Google Clock’s alarm failed me so I found 5 better apps to wake me up

There’s a reason why Google Clock isn’t called Google Alarm. While it offers numerous time-keeping and convenience features, from a timer and stopwatch to a world clock and integration with music services, it makes oversleeping a little too easy for my liking. And boy, do I like sleeping!

I shouldn’t blame an app for my shortcomings, but I will argue that an app should help me overcome them. Google Clock sounding its alarm just isn’t enough for me — I need an alarm clock app that’ll grab me by the shoulders and shake me awake. Or, you know, challenge me with an alarm task.

Naturally, I’ve been searching for a viable Google Clock alternative since Android’s default alarm clock app just isn’t doing the job for me. Here are the options I’ve stumbled across.

I always like putting open-source apps first, and Chrono is perhaps the best example of a well-built alarm clock app that leverages Google’s Material design while offering much more than the default app.

Right off the bat, Chrono gave me multiple ways to keep it alive, ensuring that it won’t be put to sleep by my phone. I appreciate this level of control.

Creating new alarms is simple, with a customization option for deeper tweaking. With this option, I can adjust the schedule, sound and vibration options, snooze settings, and even add a tag to my alarms. The latter really helps when editing alarms for public holidays versus general weekdays.

However, the most important is the Tasks section. Chrono lets me choose between four task types that must be completed before the alarm can be dismissed. This includes Match Problems, Retype Text, Sequence, and Memory. All of these can be customized in difficulty and stacked on top of one another if I’m in the mood for a real challenge. I will say that using one is probably more than enough. While testing the Retype Text option, I fumbled the first response, and the app then prompted me to enter a new sequence. I spent about a minute trying to complete this task. It was annoying, but I was awake in the end, and that really is the goal, right?

Chrono lacks a few options I’d like to see in an alarm app, namely the ability to scan an NFC tag or a QR code as tasks. This would force me to get up instead of solving the problem and simply returning to slumber. However, it’s a great alarm clock option that provides far more features than Google Clock while looking a lot like it.

Back when Wear OS was known as Android Wear, and smartwatches didn’t offer built-in sleep monitoring, I used Sleep as Android to track my slumber. It was a reliable app back then, but how has it changed since?

It’s safe to say that Sleep As Android is still unlike any other Android alarm clock app on this list. It’s more of a sleep health center that aims to address bad sleep hygiene as much as possible, while also helping you wake up in the morning. It offers plenty of sleep insights, including an actual score and “community” scores based on the population of others using the app in specific countries. This doesn’t help me wake up in the morning, though. So does Sleep as Android fare here?

Well! It packs an incredible number of features specifically tasked with shoveling me out of bed, including a truly overwhelming number of tasks (called CAPTCHAs in the app) from simple math equations to selfie verification. There are other more aloof options, like Zombie Walk, Laugh Out Loud, and counting Sleeping Sheep on the screen. You can even unlock more CAPTCHAs by downloading a standalone add-on, making it impossible to switch off your phone with various anti-cheating measures. I wouldn’t dare live with this option toggled on, though.

One of Sleep As Android’s core features is a Smart Wake Up option that wakes me up within a 30-minute optimal window around an alarm I’ve set. It’s a feature that the likes of Fitbit have since adopted, and it works a treat — when I don’t need to wake up at an exact time, that is.

While Sleep As Android has one of the most annoying and longest onboarding experiences I’ve ever sat through, a UI that I don’t find nearly as appealing as Chrono’s, and a premium unlock demand to use the breadth of its features indefinitely, it certainly will wake you from your deepest sleeps.

This app rather gives away its main feature with its name, but NFC Alarm Clock was a pleasant discovery for me. While Chrono and Sleep As Android can feel lumbering and inflated, NFC Alarm Clock is lightweight and places the emphasis back on the alarm aspect.

It offers a neat and tidy UI with customizable colors and a customizable default alarm. I genuinely appreciate the app allowing me to build a comprehensive default alarm template from the get-go. Then, of course, the app also lets me disable alarms using an NFC tag. This is a brilliant task, as I can place the NFC tag wherever it makes the most sense. Stick it in the bathroom, on your coffee machine, across the room, or on your home desk if you work from home — the options are endless.

Beyond this, NFC Alarm Clock doesn’t offer much in the way of innovation. But in reality, I don’t need my alarm clock to push the envelope — I just need it to wake me up. NFC Alarm Clock does just that, and best of all, it’s free and open source.

Alarmy bills itself as the “most powerful loud alarm clock app for heavy sleepers,” but this rather undersells it. It’s an excellent alarm manager, allowing me to set multiple morning alarms and, rather interestingly, habit alarms for regular reminders like medication.

The alarm feature set includes various smarts, one of my favorites being its wide selection of classical music sounds. There’s something about Nocturne Op.9 No.2, gently rousing me in the morning, that puts me in an immediate good mood. More interestingly, like Sleep As Android, Alarmy also packs a Wake Up Check feature that issues a notification a while after the alarm that requires intervention. If I don’t tell the app I’m awake, it’ll ring again.

Of course, the most important Alarmy feature is its Wake Up Missions — what other apps refer to as tasks or CAPTCHAs. Alarmy has a ridiculous selection of these, and some are truly unique. Household Item Hunt is exactly what it sounds like, forcing you to run around the house to take pictures of common items. This, although annoying on a Monday morning, is oddly fun any other day. Find Color Tiles, Squat, and other options exist too, catering to those who prefer mental and physical challenges in the morning.

Then there’s the Morning tab, which offers a weather forecast, tips for achieving specific sleep goals, and a box with inspirational quotes. I wouldn’t mind seeing a little more in this section, including an “On this day in history” section, perhaps a recipe, or other interesting information. If I’m going to pay for Alarmy, I may as well use it as a Daily Hub alternative, too.

Alarmy is rather ruined for me by its annoying Pro trial nags, but I can’t deny it’s woken me up every single time I’ve used it. Squats have that effect in the morning.

Finally, I wanted to include something a little different on this list, and Sun Alarm is just that. It lacks the complex task-completion mechanic of other alarm apps on this list, but it lets me set alarms for astronomical events, such as sunrise, the Golden Hour, the Solstice, and lunar events.

While I wouldn’t necessarily use Sun Alarm to wake for work, it is the perfect weekend alarm, especially in winter when the sun rises far later in the morning. It’s also great for travelers and photographers who want to stay ahead of the morning light without manually checking and setting reminders for these ever-changing times.

When setting an alarm, I can choose the action the alarm takes, from using the default tone to playing a specific music file from my device or reading out the event’s label.

There are a slew of Android alarm clock apps beyond those I’ve mentioned above, so let me know which you rely on to get your day off to a jump start.