Kiwake: smart alarm clock Reviews

by 2525EH252525

The update to iOS 14 has rendered Kiwake completely useless. Alarms will either not start at all, will start but with no audio, or Kiwake will immediately crash upon opening. Since the update, this app has failed to provide the purchased functionality every single morning. So this is an alarm app that can’t even provide it’s one intended function. From other recent reviews, I can see that I am not alone here.

Listen, I work in the product development space and understand that sh*! happens. If this was a free app then what is there to complain about? But for a paid app this is completely unacceptable. This was obviously either not tested at all or severely under-tested. On top of that, a fix has still not been provided and it has been about a month now. I will not be using Kiwake again and will avoid all future offerings from this team.

by Klowee J

I tried to submit feedback through Kiwake to the manufacturer to request help or a refund because this alarm is not working.

I was awake before my alarm was supposed to go off (lying in bed until I needed to wake up, but not interacting with my phone) but the alarm did not make a sound. I have a second alarm just in case (a clock radio), so I realized this app hadn’t gone off when my second alarm went on 15 min later. When I looked at my phone, there were 21 notifications for the this app alarm. This is now the third time this has happened, but I assumed the first times that I just slept through it, even though it is not characteristic of me to sleep through an alarm.

I’ve checked my sound settings on my phone and they are fine, so I can definitively say that the alarm did not make a sound. Is there a reason or a setting that would explain this? Or is it a flaw in Kiwake ? Considering the cost of Kiwake and it’s function to wake people up, I am very frustrated that it is unreliable. I would love to have this resolved because I like the idea behind Kiwake , but if there is no fix and I can’t rely on it to make a sound, I instead want a refund.

by Overseer Of Vault 106

Using the in app feedback option causes Kiwake to crash. Even when you’re prompted by Kiwake itself to provide feedback. This has been the case since I downloaded Kiwake over 4 or 5 months ago. One feature that doesn’t work is the “skip alarm hiregeneration”. You’re supposed to be able to after two weeks get one of your skip options back and it just never happened. I used a skip months ago and still only have one left. Now I literally have to restart my phone.

Another thing that doesn’t work is Kiwake itself if it’s not running in the background. This means it’s not a ‘set it and forget it’ alarm, every night before bed I have to remember to open Kiwake which sometimes I forget. This means I still have to set redundant alarms in other apps just in case.

To say I gave Kiwake a shot is an understatement, given the lack of support (as you’ll notice much of what I’m complaining about here has been mentioned in other reviews going back many months) it’s time for me to seek out an alternative.

by JEpere93

I set an alarm for the morning, and woke up past the time I set, only to see notifications. I decided to test it by setting another alarm 2 minutes later, and it literally only gave silent notifications that I had to click on to open Kiwake before completing the alarm tasks. The point of an alarm is to be WOKEN UP, how does giving silent notifications make any sense? Mind you, I also made sure my volume and ringer were fully on, the sound notifications for Kiwake were allowed in my settings, and Kiwake was running in the background as specified. THEN, even after touching the notification to open Kiwake , the alarm doesn’t even show half of the time, and just opens the home screen. This is a complete waste of time, great ideas, but poor execution. I’m glad it started with a free trail period so I can cancel renewal. For anyone looking to purchase, save your money. There are free alarm task apps that do a much better job and ACTUALLY wake you up.

by Adridaisy

Edit: something happened recently and Kiwake is not working. First of all you can’t turn off “concierge mode” for some reason but ironically it’s the only part of Kiwake that actually works, kind of. I get a “call” but it doesn’t say anything like it did at fist, and the alarm will sometimes go off and sometimes not, but every single time I go to open Kiwake in the morning I get an error message and it does not make me continue through all the steps I have set up to wake me. I’ve had to delete it after it being my go-to for years. Maybe it will get fixed but right now I need something to wake me up reliably.

I have tried the one that makes you spin in circles, the ones that make you do math, and other incredibly annoying apps that just wouldn't work but made me want to throw my phone across the room. This one actually wakes me up in one try, and it's pretty pleasant.

by DogGuyDave1986

I have used this app for about 6+ years. It has never failed me till about a few months ago when they updated the UI. From them on. I have had 6 mornings where it did not make a sound or flat out didn’t even give any notification that an alarm was set. Furthermore, when clicking on the give app feedback, Kiwake crashes!

