Risly

Risly is an alarm clock for iPhone built around a single rule: the alarm cannot be dismissed until you complete a mission. It rings through silent mode, Focus / Do Not Disturb and a locked screen, and there is no snooze button — tapping the screen does nothing until the mission is done.

When the alarm fires, you have to do something that actually gets you out of bed. You pick which mission, per alarm:

• Scan — point the camera at a household object the app asks for (recognition runs on-device) • Math — solve a few problems at the difficulty you set • Shake — shake the phone until the counter fills • Push-ups — prop the phone against a wall and the camera counts your reps on-device • Memory — repeat a pattern that grows longer each round • QR code — print a code once and stick it across the room or on the bathroom mirror; scanning it is the only way to stop the alarm • Barcode — no printer needed: register a barcode you already own (a cereal box, a tube of toothpaste), then scan it to wake up

Every mission has its own difficulty setting, so you can make the morning as easy or as brutal as you need. Risly also tracks wake-up streaks and stats, so you can see the habit build over time.

The idea behind it: hitting snooze feeds sleep inertia, the grogginess that pulls you back under. Movement and focus break it faster, which is what the missions are for.

Risly requires iOS 26 or later and is available in 18 languages. It is a subscription app with a 3-day free trial; there is no ad-supported free tier.