# Kiwake: smart alarm clock — Life Hacks to Wake Up Early

> Smart alarm clock app to help users wake up early and build morning routines. (iPhone/iPad app by Kiwake inc.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kiwake-smart-alarm-clock/id951876055 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Kiwake inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1056785405)
- Category: Lifestyle, Utilities
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.00/5 from 999 App Store ratings · 265 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 12.0 · 60 MB
- Languages: American English, French (France), German (Germany), Italian, Japanese, Korean, European Portuguese, Russian, Chinese (Simplified, China), European Spanish and 1 more
- Released: 2015-01-06
- Data updated: 2026-08-30
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kiwake-smart-alarm-clock/id951876055/reviews.md

## What is Kiwake?

Tired of oversleeping? If you really want to stop hitting the snooze button, then Kiwake is the best solution for you! Our unique wake-up process is specifically designed to transform you into an early-bird, and it's actually easier than you think. You simply didn't have the right tools before.

Featured in over 80 countries, including the US and UK.

Kiwake has been seen in Buzzfeed, AppAdvice, Bustle, BGR and more.

Are you ready to become a morning bird?
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Let’s face it: regular alarms don’t work very well. You just hit the snooze button as many times as you can, then rush for the rest of your morning trying not to be late. What you really need is a coach that will help you build a strong morning routine, and that’s exactly what Kiwake is designed for.  
 
Kiwake will drive you out of bed whether you want it or not! Like any good coach, it will give you a hard time if you don’t follow the rules, but also encourage you when you actually do. The more you stick to your routine, the less annoying it becomes.
 
HOW IT WORKS
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Kiwake’s mission is to walk you through a brief but complete wake-up process to make sure you woke up:

  1. Your Body, by standing up and leaving your bed.

  2. Your Brain, by stimulating it and keeping it away from excuses you could find to go back to sleep. 

  3. Your Motivation, by reading your goals to start your day inspired.
 
Kiwake will request proof that you went through each of these steps:
 
■ Body wake-up: take a picture of an object far from your bed to prove you left it. This is an object that you already saved when you have set the alarm.
 
■ Brain wake-up: complete a quick mini-game that requires your full attention. Keeping your brain busy will stop it from finding excuses to go back to bed.
 
■ Motivation wake-up: read your main goals and give yourself an incredible motivation boost! 
 
FEATURES
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◦ No snooze button: don't try to find one, there are none and it's better for you.
 
◦ Cooldown timer: not snoozing doesn't mean you have to instantly jump out of bed. Take some time to stretch first (3 min max)
 
◦ Customizable settings : 
   - add multiple alarms and set specific days of the week.
   - choose between a variety of mini-games, their length and difficulty.
   - set the right cooldown time for you.
   - choose between various ringtones or use your own.
 
◦ Precise image recognition: knows if you took a picture of the right object.

◦ Customizable backgrounds: choose from our library or use your own pictures.

◦ Sleep sounds: a selection of natural sounds to help you fall asleep.
 
 STILL READING ? NOT CONVINCED ? 
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 THIS APP WILL SAVE YOU MONEY $$$

◦ You will have time to make your own coffee instead of buying it on the go because you're late;

◦ You will have time to pack your lunch instead of eating outside;

◦ Along with the other advantages of waking up​ earlier;

Subscription pricing and terms:
- Subscribing to Kiwake Premium allows you to access all the content within the app.
- Subscription prices are $1.99 USD monthly and $14.99 USD yearly or equal to the same price tier that "Apple's App Store Matrix" determines in other currencies.
- Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. 
- Subscription will renew automatically unless auto-renewal was turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period.
- You can manage subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal by going to the user's iTunes Account Settings after purchase
- Any unused portion of a free-trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to Premium Access.
- Subscriptions with a free trial period will be automatically renewed to the weekly paid subscription.

Read more about our terms and conditions here:
Terms of service: https://bit.ly/3cwqofc
Privacy policy: https://bit.ly/32O3njv

## Key features

- No snooze button
- Body wake-up verification (photo)
- Brain wake-up mini-games
- Motivation wake-up (goal reading)
- Customizable alarms and settings
- Cooldown timer

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**Subscriptions**

| Subscription | Price | Period |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kiwake Premium | $13.99 | per year |
| Kiwake Premium | $1.99 | per month |


## What do users think of Kiwake?

Overall sentiment: neutral

**Pros**

- 🚀 Effective at waking up
- 👍 Motivational features
- 👍 Customizable alarm
- 👍 Variety of wake-up tasks
- 🚀 Life-changing

**Cons**

- 🐛 Inconsistent alarm functionality
- 🐛 Buggy app behavior
- 🔒 Requires subscription to use
- 🔒 Not transparent about paid features
- 🐛 Unreliable alarm

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Alarm not going off at set time
- Alarm not making any sound
- App crashing when trying to provide feedback
- Alarm going off at wrong times
- Inability to turn off alarm once triggered

**Most requested features**

- Add math problems as wake-up tasks
- Improve photo recognition feature
- Add ability to mute game sounds
- Provide a way to disable/stop alarm without completing tasks
- Improve reliability and consistency

## Recent user reviews (10 of 265)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kiwake-smart-alarm-clock/id951876055/reviews.md

### 1/5 — Why

*2026-08-08, version 3.2.1*

Why do I have to pay for just using a alarm all the other alarms are free. Why does this one have to be paid for?