I’ll get notifications that an alarm had gone off, but no sound was produced.

Some mornings I’ll wake up and realize, it’s too quiet, look over and the phone is just in normal state. I open this app, and then it crashes, I then relaunch this app, and it says it crashed and sent a report. And it suggests to go give app feedback.

When I click on feedback it crashes.

Then it tells me through a pop up that crashes have been happening, click her for tips on how to prevent them. Well...that doesn’t do anything!

Tip for the developer who hopefully reads these. I work in software QA, I have noticed that if I launch Kiwake after midnight to check when the alarm is set, that is usually when I have issues. If I launch Kiwake the day before even 11:59 pm of the day before the alarm is set, it seems to still work. I don’t know if that is a coincidence or not.

Anyway, I have used Kiwake for many many years and it’s so sad that I’m going to delete Kiwake and find one more reliable.

by Krysexto

I used to use Kiwake a few years back when I was trying to be more of a “morning person”. I’ve kept Kiwake installed since then but never used it again until a few days ago. Sadly, out of the four mornings that I’ve tried using it, none of them have been successful as far as Kiwake working properly goes. The first day I thought it was due to me having my sound off or not having it in the background. But I’ve had my sound on and Kiwake running in the background since then, and it still isn’t working. Yesterday, it didn’t even go off. I just saw a notification on my phone after the time it was set to go off. Then this morning, it did go off but when I opened it (unlocked my phone) it just opened up to Kiwake and didn’t walk me through my wake up steps. Please, fix your otherwise excellent app!

by L-L-P

This is an amazing app, exactly the one I’d been looking for to replace Alarmy because it wasn’t working. It’s perfect for getting me up in the morning without giving me a chance to want to go back to sleep. Well, it worked perfectly for a couple weeks, but now it doesn’t most of the time. The alarm will go off but when I open Kiwake the routine I set does not run, and I don’t have to do anything except tap the screen a couple times for the alarm to turn off. This is not helpful at all, and kind of an outrage for the price I have to pay to even use Kiwake. The star rating will be two stars until this issue is resolved.

by Kikakowia

I’ve relied on this alarm for YEARS, seriously the better part of a decade, I really love it. But there’s always ALWAYS some kind of glitch that can completely stop it from working on a given morning. Usually there’s some way I can work around it or they’ll release an update that fixes it. Finally got one I couldn’t figure out and decided it’s time to start looking at other apps, just so I can be sure I’m up for work in the morning. Oh, and the Feedback button is fake. Always has been. Usually it just crashes Kiwake . I think once years ago I got as far as being able to type an email and the “Send” button just... wasn’t a button?? Seriously NOTHING happened it was like I didn’t even try to hit it, like it was just painted on. I also think I at least tried to look up their email address on their website once to send one manually and I either couldn’t find it or never got a response. I’m not having much luck with other apps but there always seems to be something that makes relying on this one risky, and I just can’t justify it anymore. I am incredibly sad to go but I don’t think I have a choice anymore. T-T

by Brianna_brezzy

Why does Kiwake let you go through a build an alarm if you can’t use it without buying a subscription first? No where in the description or Kiwake itself does it clearly state that you cannot use am the alarm without subscribing. The working of “unlock unlimited alarms” makes me think I can creat and use one alarm without first agreeing to subscribe but I found out the hard way that’s not the case. When the toggle brought up the subscription prompt I assumed I didn’t need it flipped for the alarm to work, like maybe it out the alarm on repeat. No where in the tutorial does it state that you need to toggle the alarm on to use it.
TLDR: I wish it was more transparent that there is no way to actually use the alarm without agreeing to a subscription first. I lost an hour this morning thinking I could use the alarm for free based on the unclear wording surrounding Kiwake.

