Comparison

Allarise vs PocketCtrl

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Allarise

This app enhances your morning routine by integrating with smart home devices. Set reliable alarms that trigger custom actions like adjusting lights or scenes. It also offers wake-up challenges and calming sleep sounds for a personalized start and end to your day.

Highlights
  • Reliable alarm engine independent of ringer/mute
  • Home Assistant MQTT integration
  • Wake-up missions (math, shake, HA action)
  • Calming sleep sounds with timers
  • Customizable wallpaper packs
  • Morning weather forecast integration
Features
Read full description

Allarise turns your alarm into the starting point for a smarter morning routine. Wake up with simple, reliable alarms that connect with Home Assistant to adjust lights, scenes, devices, and routines so your home starts the day with you. Add wake-up missions when you need help waking up, wind down with calming sleep sounds, and enjoy a clean, ad-free experience without accounts or tracking. ALARM ENGINE - Allarise plays at the volume you set, independent of your ringer and mute switch. Alarms are designed to fire reliably when your phone is muted, on Do Not Disturb, or locked. - Set recurring schedules, customize snooze durations, and configure each alarm independently. - Free includes 2 alarms. Pro unlocks unlimited alarms. HOME ASSISTANT INTEGRATION - Turn your alarm into part of your smart home. - Allarise includes full two-way MQTT integration with Home Assistant, so your alarms can do more than just make noise. Your alarms can publish their status to Home Assistant, trigger automations, and expose controls you can use as part of your smart home routine. - Add buttons to alarms in Allarise to trigger Home Assistant automations directly from the app. Use them to control lights, scenes, devices, routines, and more from the same place you manage your alarms. - Home Assistant can also send commands back to Allarise. Create alarms, edit alarms, control sleep sounds, arm alarm zones, sync alarm status, and build deeper automations around your morning and bedtime routines. - Connect through your own self-hosted MQTT broker. A step-by-step setup guide and interactive MQTT Payload Builder are available at https://allarise.app to make setup easier. WAKE-UP MISSIONS - Make sure you are actually awake before dismissing your alarm. - Dismiss alarms by solving math problems, shaking your phone, or completing a Home Assistant action. Missions are configurable per alarm, - so you can choose the wake-up challenge that works best for you. SLEEP SOUNDS - Fall asleep to rain, ocean waves, white noise, and more. - Use lock screen controls, adjustable sleep timers, and fade-out transitions. Sleep sounds can also be controlled remotely from Home Assistant using MQTT too. - Pro unlocks custom imported alarm tones and sleep sounds. WALLPAPER PACKS - Customize the look of your alarm and home screens with curated wallpaper packs. Each pack includes light and dark variants designed to look great out of the box. - Unlock all wallpaper packs with Pro. MORNING WEATHER - See today's forecast when your alarm goes off, powered by Apple WeatherKit. - Weather cards can be enabled on up to two alarms. PRIVACY FIRST - No analytics. No ads. No Allarise account required. - Your alarm data stays on your device. MQTT credentials are stored securely in the iOS Keychain. - Allarise only communicates with the services needed for the features you choose to use, including Apple’s native services such as WeatherKit and the App Store, your own self-hosted MQTT broker if you enable Home Assistant integration, and the National Weather Service if you enable NWS alerts. - When NWS alerts are enabled, your location is included in the request to the National Weather Service so Allarise can retrieve alerts for your area. Your location is not stored by Allarise or sent to our servers. - Nothing is sent to us, ever. THE LEGAL STUFF Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of Service: https://allarise.app/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://allarise.app/privacy.html

About

PocketCtrl

Control your Mac remotely from your iPhone or iPad. Use your device as a screen, trackpad, and keyboard, with features like voice typing and clipboard sharing. Securely connect on local or cross-networks.

Highlights
  • Remote screen, trackpad, and keyboard control
  • On-screen keyboard with Mac shortcuts
  • Optional on-device voice typing
  • Selectable Mac display view
  • Adjustable stream quality
  • Mac audio and clipboard sharing
  • QR code or code pairing
Features
Read full description

Your Mac, wherever you need it. PocketCtrl turns your iPhone or iPad into a remote screen, trackpad, and keyboard for your Mac. Connect on the same local network, or use your own Tailscale network to reach your Mac between networks. CONTROL THAT FEELS FAMILIAR • Move the pointer, click, scroll, and zoom with touch gestures. • Type with the on-screen keyboard and use convenient Mac shortcuts. • Use optional on-device voice typing when supported by your device and language. • Use an external keyboard or trackpad on iPad. YOUR MAC, YOUR SETUP • Choose which Mac display to view. • Switch between saved Macs. • Adjust stream quality to suit your connection. • Enable Mac audio and text clipboard sharing for approved devices. PAIR WITH CONFIDENCE • Pair with a QR code, computer code, or pairing link. • Approve new devices on the host Mac and choose their access permissions. • Stream and control data is encrypted and authenticated between paired devices. • No PocketCtrl account is required. REQUIREMENTS PocketCtrl requires the separate PocketCtrl Mac companion on a Mac running macOS 15.6 or later. Download it and follow the setup guide at https://www.pocketctrl.com/download. The Mac must be powered on, awake, running PocketCtrl, and reachable over the network. Allow Screen Recording on your Mac to share its display, Accessibility for remote control, and Local Network access for nearby connections. Tailscale is a separate, optional service for connections between networks and requires its own setup. PocketCtrl is open source. Learn more at https://www.pocketctrl.com. Privacy policy: https://www.pocketctrl.com/privacy

Screenshots

Allarise4 screens
PocketCtrl4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PocketCtrl at none against Allarise's 2. PocketCtrl also leads on update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (18 vs 26.1). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Allarise sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. PocketCtrl asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Allarise against 5.0 for PocketCtrl. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Allarise ships an update every 2 months, PocketCtrl every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Allarise versus PocketCtrl: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAllarisePocketCtrl
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS26.118 — better
Further details — not scored
Size96 MB6 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperDOMORE TECH LLCTalkUp LLC

Customer experience

Allarise

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

PocketCtrl

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Allarise

Subscriptions1
  • HaWake Pro - Monthly7 Days trial$0.991 Month
One-time1
  • HaWake Pro - One Time Purchase$6.99
None

PocketCtrl

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Allarise free?
Allarise is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PocketCtrl free?
PocketCtrl is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Allarise or PocketCtrl?
Allarise and PocketCtrl are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Allarise or PocketCtrl have ads?
Neither Allarise nor PocketCtrl shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Allarise or PocketCtrl?
Allarise ships an update every 2 months, and PocketCtrl every 6 days. Most recently, Allarise was updated on October 6, 2026 and PocketCtrl on October 18, 2026.

Other comparisons