FAQ

Answers to the most common questions about Alarm Ace — reliability, missions, lock-in, trial, and pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Alarm Ace free?

Alarm Ace is free to install and fully functional for 14 days. After the trial, one $6.99 purchase unlocks the app permanently. There is no subscription and no advertising — ever.

Will it really ring if I swipe the app away?

Yes. Alarms are scheduled as local notifications, the same mechanism the phone itself uses. The alarm fires when the app is killed, when the phone is on silent, when the screen is locked, and in airplane mode. The app also repairs missing notification schedules on every open, so a silently dropped alarm gets re-scheduled before it's needed.

Will it ring on silent / Do Not Disturb?

Yes. On iOS the alarm plays through the silent switch, and the app requests time-sensitive notification entitlement so alarms can ring through Focus / Do Not Disturb. On Android the app requests DND policy access so alarms bypass Do Not Disturb. If you manually deny those permissions, alarms may not ring through DND — the app warns you.

What missions are available?

Five, all included in the price:

Photo — take a photo of a preset object
QR — scan the QR code you set up
Math — solve problems correctly
Shake — shake the phone a set number of times
Simple — just dismiss

What is Lock-in mode?

A per-alarm toggle that hides the dismiss and snooze buttons while ringing. When it's ON, the only way to stop the alarm is completing the mission — you can't press your way out of it. It's ON by default for Math and Shake, OFF by default for Photo and QR.

What if the camera fails while I'm locked in? If the camera fails twice, Alarm Ace substitutes a math mission at the same difficulty. You're never trapped by broken hardware, and there's never an instant-exit bypass button — that's the feature users hate in other alarm apps.

Can I use my own music as the alarm sound?

Yes. Pick any song from your music library or a built-in tone. The volume ramps from 20% to 100% over 30 seconds. If the file goes missing, a built-in tone plays instead — the alarm still rings.

What if I sleep with headphones or white noise?

With headphones connected, Alarm Ace routes the alarm to the built-in speaker. At ring time it also ducks any other active audio (music, white noise apps) so the alarm isn't drowned out.

What happens after the 14-day trial?

Your existing alarms keep ringing with full missions — you are never left without a wake-up. Creating new alarms and editing existing ones require the $6.99 unlock. Viewing alarms, deleting them, snoozing, and JSON export all still work.

Is my purchase shared between iPhone and Android?

No. The $6.99 unlock applies to the store account on which it was purchased. An iOS purchase does not unlock the Android app, and vice versa. This is a platform limitation set by Apple and Google, not an Alarm Ace choice.

Can I restore my purchase after reinstalling?

Yes. Use Restore Purchase in Settings on the same platform and store account. Family Sharing is enabled on iOS.

Is there a limit on snoozing?

By default, no — snooze is 9 minutes and can repeat. But you can set a per-alarm snooze cap (1–10) if you want to stop yourself from endlessly hitting snooze. With Lock-in mode ON, snooze is not available at all.

Does Alarm Ace track my sleep?

No. Alarm Ace is an alarm clock with wake-up missions. It has no sleep tracking, no sleep analysis, no scoring, and no wellness features. There is no account, no server, and nothing is transmitted — the only network calls in the app are for the optional store purchase.

What are the system requirements?

iOS: 17.0 or later (iPhone)
Android: 10 (API 29) or later (phone)

Do alarms survive a new phone?

Export your alarms as a JSON file on the old phone and import on the new one. Import is additive — it never overwrites or deletes existing alarms. The local database is also included in your platform device backup, so a same-platform restore brings alarms back too.

How do I report a bug?

Email support@tlcdesigns.com with your device model, OS version, app version, and what happened. If an alarm failed to ring, check Settings → About → Alarm integrity first — it logs the last 30 ring, snooze, and missed events so you can tell us (and yourself) exactly what happened.

FAQ