Head to head
Alarmy vs Sleep as Android
Half the people searching this are holding an iPhone, and for them the answer is one line long. The other half have a real decision in front of them.
In short
On an iPhone this is over before it starts: Sleep as Android is Android only, so Alarmy is your only option of the two. On Android, take Sleep as Android if you want depth, and Alarmy if you only want the alarm to be harder to beat.
Sleep as Android does not run on iOS, and that settles half of this
There is no iPhone version. Not a limited one, not a companion app, none. Sleep as Android is built for Android and Wear OS, and a good part of what makes it so deep depends on the platform it was written for.
So if you're reading this on an iPhone, the table below is background reading. Alarmy is the only one of the two you can install.
Alarmy does one thing and refuses to stop doing it
Its whole identity is making you complete a task before the noise stops, and it carries the widest range of those tasks anywhere. That narrowness is a feature: there's almost nothing to configure, and nothing else in the app competing for your attention at six in the morning.
It's on both platforms, and it has a free tier, so the cost of finding out is close to zero.
On Android this comes down to depth against focus
Sleep as Android is the most feature-dense smart alarm on the platform: tracking, CAPTCHAs to dismiss the alarm, snoring detection, and a long tail of integrations with bulbs, wearables and home automation. Very little a sleep nerd could want is missing from it.
That density is also the cost. You will spend an evening in settings, and if all you wanted was an alarm you can't beat, you'll have bought a workshop to hang one picture.
iPhone owners usually arrive here wanting the density, not the app
The thing people miss when they switch is having the whole night in one place. On iOS the closest equivalent is Tock: an AlarmKit alarm that rings on silent and through a Focus, all-night tracking from the phone on your nightstand, and snores, coughs and sleep talking classified on device with the clips kept so you can hear them.
Tock does not do smart bulbs or home automation, and there is no free tier. A 3-day trial, then from $39.99 a year.
| What we compared | Alarmy | Sleep as Android |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | iPhone and Android (stronger here) | Android and Wear OS |
| What it is known for | Finishing a task to stop it (about the same) | Having nearly everything (about the same) |
| Sleep tracking | Secondary to the alarm | Core to the product (stronger here) |
| Snore detection | Not its pitch | Built in (stronger here) |
| Talking to other gear | Stays in its lane | Bulbs, wearables, home automation (stronger here) |
| Getting started | Set it in minutes (stronger here) | Expect a settings tour |
| How it wants to feel | Loud and gamified (about the same) | Dense and configurable (about the same) |
Which one to actually install
Pick Alarmy if
Alarmy is the pick if you're on an iPhone, or if you're on Android and the only broken thing is your ability to turn an alarm off responsibly. It's narrow on purpose, and that's exactly why it works.
Pick Sleep as Android if
Sleep as Android is the better product for an Android owner who enjoys settings. Tracking, dismissal CAPTCHAs, snore detection and integrations with the rest of your gear all sit in one app, and it's the best thing on the platform.
Pick neither if
iPhone owners who wanted Sleep as Android are usually after one app for the whole night. Tock is the nearest thing on iOS: a system alarm on AlarmKit, phone-based tracking with on-device sound classification, and one small task before the alarm stops. A 3-day trial, then from $39.99 a year.
Questions people ask
Can I run Sleep as Android on an iPhone?
No. It's built for Android and Wear OS and there's no iOS version to buy or sideload. For an iPhone owner it isn't a real choice, however good the reviews are.
Does Alarmy do everything Sleep as Android does?
No, and it isn't trying to. Alarmy's identity is the dismissal task. Sleep as Android layers tracking, snoring detection and a long list of integrations on top of a similar idea.
I am switching from Android to iPhone. What is the closest thing?
Nothing matches it feature for feature, partly because some of what it does is Android-specific. The nearest iPhone answers are Alarmy if you want the missions, or a tracking-first alarm like Tock if you want the night as well.
Which one works on a Wear OS watch?
Only Sleep as Android is in that conversation, and its Wear OS support is part of why it goes as deep as it does.
Where Tock sits against each of them
These pages are written the same way as this one, which means they state what Alarmy and Sleep as Android each do better than we do.
Related matchups
Other pairings involving one of these two.
- Alarmy vs the iPhone Clock appIf you get up when your alarm goes off, the Clock app is the honest answer and Alarmy is friction you don't need. If you dismiss alarms in your sleep and it has already cost you something, Alarmy's tasks are the only thing on this page that changes the outcome.
- Alarmy vs PillowThese two aren't really competing. Choose Alarmy if the problem is that you stay in bed. Choose Pillow if you own an Apple Watch and the problem is that you have no idea what your nights look like.
- Alarmy vs Sleep CyclePick Alarmy if you sleep through alarms and need one you can't beat. Pick Sleep Cycle if you wake up on time but feel wrecked when you do, and you want a gentler window plus a record of the night.
- the iPhone Clock app vs Sleep as AndroidYour phone already decided this. Sleep as Android has no iOS version and Apple's Clock app has no Android version, so unless you're switching phones over an alarm clock, the answer is whichever one you can install.
- Sleep as Android vs Sleep CycleOn Android, if you want every dial and every integration you can get, Sleep as Android is unmatched. If you want something simple, or your partner is on an iPhone, Sleep Cycle is the one that works for both of you.
Elsewhere on the site
A different corner of the same problem.
- Wake tonesCustom alarm soundTock comes with 18 wake tones, and if none of them suit you it takes your own audio as the alarm instead. Whatever you choose still gets scheduled through Apple's AlarmKit, so the silent switch, an active Focus and a fully closed app have no bearing on whether it rings.
- FeaturesSleep soundsTock has 63 fall-asleep sounds. You can play four at a time, save the blend as a mix, and 42 of them carry a Far, Near or Close distance control. 22 are bundled recordings and the rest are generated on the phone as you listen, so they never loop.
- Sleep soundsFanA fan makes broadband noise from air turbulence plus a very quiet periodic thump from the blades, sitting somewhere between pink and brown in balance, which is why so many people sleep to one without ever calling it white noise. Tock uses a recording of an actual fan rather than generating it, because that blade rhythm is the thing that makes it read as a fan at all.
- Tock for youTravellers with jet lagYou landed, you are on local time on paper, and your body is running four or eight hours behind. Wide awake at 3am, unusable at 3pm, and it lasts roughly a day per time zone.
- AlternativesTock vs the iPhone Clock appIf you want an alarm and nothing else, keep the Clock app. Tock rings on the same Apple framework it does, so the reliability argument is a draw. Tock is only worth paying for if you want the night before the alarm to change when it goes off, and you want a morning report and a mission before it stops.
- RoundupsThe best snoring apps, ranked by what they're forSnoreLab is the best dedicated snoring app: recording and scoring your snoring is its only job, and its remedy tracking is more deliberate than anything else here. Tock is the better pick if you want snoring in context, inside a night that also carries your sleep, your alarm and playable audio of what the room actually sounded like.
If neither of them is quite the alarm you wanted
Tock is built on Apple AlarmKit, so it rings on silent and through a Focus, moves earlier when it finds a lighter moment, and keeps ringing until you solve something.