Sleepwave: Alarm & Tracker

I have a neurodevelopmental disorder that additionally impacts my sleep stages and patterns, causing me to wake up completely disoriented and balance instability most of the time when I don’t wake up naturally on my own. It’s truly debilitating. I have always DREADED going to bed at night, just because I knew how my morning was going to go. My therapist told me about “smart alarms” a couple of years ago, so I looked into them and found this one. I think I’ve used this for 2 years now and I’ve told a lot of people about it and how much it’s totally changed my life in the mornings (and at bedtime!). My sleep inertia is not getting in the way as much since the app can detect right when you’re in the lightest phase of sleep. Exactly what I needed. Thank you so much, Soundwave team! Literally a life changer.

I’ve been using this app for about five months now, and I’ve really noticed a difference in how I wake up. Before this app it was terribly difficult for me to wake up in the mornings, I found myself hitting snooze over and over again and just feeling frustrated and fatigued. Since using this app, 9 mornings out of 10 I find myself awaking refreshed, energized, and ready to get up. It’s amazing. I don’t really use the meditate feature, but the paid version is worth it for the gentle awakening feature, which plays a very soft sound (like birds or ocean waves) for a few minutes before playing the actual alarm. It’s a great way to help me transition to wakefulness and not feel like I need to snooze once the alarm does go off. Also, the sound design of the alarms themselves is very thoughtful; my favorites are long, slowly energizing musical pieces. I can’t go back to the repetitive drone of other alarms.

I’ve tried a dozen apps and those fancy alarms with the morning light and vibration. This works better! This is the best alarm app I’ve found. I’ve been using the basic, free version for a week and I love everything about it. I set the range for my wake-up time (5:00-5:30) and then I put my phone next to my bed. In the morning, the alarm sounds are persistent but not annoying and the alarm screen requires just enough precision that I can’t swipe it off without actually waking up. Plus, I have a report on my sleep quality for the whole night. I have two small kids, a full time job, and a side hustle, so I’m exhausted and I definitely need more sleep than I am getting. I have serious difficulty waking up in the morning, but this does the trick! I’m sold. This is the best alarm app.