Blockwake: Puzzle Alarm Clock

Soleares

About this app

You set an alarm, and in the morning you turn it off without ever waking up — and oversleep. The problem isn't the volume. The problem is that pressing one button doesn't require you to be awake.

Blockwake fixes that. It's a puzzle alarm clock: to turn the alarm off, you have to clear a line in a mini-game of falling blocks. A couple of moves is enough to switch your brain on and actually wake up.

HOW IT WORKS

1. Set the time in the evening. The app shows how long until it rings.
2. In the morning the alarm screen opens by itself, even if the phone is locked.
3. Tap "Play" and clear at least one line. The alarm stops.

Don't clear it, and the alarm keeps going. Minimizing the app won't help — the sound keeps playing.

WHO IT'S FOR

Heavy sleepers who switch the alarm off in their sleep. Anyone who hits snooze five times and still oversleeps. Students, shift workers, early risers — anyone who needs to actually get up, not just silence a sound.

WHAT IT DOES

• Rings exactly at the minute you set
• Daily repeat
• Snooze for 5 minutes
• Volume floor: you can turn it down, but you can't mute it
• The alarm works offline
• The alarm survives a phone restart
• While you play, the sound drops but comes back if you put the phone down and doze off again

THE MINI-GAME

An original set of three- and five-cell pieces on a 9x15 board. Three board sizes and several looks to choose from. You can play any time, without an alarm — the "Play" button is always there.

Difficulty is adjustable: bigger pieces and a narrower board make a round harder, if the morning task feels too easy.

STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT PERMISSIONS

An alarm clock needs permissions, and here's what each one is for:

• Exact alarms — so it rings at the minute you set, not when the system finds it convenient
• Notifications — to show the alarm is running and let you get back into the app
• Display over the lock screen — so the screen opens by itself when the phone is locked
• Foreground service — so the sound doesn't cut out while the app is in the background
• Start after restart — so a set alarm isn't lost if the phone was switched off

While the alarm is ringing, the app can pin its screen so it can't simply be swiped away. Once the alarm is off, the screen unpins itself.

NOTHING EXTRA

No ads. No sign-up: you don't need an account to set the alarm. Your alarm time and settings are stored in your phone's memory.

IMPORTANT

Blockwake is an alarm clock, not a medical device. On some phones aggressive battery saving can interfere with background apps: if your manufacturer is known for this, add Blockwake to the battery optimization exceptions. For critical wake-ups it makes sense to keep a second alarm.

Questions and suggestions: [e-mail]

What’s new

• Under-the-hood improvements for smoother, more reliable performance