Technology And gadgets: Wake N Shake for iPhone -- the evil alarm clock that's guaranteed to get you out of bed each morning

Saturday 4 August 2012

Wake N Shake for iPhone -- the evil alarm clock that's guaranteed to get you out of bed each morning

Wake N Shake for iPhone is the alarm clock for people like me -- those who hit snooze about 5 times before actually getting out of bed. We are so addicted to our precious snooze button, that we set our alarm early in anticipation of the fact that we'll be hitting snooze for at least a half hour. With Wake N Shake for iPhone, those days are over. This alarm clock requires you to rigorously shake your iPhone to turn it off. By the time you've shaken your iPhone enough to turn off the alarm, you'll be more than ready to get out of bed (and in need of a shower!).

The way we make it so evil is, first, there's no snooze button. No escape. Second, the volume can't be turned down. Once it goes off, it'll continue to blast until you shut it off. Third, hitting the home button to close the app doesn't save you either. Your only way out is to shake the hell out of the iPhone. Pure evil.

And because I know you're thinking it -- force-quitting Wake N Shake doesn't help you either, because it'll get back at you by sending a notification every few seconds until you open the app to turn off the alarm. So. Evil.

Even the icon is evil -- a red and black smiley face. It creeps me out.

Wake N Shake comes with a good selection of annoying sounds and a slider that adjusts the shake intensity needed to turn off the alarm. The lowest level is "hard" and the most difficult is "merciless" with "painful" in the middle. I've tried out the painful intensity, and it took me at least 30 seconds of constant shaking to turn it off. You can also set the alarm to repeat on any custom set of days of the week.

The good

Red on black color scheme is easy on the eyes when using your iPhone in a dark room
There is no such thing as an easy intensity level
Create multiple alarms
Includes a built-in "flashlight" that turns on the camera flash
Includes a sleep-timer
Presets for quick naps (10, 15, 20, 30, 45, and 60 minutes, or custom)

The bad

The button for the "online manual" takes you to an invalid website

The conclusion

I'm not gonna lie, I'm a bit scared to try this one out. I've grown to love my snooze button and slow wake-up process, but I'm going to suck it up and set my alarm with Wake N Shake tonight. To get an idea of what type of experience I'll have in the morning, check out the video below!

How many times do you typically hit snooze in the morning?