“Silent” mode quiets any notifications. However, a phone will still light up or vibrate. When a phone is on “Do Not Disturb” mode, it blocks notifications—it won’t light up or vibrate. If they program their own alarm on their phone, then they’ll hear it even if it’s on silent mode.

When you edit a person’s “Do Not Disturb” settings or add yourself as an emergency contact, they’ll hear you when you call. Special apps called “social alarm apps” are designed to allow you to customize fun alarms and reminders to wake this person up.

For example, “chimes” resemble the sound wind chimes make. [4] X Research source

Galarm also has special alarms that are designed to notify multiple people at the same time. This is helpful if a whole group needs to schedule a wake up call.

Their friends and family can record messages that are up to 12 seconds long. The messages are also self-deleting, so anyone sending them can get really silly without worrying about the voice memo being played again later!

WakieChat’s research suggests that a 1-minute call with a stranger immediately engages a person’s brain, which is very effective for waking this individual up. If this person really hits it off with whoever called them, they can go to the in-app forum and message the individual who woke them up.

WakeMe also allows users to create profiles. That way, members can learn about each other if they respond to their alarm quickly enough. If the person prefers to be woken up by a stranger of a particular gender, there’s a feature for that. Once an individual starts adding friends, they can opt to receive alarms only from these members. Members can create a schedule and review all of their alarms. For example, they can see when they need to wake up for exercise classes and exams.

Ask which sound they like the best or think they’re more likely to wake up to—they might prefer a stadium horn or a trumpet effect.

Make sure you’re connected to the same WiFi network—if you are, then you can use your phone to configure the settings on this individual’s sunrise alarm clock. Most sunrise alarm apps also allow you to choose different shades of light for this person to wake up to. Check which color they prefer. Sunrise alarms can help defeat grogginess and offer a gentler way to wake up. [12] X Research source