Awake’s new app requires heavy sleepers to complete tasks in order to turn off the alarm

A new iOS app called Awake^[1], designed specifically for heavy sleepers who must complete missions to turn off their alarms, launched Monday. The app is only available to users with the iOS 26^[2] update, which also came out on Monday. 

Unlike traditional alarm clocks that can be silenced with a simple tap, Awake is intended to actively engage users’ brains to ensure they fully wake up. Once the alarm sounds, users must complete a series of interactive missions to turn it off. 

These tasks include a variety of challenges, such as rotating the iPhone, completing a set of push-ups, or tackling math problems, puzzles, or even language lessons. By incorporating physical and mental activities, Awake aims to help break the cycle of hitting snooze and encourage a more active start to the day.

While other similar apps exist, such as Alarmy^[3], Challenges^[4], and Mathe Alarm^[5], among others, Awake sets itself apart by offering additional features. One of these is a “Morning Briefing,” which offers a customized summary of information the user chooses the night before, including the weather forecast and events from a calendar.

There’s also a Block integration, which prevents users from accessing social media immediately upon waking. A future feature will allow people to listen to new podcast episodes as soon as they open their eyes.

Additionally, Awake includes a sleep planning function that helps improve sleep quality by allowing users to enter the desired amount of sleep and preferred wake-up time. It then calculates the best time to go to bed.

Leo Mehlig, the indie developer behind the popular daily planner app Structured^[6], says he developed Awake in response to high demand from Structured users. Mehlig jumped on the idea after Apple announced iOS 26, which provided developers with access to a new Alarm Kit framework to create alarm and timer apps with features like full-screen alerts.

“I just felt like there had to be something better than a standard alarm clock for people who struggle to get up in the morning,” he told TechCrunch. “So we always had [planned for it], but we basically sidelined it. And then when I saw the [Apple] keynote, I saw the Alarm Kit, I was like, ‘OK, now we need to build this.’”

Awake is available for free, with a premium subscription option for $1.75 per month or $19.99 per year, which unlocks additional missions such as getting up to turn on a light, scanning a QR code, and walking a certain number of steps. One mission even requires users to recite a mantra.

Looking ahead, Mehlig envisions incorporating a feature called “Wake Up Check,” which will double-check if people are truly awake after completing a mission. By using the step counter, the app will track users’ movement after the mission; if no movement is detected, it will send a notification. If the user does not respond within a few minutes, the app will trigger another alarm to ensure they don’t fall back asleep.