Support & FAQ

Rouse is an alarm clock, routine timer, and sleep companion for iPhone, built on Apple's AlarmKit technology. Your alarms fire through Silent Mode, Do Not Disturb, Focus modes, and survive device restarts. Build timed routines with voice coaching for mornings, workouts, HIIT intervals, study sessions, and more — with 22 presets and repeat groups. Plus on-device sleep insights, 10 wake-up missions, a bedside clock, 45 premium sounds, timers, stopwatches, and much more.

Open Rouse and tap the + button on the alarm list. Set your desired wake time, choose a sound, optionally add a wake mission, and tap Save. That's it — your alarm is now scheduled and will fire even if your phone is in Silent Mode.

Yes. Rouse runs on iPad with iPadOS 26 or later. All features work — AlarmKit alarms that fire through Silent Mode and Focus, timed routines with voice coaching, HIIT repeat groups, on-device sleep insights, and the bedside clock. The interface is optimized for iPhone but fully functional on iPad.

Rouse is built natively on Apple's AlarmKit (iOS 26). Most alarm apps rely on iOS notifications, which can be silenced by Silent Mode, blocked by DND or Focus, and may not fire after a restart. Rouse uses system-level scheduling identical to the built-in Clock app. It also includes timed routines and on-device sleep insights — features most competitors don't offer.

Rouse requires iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 or later. It uses Apple's AlarmKit framework, which is only available on iOS/iPadOS 26 and above, providing the most reliable alarm experience possible on iPhone and iPad.

Rouse is designed for iPhone and iPad. A watchOS companion (with alarm sync and haptic wake-up) is planned for a future update.

Required: Alarm permission — this is what allows Rouse to fire through Silent Mode and DND.

Optional:

• HealthKit — for sleep tracking and insights
• Camera — for QR code scanning missions
• Calendar — for morning briefing events
• Location — for weather in morning briefing

Yes. Rouse uses Apple's AlarmKit, which fires at the system level — just like the built-in Clock app. Your alarm will sound through Silent Mode, Do Not Disturb, and Focus modes.

Yes. AlarmKit alarms persist across device reboots and app updates. Once scheduled, your alarm is registered with the system and will fire reliably.

iOS requires explicit user authorization for apps to use AlarmKit. This permission allows Rouse to schedule system-level alarms that fire through Silent Mode and DND. Without this permission, alarms cannot be scheduled.

AlarmKit alarms are system-level reliable, but please check the following:

• Permission granted: Open Rouse → Settings → Alarm Health to verify alarm permission is authorized.
• Alarm enabled: Make sure the alarm toggle is on (not just saved but disabled).
• iOS version: AlarmKit requires iOS 26 or later.

If the issue persists, please contact support with details about your device and iOS version.

Wake Missions are challenges you complete to help you wake up and stay awake. They include math problems, phone shaking, QR code scanning, pattern tracing, and more. Missions are motivational — you can always stop the alarm without completing them.

Math and Shake missions are free for all users. Premium unlocks 8 additional mission types: QR Code, Pattern, Puzzle, Typing, Photo, Steps, Rotation, and Language.

Mission Chains let you stack multiple missions in sequence — for example, solve a math problem, then shake your phone, then scan a QR code. Free users can create chains with up to 2 missions. Premium unlocks unlimited chain length.

Yes. You can always dismiss the alarm without completing a mission. Missions are designed to help you wake up, not trap you. The Stop button is always available on the alarm screen.

Build timed, step-by-step routines for any part of your day. Each step has a name, duration (minutes or seconds), icon, and color. Start from the Home tab or Rise tab, and Rouse guides you through each step with a countdown timer, progress ring, and optional voice coaching. Voice announcements are hands-free — perfect for mornings, workouts, and focus sessions. Choose from 22 presets across 7 categories or create your own.

Yes. Add, remove, and reorder steps. Each step has a custom name, duration (down to the second), icon (SF Symbol or emoji), and color. Enable voice coaching with configurable countdowns, step announcements, and time updates. For HIIT and interval training, use repeat groups to loop a set of steps. Routines work for mornings, workouts, study sessions, evening wind-downs, and anything else you want to structure.

Your first routine is free with full voice coaching, all countdowns, and up to 5 steps. You can create as many routines as you want, but only the oldest one is playable on the free tier. Upgrade to Premium for unlimited playable routines, unlimited steps per routine, and repeat groups for HIIT and interval training.

Tap the + button on the Countdowns section of the Home tab. Give it a name (e.g. "Wedding," "Due Date," "Sobriety"), pick the target date and time, optionally choose a color and emoji, and tap Save. Your countdown appears on the Home tab and counts in real time. The free tier includes 2 countdowns; Premium unlocks unlimited.

Yes. Pick any past date when creating a countdown — Rouse automatically counts up from that moment. The same applies if you set a future date that later passes: the countdown auto-flips and starts counting elapsed time. One countdown, forever useful.

Tap the time number on any countdown to cycle through display formats: colon (100:42:17), compact (4d 4h), calendar-aware years/months/weeks (2y 3mo 1w 4d), full units (4 days, 4 hours, 17 minutes), and raw seconds. Each countdown remembers your preference. The same cycling works on stopwatches and timers.

Yes. Add the Rouse Countdown widget to your Lock Screen — long-press the Lock Screen, edit widgets, and pick Countdown. The widget shows your pinned countdown (or the next upcoming one if none is pinned). Pin a countdown in the editor by toggling "Pin to top."

