An alarm that makes you get up: how ProveAwake does it, and what it will not promise.

Why a tap is not waking

Your alarm went off. Did you?

A conventional alarm treats a tap on "stop" as proof that you are awake. For a deep sleeper it is nothing of the kind: the hand finds the button, the sound ends, and the brain never surfaces. The phone did its job and you still missed the shift. ProveAwake is built on the opposite assumption: the alarm has not worked until it has produced a confirmed response, a task you could not have completed asleep.

That is why the product is organised around a Wake Plan rather than a ring tone. A Wake Plan is the whole strategy for one alarm: which signals fire (vibration, full-screen visual, flash where it is reliable, sound if you want it), which Awake Check ends it, what the backup is if that check cannot run, and whether you are asked again later.

The three checks, ranked

How much each check demands, and what it proves

Each Awake Check is a deliberate task that ends the alarm. They are not equal, and the app does not pretend they are. (Comparing with math, photo or step missions in other apps? See alternatives to a math alarm.)

Two things sit behind every check. A Backup Awake Check: every Wake Plan carries one, and the app falls back to it automatically if the primary check is unavailable, so a dead camera cannot leave you trapped. And Override: a manual escape that needs a long, deliberate hold and is written into your Wake Record. An alarm you cannot stop is a worse problem than one you occasionally override, so the escape is there and it is logged, not hidden.

Set it up so it works on the first morning

Placing the Wake Point

The oldest trick, the phone on the far side of the room, works without any app, and if that is all you need, do that. What ProveAwake adds is a check you cannot skip and a record of whether it happened. To get the benefit, the placement matters more than the settings.

1. Print the code and put it where you have to stand

   Bathroom mirror, kettle, the inside of the bedroom door. The rule is that you cannot reach it with a foot still under the covers. Across the hall is better than across the room.

2. Make sure it can be lit

   A camera needs light to read a code. Put the code where a light switch is within reach, or on a surface you will light anyway. A code on a dark wall at 5am is a Backup Awake Check waiting to happen.

3. Choose the backup on purpose

   Tap Challenge is the sensible backup for a QR plan: it needs no camera and still takes attention. Hold to Confirm as the backup turns the plan into a tap-to-dismiss alarm the first time the camera fails.

4. Run a Readiness Check the evening before

   It fires every enabled signal on your actual device, in your actual room. A flash alert cannot work through a covered phone, and the app tells you so, but only if you ask it before you depend on it.

5. Check the phone's own settings

   Alarm and notification permissions, Focus or Do Not Disturb exceptions, and enough charge to reach the morning. A permission revoked after setup is the most common reason an alarm "did not go off".

6. Turn on the Wake Recheck if you drift back

   If your pattern is to get up, scan, and climb back in, the Wake Recheck (in Plus) asks for a second confirmation a few minutes later and restarts the alarm if you miss it.

What you pay for

The getting-up part is free

The free tier includes up to three active alarms, vibration and visual signals, optional sound, all three Awake Checks including the QR Wake Point, the Readiness Check and Wake Records. ProveAwake Plus adds unlimited alarms, advanced vibration patterns, Wake Rechecks, advanced escalation timing, multiple QR Wake Points and extended records. Pricing is shown in the app and set by the stores in your currency; it is not published here because it changes without this page changing. If a Plus subscription lapses, a plan built under it still fires and still has a check you can complete. See Free and Plus for the full list.

Questions

Common questions