For many of us, getting up can be a chore most days, as a peaceful sleep or serene dream is interrupted by the shrill chime of a smartphone alarm. It’s too easy to keep hitting that snooze button until the last possible moment to stay where it’s cozy and warm and avoid the responsibilities of the day.
There are, however, plenty of technologies that can improve your wake-up routine: gadgets and apps that ease the transition from sleep to wakefulness and can transform the daily process into something much more natural and even enjoyable along the way. These are five of our favorites and how to make them work.
1) Use a smart hub
If you have a smart hub set up in your home, like a Google Nest Hub or Amazon Echo Show, you can have the sound and images on the screen gradually increase in intensity as your alarm time approaches. The idea is that waking up is more of a process than a jolt.
You can set an alarm on Google smart displays by swiping up from the bottom of the screen and tapping the clock symbol. During the alarm setup process, you can press Sunrise alarm to set gradient effects and configure audio to fade over time.
There’s something similar on the Echo Show, but it’s easier if you set up alarms through the Alexa app on your phone. Tap your Echo on the Devices tab, then the gear icon to access settings: You can create a slow wake-up light via Display and brightness and an increasing alarm volume via Sounds.
2) Use smart light
Many smart lights on the market include the ability to gradually increase their brightness over time. Check with the app that comes with your smart lights (or look for it as a feature if you’re buying new ones).
We can’t give you a guide for every make and model of smart light, but here’s how to do it with a Philips Hue system: Open the Automations tab in the app, then tap the icon + (plus) button in the upper right corner, and Wake up with the light.
The next screen allows you to set the time you want to wake up, how far in advance you want the lights to start coming on, the colors and brightness you want to use, and the days of the week you want to repeat the effect.
3) Use a wake-up light
In addition to general-purpose smart lights, you can get lights specifically designed for a smooth transition to waking up: they use your local sunrise times or a time you set to ease you into the day with a warm glow that gradually strengthens.
THE Lumie Bodyclock Shine 300 It will set you back $159 and also comes with a built-in radio, so you can wake up to some music and a slight increase in light. It’s designed to mimic a real sunrise; it has a sunset mode and can even generate white noise.
Another option is the Casper Bright Light, yours for $129. Like the Lumie, it can help you fall asleep at night and get out of it in the morning, and it also works as a portable lamp that you can take anywhere.
4) Use an alarm app
If you need to use your phone to get out of bed, there are plenty of apps available to help you with the process, including ones that let you solve a math problem before you can turn off the alarm to make sure you’re up.
Try Alarm (Android, iOS) for something less taxing than that. It plays soft, natural sounds for your alarm and can even track your sleep throughout the night (it also solves math problems, if you want).
Then there is the sleep cycle (Android, iOS), which focuses on your sleep and will wake you up at the right time for your natural sleep pattern, within a predefined window, however, so that you are not late for work. It also offers a choice of gentle alarm options.
5) Use a different alarm
You can even play around with some options using your phone’s default alarm if you don’t want to buy additional gadgets or install third-party apps. These options are more limited, but it’s worth exploring the possibilities. And, of course, Google and Apple are constantly releasing new features.
On the Alarm In the default Android Clock app, if you tap the sound option of any alarm, you have a range of choices: not only can you choose from one of the built-in sounds, but you can also choose any audio file (maybe some nature sounds), or even record something directly. Tap the three dots (top right) and Settings to find a Gradually increase the volume option.
In the default Clock app for iOS, there are fewer options when you tap an alarm, then Herbut you can import tracks from Apple Music, which lets you load something more gently. You can also use the sleep scheduling option in the iOS Health app to better manage when you wake up.
