Kiwake Alarm
Really, really making sure you wake up in the morning
$1.99 Developer Kiwake, kiwake.com
Platform iPhone Requirements iOS 8 or later
What are you supposed to do when you’re reviewing an app that you fervently hate with the fire of a thousand suns, but which does the job it’s supposed to do perfectly? That’s our conundrum with Kiwake, an app that promises to get you up every morning, even if you’ve struggled to do it with any alarm before.
The core concept is simple, giving you three steps to wake up your body and brain, and to generally motivate you to keep going. The “body” step makes you take a photo of something far from your bed – great if you always sleep in the same room and you have one object you always see, but if you travel, it’s a bit of a hassle. The “brain” step makes you complete a couple of short, simple games that test your memory and reflexes. Get them right three times in a row and you’ll get to the “motivation” step, which is a bunch of stuff you input when you set up the alarm that might make you want to wake up early: save money, have more time, look better… that kind of thing. It’s sweet, but maybe not as necessary as the rest for waking up.
The reason this app is so easy to hate is that there is no way to snooze it. You can’t skip a step, because it beeps angrily. You can’t try to cheat, because it’ll beep some more. You can’t even close the app because it beeps at you. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. You’ll never snooze again, but you might also develop a lifelong grudge against the (probably) lovely people who made this app.
the bottom line. Designed by people who genuinely want to help you wake up, Kiwake is smart, simple and well-crafted.
EXCELLENT