Getting out of bed

Barcode alarm clock for iPhone

An alarm you can only stop by getting up, walking to another room and scanning a barcode. By the time you have found the toothpaste, you are awake.

Here is how it works on an iPhone, what makes a good thing to scan, and a free label maker if you would rather print your own code.

How a barcode alarm works

Pick something far from your bed, like the toothpaste, the coffee bag or a label on the bathroom mirror.
Scan it once when you set the alarm. The app remembers that exact code.
In the morning the alarm rings until you scan the same code again. Snoozing from bed does not end it.

The point is the walk. Getting out of bed and into another room is what wakes you, not the sound. If you can solve math half asleep, a scan in the bathroom is much harder to fake.

What to scan

A product barcode. Toothpaste, coffee, a cereal box. Pick something that stays in one place and that you will not throw out next week.
A printed label. Stick it somewhere fixed, like the bathroom mirror or the kitchen. It never gets used up, and you can print a spare.
Not the thing on your nightstand. If you can reach it from bed, it does not work.

Free barcode label maker

Make a label with its own code, print it and stick it where you want to be at wake-up time. It makes a Code 128 barcode, a common type that phone barcode scanners read, including Grubblin's. Nothing is uploaded, the code is made in your browser.

Name on the label

Your code is . Print it on plain paper, cut one out and tape it flat. Scan it in the app to register it, and keep a spare in a drawer.

Setting it up in Grubblin

Grubblin is a free alarm clock with a pet goblin, and the barcode scan mission is free.

Set your wake time and pick the days.
Choose the scan mission and scan your thing or your label.
Grub rings through silent mode and Focus, even with the app closed. Tap mission and go scan.
Stop it without the mission and it comes back every 2 minutes. Five minutes after you win, Grub checks once more that you did not crawl back into bed.

You try it during setup: Grub rings 10 seconds after you set the alarm, so you know it works before you trust it with a real morning.

Grubblin

The alarm with a goblin attached. Free, with missions to prove you are up.

Get it on the App Store

Questions

What if I lose the barcode or the label?

In Grubblin, stuck for 2 minutes on a mission other than math, you are offered a hard math problem instead, so you are never locked in. Print a spare label for the drawer anyway.

Does the alarm ring if my iPhone is on silent?

Grubblin rings through silent mode and Focus, even when the app is closed.

Can I scan a QR code instead?

Yes. Grubblin's scanner reads QR codes and the common product barcodes, so any code that stays put works.

What other missions are there?

Math, walking steps, shaking the phone and typing a line are free too. Grubblin Plus adds a memory mission and a hardcore mode that rings every 2 minutes for 30 minutes.

Grubblin is made by Karolis Valatka, who wrote this page. Questions: info@kv-software.com.