built this

Kidney Books

Michael's kidney books walk through the diagnosis, dialysis, and everyday reality this app tracks. See the books →

Dialysis Travel Support

Planning a trip while on dialysis takes real coordination. See dialysis & travel support →

Start with today

You do not need to set anything up. Open it, log one thing, and see if it helps.

Open Kidney Navigator →

Medical disclaimer. Kidney Navigator is an information and tracking tool. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and nothing in it — including anything produced by the AI scanner or Ask MAV — should be used in place of guidance from your nephrologist, dialysis team or pharmacist. In an emergency, call 911.