by Dropthebess

Kiwake is amazing in its bug-free form, but I have fallen victim too many times to Kiwake not working correctly and letting me sleep through my classes. Instead of sounding the alarm like it normally should, Kiwake sends me hundreds (barely an exaggeration) of messages without making a sound. I’ve given Kiwake privileges to sound even when my phone is on silent or on “Do Not Disturb,” but it will not work unless I have my phone’s volume on, and even when I do it will sometimes still not work. If it doesn’t send me many silent notifications, it will sound the alarm, but shut off immediately when I go to Kiwake (even when I had Kiwake running in the background, which I always do). This is a great app that I have used for years, but the bugs make it pointless for me to use. Once this is fixed I will give it the 5 stars it deserves.

by Carolinegaudette

Kiwake really does work, I love the concept so much, and its not the worst purchase Ive ever made, but its definitely so buggy. Sometimes it doesn't actually go off in the morning which is important. You have to open Kiwake separately to turn off the alarm in the morning, it doesn't just come up. One time the alarm was ringing and I couldn't get Kiwake to let me complete the steps to turn it off because it kept crashing when I was trying to open Kiwake . So it just kept ringing until I restarted my phone. Also, sometimes taking photos of random things works to shut the alarm off even if it isn't your designated photo, it'll register as a match after a few tries, which has decreased its power as a motivator for me significantly. I was just trying to adjust the sound after it didnt ring yesterday morning and the loudest on the scale isnt loud, then the middle is loud, and mute end is loud. Basically, The sound settings have some bugs. Would love to interact with the motivational phrase section more rather than just click through. I think the photo is the most crucial part, but you could also just set your alarm clock across the room and that would force you up. Overall love the concept and cant hate because it HAS worked better than anything else ive tried (including setting phone across room, Ruggie, etc) but its definitely needing an update

by Knapier5

I’ve been using Kiwake for years and loved it. The last few months it’s been really buggy, though. I’ve had it miss an alarm entirely. There have also been several times that I wake up 5-10 minutes before the alarm goes off. I manually turned the toggle off to keep the alarm from going through all the wake up processes, but then at the alarm time, it goes off with the really angry “you’re not paying attention “ alarm sound. Because the alarm is already off, there’s no option for me to turn it off. I’ve had to hard close Kiwake or hard reboot my phone to get it to stop.

by Eggs Pockets

I’ve had the same experience as many of the other reviewers here. Kiwake really does work to get me out of bed- when it works. Sometimes it just doesn’t go off - even when I have it open. Just to be sure, I also set the regular alarm feature on my phone.

At one point it quit working altogether, but when I deleted it and then re-installed it, that resolved the particular problems I was having at that time. Unfortunately, I can no longer change the order of the tasks. Getting up and taking the picture is always the first thing. I used to be able to order it so I did the game first. I prefer this, because it gets me mentally alert before I have to get out of bed

Since there are no responses to these many complaints, I gather that the developers are no longer interested in supporting Kiwake. Too bad, because it’s a great concept!

by Lauraash21

If you’re someone who snoozes or turns the alarm off and falls back asleep, this actually works and gets you up and out of bed. But you have to set it up properly and take a photo of something that you actually have to get out of bed for. Like most things in life, if you do it right, it is very effective. Be ready to be accountable. If you don’t like getting up in the mornings, this app can be sort of a love hate relationship.

Seldom bug issues, it used to have more issues but it has come a long way over the years and I haven’t had any issues recently.

by Krod4

Love this alarm, it literally changed my life. Before using this alarm, I used to snooze for an hour every morning. I used to feel defeated and like I could never get out of bed. I’ve made significant life changes such as getting up at 4 am to go to the gym. I would not be able to do that without this alarm which literally forces me to go to another room to take a picture and complete various steps to turn off the alarm. The only complaint I have is that the ‘no snooze’ challenge feature always crashes and there has been once or twice that my alarm hasn’t gone off. Otherwise, I completely recommend Kiwake!

by Coyzzzz

If you turn off alarms and keep sleeping, Kiwake is perfect for you. I have a love hate relationship with it, since it works so well.