### 1/5 — terrible

*2026-07-17, version 3.2.1*

i don’t like this app at all the alarms don’t even wake you up

### 1/5 — BAD APP!!!!

*2026-07-01, version 3.2.1*

This app I set It up because I am a heavy sleeper and the the app makes you pay for the wake up puzzles at that point use another app

### 2/5 — 𝖨𝖳 𝖶𝖨𝖫𝖫 𝖲𝖳𝖤𝖤𝖫 𝖴𝖱 𝖬𝖮𝖭𝖤𝖸

*2026-04-20, version 3.2.1*

𝖢𝗈𝗈𝗅 𝖺𝗉𝗉 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝖽𝖾𝖿 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝖿𝗋𝖾𝖾. 𝖭𝗈𝗍 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗅𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝗏𝗂𝖾𝗐 𝗍𝖺𝗅𝗄𝗌 𝖺𝖻𝗍 𝖺 𝗉𝗋𝗂𝖼𝖾, 𝖾𝗑𝖼𝖾𝗉𝗍 𝗆𝗂𝗇𝖾. 𝖴𝗌𝗎𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝖨 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽 𝗉𝖺𝗒 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗂𝗍 𝗂𝗌 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝗍. 𝖨'𝖽 𝗋𝖺𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝗅𝗆𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝖻𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝗎𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗇 𝖻𝖾 𝖻𝗋𝗈𝗄𝖾. 𝖠𝗅 𝗂𝗇 𝖺𝗅𝗅, 𝗂𝗍 𝗂𝗌 $𝟣.𝟫𝟫 𝖺 𝗆𝗈𝗇𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝖿 𝗎 𝗐𝖺𝗇𝗍𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗄𝗇𝗈𝗐.

### 3/5 — It changed my life… and it’s the buggiest app I’ve ever used

*2026-04-10, version 3.2.1*

If you’re someone who struggles with oversleeping, Kiwake could be a literal life changer.

I’m such a heavy sleeper and non-morning person that I used to wake up, turn off my alarm, and go back to sleep without even being fully conscious, waking up hours later perplexed what the heck happened. Even setting a physical alarm clock on the other side of the room was only half effective — it forced me out of bed, but I’d often just stumble back into bed immediately and pass out again within seconds, sometimes with no memory afterwards that I’d even done so.

It was bad enough that it threatened my ability to hold a job, since extreme lateness of several hours was a semi-frequent occurrence due to my chronic oversleeping. It tarnished my reputation, as I became known as someone who was completely unreliable before around 11am. One time in film school I showed up 2 hours late to MY OWN FILM SHOOT, keeping over a dozen cast & crew that had been generous enough to offer me their Saturday waiting while I slept through texts and phone calls concerned that maybe I’d gotten in some terrible accident.

I found this app 9 years ago, in 2017, and it has more or less eliminated this problem from my life entirely. The 2 step system it employs is brilliant in its simplicity: not only does it force you to physically get out of bed (by taking a photo of something across the room), but the puzzle feature then makes extra sure you don’t go back to sleep immediately after, and continually pesters you until you’re conscious enough that your basic reasoning and motor skills have sufficiently booted up.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve struggled to keep my eyes open while solving these puzzles, or found my brain refusing to cooperate to remember simple shapes or colors, or my fingers not yet agile enough to tap some boxes at a moderate speed. With the old “physical alarm clock on the other side of the room” trick, in these instances I’d have fallen back asleep immediately. The app’s persistence doesn’t allow me to. It patiently nudges me over and over until I’m actually AWAKE. No other app or life hack I’ve tried has managed to be this effective at actually getting me up at the time I need to be every day.

So, why not give 5 stars? Well, because in addition to completely changing my life, Kiwake is also the buggiest app I have ever used.

A frequent problem is that the alarm sound will not play and the phone will only vibrate, leading me to wake up late when my phone finally vibrates itself off my nightstand and crashes onto the floor, picking it up to find dozens of Kiwake notifications and an obnoxious message once I open the app that “It looks like you didn’t wake up on time.”

Sometimes the alarm will play just fine, but the app will crash the moment I open it. Often the alarm will even keep playing after this, but the app will continually crash every time I try to open it, leaving me with no way to turn it off. (On a few occasions I’ve had to restart my phone to get it to stop.)

