Turn off the alarm with squats and other original alarm clocks for mobile | Technology

From alarm clocks that simulate the sunrise to alarms that sound non-stop until you do sit-ups, yell at your mobile or scan a barcode. multiple apps they aspire to offer the best wake-up call for all types of users: both those who hate being bored by an annoying buzzing sound in their head first thing in the morning and those who set several alarms and postpone them again and again. EL PAÍS has tested some of the most curious and popular mobile alarm clocks on the market.

Math operations and squats

One of the most complete applications, available both in the Play Store and in the App Store, is Alarmy. Its creators claim that more than 4.5 million people use it to wake up. After downloading it, it is possible to choose a goal: wake up earlier than usual, do it “on time” or build a morning habit. By choosing one of them, the apps suggests solutions that are supposedly based on behavioral psychology. For example, moving your body or exercising your memory so that the alarm stops ringing.

With the free version of Alarmy, the user can use various methods to turn off the alarm clock: shake the phone between five and 160 times, photograph something specific, solve a mathematical operation or decipher a memory exercise. The paid version, which costs about seven euros a month or about 60 a year, also allows you to stop the alarm after doing some squats, writing motivational phrases on your mobile phone or taking a morning walk – between 15 and 990 steps.

There is a function that can be especially attractive for the laziest. Paying customers can set what time they want a silent popup to appear on the screen asking for confirmation that they are awake. If the user does not react within 100 seconds, the alarm will sound again and the mission will have to be completed again to deactivate it.

yell at mobile

The apps Shake-it alarm, available in the Play Store, can help users with a bad awakening to let off steam, since it allows you to deactivate the alarm clock by shouting at the terminal. When the alarm sounds —which it does at full volume—, a notice appears on the screen suggesting “shouting” into the mobile’s microphones. As the user speaks, a bar slowly scrolls across the top of the screen. Once it gets from one side to the other, the sound stops. This way of getting up can be a bit irritating for some people.

It is also possible to deactivate the sound by touching the screen over and over again without stopping or by shaking the mobile from one side to the other. “If you do it every morning, you can have a muscular body,” its creators joke. The user can choose any of these methods to turn off the alarm or choose to be woken up in a different random way each day.

Alarm clocks that simulate sunrise

If you hate having a sound pierce your ear as soon as you open your eyes, solar alarm clocks can be an interesting option. There are some applications that simulate sunrise and light up the room little by little to try to wake up the user in a more pleasant way. This is the case of Sunrise Alarm Clock, which is only available for Android and allows you to set the duration of the simulated sunrise – between five minutes and two hours.

A sky with orange clouds gradually lights up on the mobile screen at the set time. For those who have never tried this type of alarm clock and suspect that they are at risk of falling asleep, the apps it has some additional functions. For example, it allows you to choose whether a melody sounds while the mobile lights up or after a set time. In that case, it is also possible that its volume will increase. Using this free app can be a good option before purchasing a solar light device that simulates sunrise more realistically.

turn around oneself

While Alarmy forces the user to squat to turn off the alarm, Spin Alarm Clock spins the user around. When the alarm clock rings, the user must put both thumbs on the screen and turn around to deactivate it. In doing so, the apps offers information about the weather and shows a famous quote, like this one from the American politician and writer Eleanor Roosevelt: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” One of the disadvantages of this application, available only in the App Store, is that the application has to be open for it to work properly.

Scan a barcode

To deactivate the alarms of Barcode Alarm Clock, an application available for iPhones, you have to scan different previously registered barcodes. For example, that of toothpaste, a cologne or a box of cereal. If the barcode is not at hand, it is possible to resort to “a plan B” to deactivate the alarm clock: the user can write the numbers that appear under the barcode in question —which, moreover, appear and disappear on the mobile screen.

The apps has an option to “block” an alarm. If it is activated, it is impossible to override or modify it until it sounds. The developers of this application boast of having created “an alarm clock that will get you out of bed”. “It is so annoying that you will want it to stop immediately. You will have to get up to turn it off. The tones that it includes are quite annoying. Far from being catchy and pleasant melodies, they are shrill and staccato electronic sounds.

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