The only reason I’m not giving it five stars is that there are occasionally certain eccentricities that keep it from working perfectly every time. There is the random time that it won’t go off, or goes off even after being turned off. It’s really rare, but if I have something that I absolutely need to get up for, I just set a backup with the Apple alarm, too.

by TDK 110

Kiwake is by far the best way for me to wake up. Prior to Kiwake , the snooze button was my best friend. Not anymore. this app does not have a snooze function,I am required to get out of bed and take a photo of a pre-selected item in another room. Once out of bed and going through the three step process, I’m ready for the day. Okay, I may not be ready for the day, but I’m up and out of bed which is a feat. I’m able to select the song used as the alarm from my iTunes library. I recommend Kiwake to anyone who has difficulty getting out of bed.

by Leaps And Ground

I’ve tried a bunch of things to get up early in the morning on a regular basis and this app so far is the only thing that’s worked. Willpower only gets me so far. Inspirational videos eventually lose their luster.

This is for you if you are sick of the snooze button but lack the conviction to pull yourself away from your warm cozy bed. If you’re the type to snooze until the last minute and then spend your morning rushing because now you’re running late, try Kiwake. If you want to be in the 5am club but that hour seems ungodly early, try Kiwake.

this app allows you to customize the process of waking up and the alarm starts up again if you stop in the middle and until you complete the process. My friends think that sounds annoying, but I love it. I need it! I am a heavy snoozer, especially if I don’t *have* to go to work, I’ll snooze for hours. But I have my own goals and ambitions so I really can’t afford to keep wasting that time. Sometimes, even once I’m up I’ll go back to bed. this app’s last step is customized with my own personal motivational quotes and images so it even helps me with that.

If you need help writing inspirational quotes for your this app, find me on IG: claudia4all

by Hiyat

I love how I can set each alarm with motivations for just that alarm. Turning off the alarm by taking a picture is kinda buggy so I’m glad that it allows me to use just the motivations and the mini-game. (Taking a picture for the goals/motivations work beautifully though). If I’m too tired to wake up then I’m unable to play the game properly. If I give up and think I’m going back to sleep then here comes the alarm again. This is truly a wonderful app!

by Trishhhhh2

While the UX is great- nice design, easy to set up... the 2nd and 3rd day I used it, the alarms would not shut off at all. No option to take a photo, no way to turn it off. I had to get up just so I could trouble shoot the issue. I reset the alarm for the 3rd day and hoped for the best, but no luck. Just as buggy. I wish I hadn’t wasted my money.

When it works, it’s fabulous and helpful. A great idea, executed in a clever way. When it doesn’t work, it’s just plainly frustrating during the already awful part of my day (waking up!!)

by Ndico9

It doesn’t work. I used to LOVE Kiwake. I downloaded it again about 6 months ago and realized it was broken. It rings like a normal alarm, and then that’s it. It doesn’t do anything that it says makes it special anymore. I tried again this week but it’s still broken. It rings like a normal alarm and you simply swipe the notification and it turns off... no body, brain, or motivation wake up as advertised. It’s such a shame because it used to be an amazing app but I guess the developer accidentally broke it wit updates and then just stopped paying attention to Kiwake . So disappointed because I loved it. Oh well

by Deuceduce

Been using Kiwake for about 1.5 years now and I really liked it. Last night, and today, Kiwake behaved unexpectedly. This morning, the alarm did not ring, rather only showed up in the Notification Center. I set the alarm tonight as a test. The alarm went off, and as I grabbed the phone, a scrolling menu of minutes and seconds greeted me without any context. I just tapped “save” and the alarm shut off.
I’ve read the faq page, and followed all suggestions before this occurred and to no avail. Ironically, the feedback link doesn’t work either if you don’t have an Apple email client installed. Hence my feedback here.
I like the new look, but form follows function.

by Worlds Worst Runner

The reason I bought Kiwake was because I was under the impression that it would run in the background if Kiwake was closed, like the alarm app that comes with iPhone. Keeping it on runs down the battery and when I am away from a charger I find that my phone drains much quicker when Kiwake is open.
Also, the alarm shuts off with a single click of a button, where it advertises that it will not turn off until you do the body, mind and motivation portions.
Definitely not worth $7.99.

