Every phone has an alarm function and it is one of the basic features of the device. You would not describe it as fun or entertaining and they are deadly dull. AlarmMon makes alarms exciting.

AlarmMon is a free app for both iOS and Android devices, and there is not much difference, if any, between the app on the two platforms. I have been using it on my iPhone, but everything here applies to the Android version too.

The app is bright, it is colourful, it is noisy, and it features cartoon-style graphics, characters and animation. The home screen looks really nice and it lists all of the alarms that have been created. Plus a little ad at the top if you don't pay.)

There are even some alarms that are ready made to get you started and these are to wake you up in the mornings - one for weekdays and one for weekends when you can have a lie in and get up later.

Create an alarm

Tap the plus button at the bottom of the screen and a new alarm can be created. There are two types and if you select Quick Alarm, you can set an one to go off in a number of hours or minutes. It is like a countdown timer, so if you are boiling an egg, exercising for 20 minutes or want to perform some other timed activity, you can set the duration here. The controls for setting the countdown timer are obvious and easy to use. You just drag the time out or tap one of the buttons - 1, 5, 10, 30 and 60 minutes,

A regular alarm has lots of configuration options and the first of these is the type of alarm to use. Tap Select Alarm Game and there are eight categories of alarm. A few alarms are already installed, but dozens more are available online. Select a category, like Noisy, Quiet, Training, Brain, Balance and so on, and then the games in that category are listed.

Choose a game

Select a game and the Preview button enables you to try it and it can be entertaining trying these mini games. Many games feature cartoon characters in a very simple game that must be played when the alarm goes off.

Games last less than a minute and sometimes only a few seconds. You must tap an area on the screen, tap and drag something or perform some other simple action. This is quite hard to do when you have just woken up and are still half asleep! It’s a lot easier when the alarm goes off during the day.

When you find a game you like, it can then be selected for the alarm.

An alarm can be a one-off or it can repeat. The options are good and it can repeat on weekdays, weekends, every day or just the days you specify. The sound can be on or off and the volume can be set, and phone vibration can be on or off. There is a snooze option. The colour of the alarm can be chosen, so you can colour code them if you want, and a brief memo can be stored with an alarm.

There is a sort of alarm history screen, which shows past alarms. It's hard to say what it is, but it looks like an achievements list for the games you have played. You can even save a photo of them.

Conclusion

I like AlarmMon because it is easy to use, has lots of configuration options for alarms, and is colourful, attractive and fun to use. You already have a perfectly functional alarm on your phone, but this is more entertaining and it is free, so why not give it a go?

Title: AlarmMon (Google Play Store | iOS App Store)
Price: Free
Developer: Malang Studio Co. Ltd.
Size: 29MB
Version: 2.5.6
iOS: 9.0 or later | Android: Varies with device