SleepMapper

I have never written a review for anything before, but this app is so terrible and so frustrating that I learned how to write a review in the App Store to try to help others avoid my mistake. The alarm clock itself is great, but the app literally does not work and it makes the clock useless. I have tried resetting the clock, using different WiFi networks, using different phones, deleting the app and setting everything up again… nothing can get this app to connect to the clock consistently. Best case scenario, I want to set an alarm at night and it takes several minutes to connect and eventually gets there. But 90% of the time, the app simply will not connect. It is supposed to be an alarm clock. By its nature, I try to use it when I am exhausted and trying to go to sleep, or exhausted and trying to wake up. And having to sit there staring at my phone watching the app load for up to 20 minutes until eventually it says “your sleep and wake light is not connected” is the bane of my existence. Or, even worse, when (by some miracle) the app connected and I was able to set an alarm, the next morning it’s going off at 5am and I’m desperately trying to turn it off before it wakes up my partner but the app needs at least 5 minutes to connect?? It makes an otherwise solid product completely unusable. Every night/morning I try to use my alarm clock and every night/morning I regret that decision. If you’re considering buying the WiFi-enabled clock SAVE YOUR MONEY. just get the manual clock because this app does not work.

I was on the fence about shelling out $200 for a high end wake up light when there are far cheaper options, but it looks really cool so I bought it. The initial setup was a snap and everything was up and running. Within a few hours it lost its connection to WiFi. I ran through all the troubleshooting steps to no avail. I finally gave up and went to bed. I started the whole process the next day. Once again ran through troubleshooting, no luck. Checked the website no real advice there I have reset the device more times than I can remember, I have uninstalled and reinstalled the app. I have powered my phone off and on and eventually got this to connect, only for it to lose its connection. Once again repeating the same steps and it won’t connect. Now I see it’s a known issue. Don’t even bother wasting your money on this, get a less expensive wake up light and a sleep tracker app and you will have most of the same functionality for a tenth of the price.

Edit: I finally found a workaround on my own after contacting Philips as requested below in the developer’s response and being ignored. I keep being told the issue was caused by me using multiple phones but it started with a fresh install on the very first phone. It also kept occurring after several resets of the sleep light and a fresh install of the app. While the light is attempting to connect there is a small hyperlink that says “wrong password” near the bottom. Clicking it somehow stops the cycle and allows the light to connect. Obviously a glitch but just thankful I finally figured it out. The light was perilously close to being tossed in the trash before I found this workaround. I use this app and also use Philips DreamMapper and both apps have been hugely frustrating from the start. DreamMapper can never connect to the backend server and I constantly lose access to my data. This app keeps insisting my phone and wake up light are connected to different networks after I add the wifi info to the wake up light (spoiler alert, they’re not). The only resolution is to completely reset the light and try again. I’ve done that at least a dozen times and tried different phones, different mobile OS’s, tablets, three different routers and I STILL get the same “different network” error. It’s so bad, I’m ready to begin avoiding any Philips products that depend on a companion app.