So, you consistently find yourself running late for college or the office, and your smartphone’s default alarm clock app isn’t doing much to motivate you to get out of bed. In this guide, we will showcase some unique and different alarm clock apps that won’t easily let you turn off your alarm – basically, it will force you out of bed before you can turn it off.
Table of Contents
1. Alarmy
This alarm clock app is an easy recommendation. Regardless of whether you are a heavy sleeper or not, it ensures you’re on your feet when you want to. You might be wondering how it achieves this. To turn off the alarm, you need to complete a specific task. This task can be customized with memory games, math problems, step challenges, QR code scans, photo scanning, and more.
On our phones, we tried the photo sampling task. To disable the alarm, we had to take a photo of a pre-determined subject set in the alarm app. This feature worked so effectively that attempting to trick it by using a similar action figure failed—it refused to turn off the alarm. For example, set a photo of your desk plant. So you need to get out of bed and go to the desk to complete the task.
In our opinion, Alarmy stands out as one of the best free alarm clock apps, and you should consider it if you want to wake up on time but find it hard to do so.
By the way, it also has a premium plan which starts at $4.99, and offers features, such as a wake-up check, multiple missions in one alarm, and an ad-free experience.
Pros:
- Simple to use
- Variety of missions to choose from
- Ability to set your custom music file as an alarm sound
- Available for both iOS and Android
Cons:
- Ads
- Can’t set a mission for snooze
Download Alarmy (iOS | Android)
2. Talking Alarm Clock Beyond
Another best alarm app for heavy sleepers is Talking Alarm Clock Beyond, exclusively available for Android (sorry, iPhone folks). It offers a wide range of features, comparable to the Alamy app, and even goes beyond.
For instance, many of us have the habit of hitting the snooze button for an extra 5 minutes of sleep, which often turns into an hour. If you share a similar tendency, you can set specific tasks to disable the snooze function.
We chose the captcha code method for snoozing, and to dismiss the alarm, we selected walking. Under this configuration, we were compelled to take a certain number of steps after the alarm rang, preventing us from comfortably returning to bed.
Pros:
- Clean UI with no ads (ads only show up after dismissing the alarm)
- Option to set a task for snoozing and dismissing an alarm separately
- Customize the number of snoozes
- Customizable app theme, color, font, time picker style and more
- Include additional features, such as a timer, stopwatch, and clock.
Cons:
- Nothing major
Download Talking Alarm Clock Beyond (Android)
3. The Clock by Jetkite
This app is not just your regular alarm clock – it also offers additional features such as a clock, timer, and stopwatch. Furthermore, it allows you to customize the app to your heart’s content. Some of these customization options include themes, alarm clock list style, number of snoozes, alarm sound, background wallpaper, and more.
If you’re wondering how this app manages to wake you up, it involves math. While waking up on time can be challenging, solving math problems first thing in the morning can be even more difficult, especially if you increase the difficulty level of the math.
Another good thing about this app is that the ads are less intrusive. However, if you want to remove ads as well and unlock additional features and themes, you can subscribe to their premium plan starting at around $1.99.
Pros:
- Beautiful user interface
- Lots of customization features
- Less intrusive ads in the free version
- Additional features – clock, timer and stopwatch
Cons:
- Unlike other clock apps, you only have one task, i.e., math
- You can’t set a math problem for a snooze, unlike the alarm
Download The Clock (Android)
4. Challenges Alarm Clock
So far, we’ve seen many unique tasks to turn off the alarm, but this app takes it to a new level. With the Challenges Alarm Clock app, you can pick different challenges like showing your teeth, retyping words, posing, completing shape sequences, taking pictures, and more.
One cool thing about the app is that you can set multiple challenges for each alarm, a feature missing in many other alarm clocks that help you get out of bed. Besides that, you get regular alarm features like snooze limits, custom music, volume adjustments, etc.
Pros:
- There are lots of fun challenges to dismiss the alarm
- Custom alarm tone
Cons:
- Basic app UI
- Need a premium account to unlock additional challenges and enjoy an ad-free experience.
- Can’t set any challenges for snoozing
Download Challenges Alarm Clock (Android)
5. Alarm Clock Xtreme
Another cool alarm clock app we have in our arsenal is Alarm Clock Xtreme. Like other alarm apps, it offers a variety of features such as performing a task to snooze and dismiss an alarm, wakeup check, and custom alarm tones.
One interesting feature that caught our attention is the App Launcher. If you regularly use a specific app right after waking up in the morning, you’ll appreciate that with Alarm Clock Xtreme. You can set any app to launch as soon as you turn off the alarm.
Additionally, you can back up all your alarm settings, which comes in handy for transferring them to another phone or restoring lost settings. What’s more, it even offers premium service (starts at $0.99), that offers features like an ad-free experience, premium themes, unlimited reminders, and direct customer support.
Pros:
- Functional app UI with themes
- Different tasks for snooze and dismiss
- There are many challenges including math, rewriting words, steps, and scanning codes
- App launcher
- Additional features, such as a timer, stopwatch, weather forecast, and reminder
- Backup and recover alarm settings
Cons:
- Ads supported
Download Alarm Clock Xtreme (Android)
How to Effectively Utilize the Default Alarm Clock App
If you don’t want to use a separate alarm app and prefer the default one on your iPhone or Android, we have a solution. Just set one alarm instead of multiple ones. Setting too many alarms can make it harder to wake up which may lead to snoozing, affecting your sleep, and making you feel dizzy.
instead, with one alarm, you commit to waking up at a specific time, training your body to respond better. Try it for a week and see the difference. Sometimes, the most effective solutions are the simplest ones.
Sleep if You Can
Well, you might be considered a sleepoholic but with these listed alarm apps, you’ll likely find yourself waking up on time. Rest assured, these apps will make it more challenging for you to return to the bed. Before you go, you can also check out some of the best alarm settings for your Samsung Galaxy phones if you have one.