by Colorado55

I used Kiwake for months and became a successful morning person, but sadly it has stopped functioning properly. Either the alarm is silent or the only way to shut off the sound is to close Kiwake and you don’t get the cooldown or the rest of the wake up steps. I tried to email support but it bounced back. Makes me think Kiwake may no longer be supported. It’s a shame, the cooldown feature of Kiwake worked great for me and I haven’t seen that anywhere else unless you count a snooze button (which I don’t because I’ll hit a snooze button for hours). I hope this bug gets fixed.

by Mrskalso

This is THE ONLY THING THAT WORKS! Kiwake has been updated and fixed of some of its bugginess. I’ve learned a few tricks to get around the main quirk on my phone: turn off my sound machine app first, then proceed with the this app steps. (Otherwise the sound machine gets increasingly louder and sometimes this app doesn’t acknowledge you’re up and going through the steps). know I won't sleep-in with Kiwake and I don’t know what I’d do without it!

by Whatnicknamesareleftavailable

*if it continued to function as it used to I would (and have) recommend(ed) Kiwake*

I used to use this app every morning but for the last few months it doesn’t work at all and makes no sound and does not wake me up. I only wake up to find silent pop up notifications. And when I quit it doesn’t make a sound it just quits. Not sure what changed, but I can’t use Kiwake anymore.

I was only going to submit this issue to the company, as opposed to writing a review, but it is glitching so badly that the feedback button is not working.

Please update it or let me know if there is a way to fix it on my end. Kiwake actually did help get me out of bed, when it worked.

by Ldyae

It's a great app and the only one I've found to consistently keep me out of bed. However, it does have some bugs. The most annoying one being that Kiwake isn't on-screen when it goes off. So you have to unlock your phone and search through for the icon to the open it. This is annoying because my husband and I work opposite schedules and I have to turn off any alarm clock off quickly lest it wake him up. Another bug occurs in the Motivation section. You have to swipe the "Type a motivation here..." so it can turn off the alarm. The first time I didn't realize this and I had to turn off my phone so the alarm would turn off. It also kept crashing on me when I first set it up.
Besides those few things it's a great app and has really helped me.

by Pinkflmingo

Kiwake is great in theory...and in practice when it works. I have downloaded and deleted Kiwake multiple times after bugs happen. The first few times sometimes it would go off and be impossible to turn off, this time, it sent me 22 silent notifications at the time of my alarm but made no sound, hence not waking me. I got a message from Kiwake saying “something went wrong” (OBVIOUSLY, since I woke over an hour late) and that I should “send an error report” these problems aren’t new and I have to give three stars based on the fact that they STILL haven’t fixed these bugs after years of operating Kiwake

by SusanSTL

This is the first solution I’ve found that gets me to stop snoozing and get out of bed. Using Kiwake has been a game changer — not snoozing that extra 20-30 minutes means I have time to make a healthy breakfast and pack a healthy lunch and snacks to take to work. It makes the rest of the day so much easier because I wasn’t stressed first thing by a self defeating attempt to get a bit more sleep. I’ve been using Kiwake going on three weeks.

by Hippo 4 X-mas

I’ve always been a huge snoozer, but Kiwake doesn’t let you do that. I desperately tried to ignore alarm this morning, but the alarm that comes on after you’ve ignored the first one for long enough is like finger nails on a chalkboard. It is painfully irritating and it forced me out of bed. It even seemed to irritate my cat. It won’t keep you from going back to bed after you get up or from laying down somewhere else. It will force you out of bed though.

by Macgn

I recommend this whole-heartedly to anyone that can’t ditch the snooze. As a long time snoozer, Kiwake has gotten me up for two weeks in a row. On the second day it didn’t go off, but I’ve had no issues since.
Only request I have is to be able to mute the game sounds. I’m completing them in bed with a still-sleeping body next to me.
Thanks!

by Mike Husle

So I think Kiwake is great. It makes you get up... my
Issue is that, when I get up I’m just not myself. I will literally delete Kiwake cause I don’t want to get up (in my morning groggy stage) and go back to sleep. Granted I don’t HAVE to get up early but want to.. but the same person that wants to wake up early is NOT the same person that deletes the alarm because you can’t turn it off without getting up.. But I do believe that Kiwake is a brilliant idea.