Smart Alarms Wake People More Gently

The recommended  placement of the iPhone during sleep.

I

t's a moment we all dread—being jolted awake in the morning by a loud, blaring alarm. It's usually in the form of a droning beep or a static-y radio station, but no matter what, being startled out of a sound sleep is not the most fun way of being woken up. But now, smartphone users have the option to download apps that learn their sleep patterns and wake them more gently.

Sleep Cycle charts out your sleep cycles and wakes you when you're in your lightest cycle.

Apps like Alarm and Sleep Cycle work by the user placing the phone under their pillow, and the app learns how a person moves during the various sleep cycles. Since REM sleep is the deepest sleep, when we are awakened during it, it can make for a rather unpleasant morning. These apps follow your movement during sleep and gently wake you up in phases after you've completed your REM cycle. Set the alarm for the time you want to wake up for, and Sleep Cycle will wake you up in a 30-minute window near that time, when you are in your lightest sleep cycle.

These sorts of alarms are not a new thing, but until now they've been very expensive, around $200.  But Maciek Drejak, the programmer behind the app, said, "I realized that the iPhone has all the components needed, and decided to make an alarm clock that works exactly the same, but sell it for a dollar or two."

The apps have rave reviews in the app store, and people we have talked to say they work pretty well. It's worth giving a shot—Alarm is a free app and Sleep Cycle is just 99 cents.