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Clucky’s new alarm app wakes you up with a crowing rooster

read original get Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light HF3520 → more articles
Why This Matters

Clucky is a new iPhone alarm app that pairs a crowing rooster (and other sounds) with mandatory wake-up 'missions' like math problems, push-ups, or AI camera challenges before the alarm can be silenced. It reflects a growing category of friction-based alarm apps such as Alarmy and Awake, betting that consumers will pay subscription prices for behavioral nudges rather than plain utility. For the industry, it's another example of small indie developers monetizing habit-formation through gamification and social accountability features.

Key Takeaways
Worth a Look

Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light HF3520 — If a crowing rooster in your ear sounds like too much, this sunrise alarm clock eases you awake with gradually brightening light and natural sounds instead. It's a gentler take on the same problem Clucky is solving: actually getting out of bed instead of hitting snooze. Bonus, it keeps your phone off the nightstand.

See Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light HF3520 on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.

I was yelled at by a rooster this morning. And no, I don’t live on a farm. The culprit was a newly launched iPhone app I downloaded.

Meet Clucky, a new alarm app for habitual snoozers that gives you the option of being woken up by a rooster and then requires you to complete a mission before you can turn the alarm off.

Clucky joins a growing category of alarm apps, including Alarmy and Awake, that use challenges to keep people from simply turning off their alarms and going back to sleep. Its funniest selling point is arguably the rooster option, but the app’s broader strategy is to make dismissing an alarm just irritating and ridiculous enough that users have no choice but to fully wake up.

Image Credits:Clucky

For those who prefer something a little more conventional, though, it also offers options like gentle chimes, peaceful birds, and the classic digital beeping noise. There’s also an “Extra Loud Mode” that cranks up the volume as soon as the alarm goes off.

Clucky’s wake-up missions include solving math problems, memorizing and tapping tiles in the correct order, typing what Clucky says, shaking your phone, walking, doing push-ups, tilting a ball toward a goal, and completing an AI camera challenge.

Additionally, there’s a detailed stats section that tracks the average number of seconds your alarm rings before you complete a mission, how many missions you’ve beaten, and your total number of wake-ups. You also get what the app calls a “Rooster Report,” which grades your wake-up performance for the week.

Another neat feature is the ability to create a “Nest” or “Flock” with friends or family. These private alarm groups let people wake up at the same time and keep each other accountable.

Clucky was founded by Adrian Angelo Abelarde, a former software engineer at Fanatics. Abelarde did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

The app is currently available to download on the App Store. There’s a pro subscription priced at $39.99 per year.