Five of the Best Smartphone Clock Apps

For most people today, the old-fashioned standalone alarm clock is a thing of the past. Many now use their smartphones in place of watches or bedside clocks. However, the clock apps that have been designed for today’s smartphones can do far more than keep track of the time. These are five of the most robust options currently available.

DashClock is an extremely useful clock app simply due to the wide array of built-in features it includes. With DashClock, you can check the time and set alarms while also checking your messages, emails, the weather and the news all in one place. You can fully customize the widget to ensure you only see the information you actually want.

The Sleep Cycle alarm clock is one of the most impressively scientific alarm clocks currently available – and it is available from the convenience of your smartphone. This app monitors your breathing and movements as you sleep, choosing the most natural part of your sleep cycle to wake you up. This leaves you feeling far more refreshed and energetic than you would if you woke up based on a preprogrammed alarm schedule that paid no attention to how you slept the night before. The app also maintains detailed records about how you sleep during the night; you can then study these records to find ways to improve the quality of your sleep.

Timely is a relatively simple clock app, but it is extremely well-designed and user-friendly. You can easily adjust alarms on each of the app’s three main panels, customizing their titles and associated sounds as necessary. The app also features a primary clock, a timer and a stopwatch. Perhaps most useful of all, it allows you to set up a requirement of some type (like a mind game or math problem) before it allows you to turn off the alarm, making sure you actually wake up.

If you prefer a more soothing and artistic option, Nightstand Central could be just what you are looking for. This app includes a selection of beautiful photography you can use as the background, as well as the option to use your own photos. Nightstand Central, in addition to its clock and alarm functions, includes weather reports, a flashlight feature, a lullaby function to help you fall asleep and the ability to use your own music as an alarm tone.

To say the least, CARROT Alarm Clock is like no other option on this list. Picture it as an alarm clock controlled by a snide, passive aggressive artificial intelligence. Once you set up an alarm, you can only turn it off by completing a quick minigame, forcing you to actually wake up. If you activate the snooze function too frequently, CARROT will gradually become annoyed and punish you with more jarring alarm tones. Waking up on time, however, will put CARROT in a good mood and eventually unlock new songs, games and other features.