The wake-up journal
Sleep science, alarm teardowns and honest comparisons — written by the people who built an alarm with no snooze button.
What is sleep inertia?
Sleep inertia is the impaired, slow-thinking state right after waking. It usually lasts 15 to 60 minutes, hits hardest out of deep sleep, and peaks in the exact minute your alarm asks you to make a decision.
The alarm that makes you get out of bed: an honest roundup
Clocky, Ruggie, wake-up lights and mission apps, judged on two questions: can you cheat it half-asleep, and does it survive silent mode? An honest roundup.
How to get the loudest alarm sound on your iPhone
Max out iPhone alarm volume in two minutes: the Sounds & Haptics slider, the Attention Aware trap, the harshest built-in tones — and why louder stops working.
Alarmy alternatives: the honest list
The best Alarmy alternative depends on why you are leaving. A fair comparison of Risly, Sleep Cycle, the built-in Clock app and Alarm Clock Xtreme, including where Alarmy still wins.
What is the alarm app that makes you take a picture?
You saw it on TikTok: the alarm app that makes you take a picture of something across the room before it will stop ringing. Here is what it is called, how the camera mission works, and whether the photos leave your phone.
Is snoozing actually bad for you?
Snoozing costs about six minutes of sleep and did not measurably harm cognition in the largest study to look. The real damage is that it makes you late. Here is what the research actually found.
The best alarm apps for heavy sleepers
A fair comparison of the alarm apps that actually wake heavy sleepers: Risly, Alarmy, Sleep Cycle, Alarm Clock Xtreme and the iPhone Clock app — including which one to skip and why.
I keep sleeping through my alarm
You are not sleeping through your alarm. You are turning it off in your sleep and forgetting. Here is what is actually happening, and the four fixes that work in order of effort.
The alarm that makes you do math
A math alarm keeps ringing until you solve problems correctly. Here is how it works, why chained problems beat single ones, and the honest case for when a math mission is the wrong choice.
The best alarm app for ADHD
ADHD mornings fail for two reasons: a delayed body clock and a snooze button that asks an impaired brain to make a decision. Here is what to look for in an alarm app, and which one to pick.
iPhone alarm not going off: the real causes
If your iPhone alarm is not going off, the usual culprit is Attention Aware Features quietly lowering the volume when the camera sees you looking at the phone. Here are the seven causes, ranked, with the exact settings to change.
How to stop hitting snooze
You will not out-discipline the snooze button, because you make the decision while your judgement is impaired. Five things that work, ranked, and one that only works if you can afford it.
The alarm that makes you do push-ups
A push-up alarm keeps ringing until the front camera has counted your reps. Here is how the counting works, how many reps to set, and the honest limits of what exercise does to sleep inertia.
Ready when you are
Three days free. One morning is enough to feel the difference.