There are also times where I’ve toggled for the alarm to be turned OFF that morning, and the alarm goes off anyway at whatever time I’d previously set it to, forcing me to go through the motions of getting up and solving a puzzle when I’ve decided to sleep in, or when I’m already awake and possibly not even in my bedroom.

Ironically, I’ve been meaning to write this review for years, every time I’m hit with the “Are you enjoying Kiwake?” pop-up. But this is the first time ever the app hasn’t immediately crashed as soon as I’ve clicked the button to take me to the App Store 😂

Problems like this have plagued the app for as long as I’ve been using it. I’m always hopeful every time there’s an update that it will finally fix all these issues, but somehow the same bugs continue to be a persistent annoyance for nearly a decade now. For something so essential to daily functioning, it’s aggravating how unreliable it is. Since Kiwake semi-frequently fails at doing the one thing it’s designed to do, I’m forced to use a backup alarm on the Clock app every day, as well as continuing to rely on the old “physical alarm across the room” trick.

I’ve contacted their customer support a few times over the years, with zero success. The first time, years ago, I got an initial response but was soon ghosted. My last two emails just went unanswered.

I am someone that hates paying subscription fees for apps. But I would gladly pay a small annual fee for Kiwake if it meant it worked reliably and wasn’t plagued by bugs.

My hope is that the devs will see this review and finally do something about the app’s basic functioning. I would be very happy to be able to change this to a 5 star review.

### 1/5 — Doesn’t actually alarm

*2026-01-29, version 3.2.1*

I was excited for this app and really wanted it to work but it became clear the app has been abandoned by its creator and the bugs are no longer being fixed. The alarm app sends you notifications to open the app when your alarm time goes off…rather than the actual alarm. If you do open the app after a few notifications the “body wake up” doesn’t initiate half the time.

### 1/5 — Can’t use without paying

*2025-10-22, version 3.2.1*

Kinda misleading by the developers, but you can’t use any of the alarms without paying… another point of greed in our society…

### 1/5 — Can’t even try it without a subscription

*2025-09-25, version 3.2.1*

Just mark that you need to pay upfront jackass

### 1/5 — Requires a subscription

*2025-08-23, version 3.2.1*

I literally hate how everything requires a subscription and there’s no option to just buy the app outright. if they had like a lifetime subscription option I’d be down, but I don’t wanna be paying something every month.

### 2/5 — Doesn’t work

*2025-08-07, version 3.2.1*

The alarm won’t go off and it’s easy to disengage the alarm without having to do any of the steps.

## Frequently asked questions about Kiwake

### What does Kiwake do?

Kiwake is a smart alarm clock designed to help you stop oversleeping and become an early bird. It guides you through a multi-step wake-up process that includes physical activity, brain-engaging games, and motivational goal-setting to ensure you get out of bed and start your day productively.

### How does the wake-up process work?

The app's wake-up process has three stages: Body, Brain, and Motivation. You'll need to prove you've left your bed by taking a picture of a pre-set object, complete a mini-game to stimulate your brain, and read your goals to boost your motivation.

### Is Kiwake free to use?

The app is free to download and use, but it offers in-app purchases. This likely means some features or customization options may require a purchase.

### What are the key features of Kiwake?

Key features include a no-snooze design, a cooldown timer to ease you out of bed, customizable alarms with specific days, various mini-games with adjustable difficulty, precise image recognition for wake-up verification, and sleep sounds to help you fall asleep.

### Who is this app for?

This app is ideal for anyone who struggles with oversleeping, frequently hits the snooze button, or wants to build a more consistent and productive morning routine. It's designed to be a coach that helps you become a morning person.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 3.2.1 — 2021-04-17

-Minor bug fixes & Improvements.

Found a bug? E-mail us at contact@kiwake.com

### 3.2 — 2021-03-27

-Minor bug fixes & Improvements.

Found a bug? E-mail us at contact@kiwake.com

### 3.1.2 — 2021-03-07

- Various bug fixes and performance improvements

Found a bug? E-mail us at contact@kiwake.com

### 3.1.1 — 2021-02-27

- Improved performance
- Fixed feedback crash
- Various bug fixes and improvements

Found a bug? E-mail us at contact@kiwake.com

### 3.1 — 2020-05-08

- Fixed issue that hid the button to mute games
- Fixed issue when switching picture during the body wake-up
- Fixed crash related to the concierge
- Other bug fixes & Improvements

Found a bug? E-mail us at contact@kiwake.com

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## More apps by Kiwake inc

- [Christmas Emoji Timer](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/christmas-emoji-timer/id1535361555)

All apps by Kiwake inc: https://appshunter.io/developer/1056785405

## Related topics

[photo alarm](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/photo-alarm) · [oclock](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/oclock)

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-30.*