No. Countdowns store the absolute moment in UTC, so crossing timezones never alters the elapsed or remaining duration you see. A flight 8 hours long shows 8 hours regardless of where you land.

Swipe left on a countdown row in the Home tab to reveal a Delete action. You can also open the countdown editor and tap "Delete Countdown" at the bottom.

Tap the + button on the Countdowns section, then tap "Insert from Template ›" at the top of the form. Browse 31 one-tap presets organized by category — Major (New Year's, Valentine's, St. Patrick's Day, Halloween, Christmas Eve/Day, NYE), United States (Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Father's Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, MLK Day), Christian (Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter, Pentecost), Jewish (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah, Passover), Islamic (Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha), East Asian (Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival), and Seasonal (spring/autumn equinox, summer/winter solstice). Your region's templates appear first. Tap one and the form prefills with the next future occurrence — review and Save.

Yes. In the countdown editor, set Repeat to Every week, Every month, or Every year. Rouse will silently advance the target to the next occurrence the next time you open the app after the current target passes. Holiday templates default to yearly recurrence automatically. Alerts on a recurring countdown have a "Reschedule with each occurrence" toggle (on by default) — leave it on and your "1 day before" alert fires every year the day before the event.

Create a countdown pointed at the start date (e.g. the day you quit, the date you started the habit). Open the editor and turn on "Track as streak" in the Streak section. The countdown now shows a trophy badge once you've reset at least once, displaying your longest run so far. If you break the streak, swipe-left on the row and tap Reset (or use the Reset button in the editor); the count starts over and your previous run is saved as the best if it was a new high. Works for sobriety, no-spend days, exercise streaks, no-social-media days, screen-time goals, or any "days since" habit you're trying to maintain.

In the countdown editor, scroll to the Alerts section and tap + Add Alert. Pick a preset (At target time, 10 / 30 minutes before, 1 / 2 hours before, 1 / 2 days before, 1 / 2 weeks before) or tap Custom Alert for any offset of your choosing — minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years before or after the target. Up to 5 alerts per countdown. Alerts within an hour of the target default to cutting through Focus and Do Not Disturb; longer-range alerts respect Focus.

Rouse analyzes your sleep patterns over time, provides nightly insights, spots trends, and suggests improvements, with reports for weekly, monthly, yearly, and all-time periods. Everything is generated on your device using Apple Intelligence (Foundation Models); devices without Apple Intelligence get built-in summaries, also produced on-device. Your sleep data never leaves your device. Premium unlocks unlimited insights.

On your device — always. Rouse uses Apple Intelligence (Foundation Models) for every AI feature, and devices without Apple Intelligence get built-in template summaries, also generated on-device. There is no cloud AI in Rouse, so your sleep and health data never leaves your device.

The Bedside Clock turns your iPhone into a full-screen ambient clock. It can play sleep sounds (nature, ambient, or one of 8 noise types), auto-dims to reduce blue light, and tracks your sleep session via HealthKit if authorized. Place your phone on your nightstand and tap the screen to dim further.

Rouse analyzes your sleep patterns over time and generates personalized insights and tips. Reports are available for weekly, monthly, yearly, and all-time periods. All analysis runs on your device — using Apple Intelligence where available, with built-in template summaries on devices without it.

Rouse includes 17 sleep sounds (nature, ambient, and meditation) plus 8 on-device noise generators (white, pink, brown, and more) — all part of Premium, with free 15-second previews. Sleep sounds play through the Bedside Clock and stop automatically when your alarm fires.

Premium unlocks unlimited playable routines with unlimited steps and repeat groups for HIIT intervals, plus unlimited on-device sleep insights, all 10 mission types, unlimited mission chains, 45 premium alarm and sleep sounds, Smart Alarm, custom color themes, and more.

Rouse offers three premium plans:

• Monthly: $2.99/month
• Annual: $24.99/year (best value — save 30% vs monthly)
• Lifetime: $59.99 one-time purchase

The free tier includes basic alarms, one routine with full voice coaching, Math & Shake missions, and 10 alarm sounds.

Go to Settings in the app and tap "Restore Purchases". You can also tap "Restore Purchases" in the top-right corner of the paywall screen. Your purchase is linked to your Apple ID and will restore automatically on any device signed in with the same account.

Open the iOS Settings app → tap your name at the top → Subscriptions → Rouse → Cancel Subscription. You'll retain access until the end of your current billing period.

None beyond what it takes to run. Rouse has no accounts, no in-app analytics events, no advertising SDK, and no third-party analytics — Apple's privacy manifest for Rouse declares no tracking and an empty tracking-domains list. The app's only third-party dependency is RevenueCat, which processes subscriptions. Your alarms, timers, routines, stopwatches, countdowns, and sleep data are stored on your device and never leave it — all AI runs on-device. We never sell your personal data. For full details, see our Privacy Policy.

Only if you explicitly grant HealthKit permission, which you manage in Apple's Health app and can revoke at any time. Sleep data is used on your device for insights, trends, and reports — it never leaves your device, because all AI analysis runs on-device. Health data is never sold or shared with third parties.

No. Version 2.0 removed accounts entirely — there is nothing to sign into and nothing to delete. Your data lives on your device, and purchases restore through the App Store on any device signed in with your Apple ID.

Yes. Alarms, timers, routines, countdowns, stopwatches, and all sleep features work fully offline. Countdown alerts are scheduled directly with iOS. The only network requests are the small settings file Rouse downloads at launch, weather for the morning briefing (Apple WeatherKit), and App Store purchases (RevenueCat).

The only network requests Rouse makes are your App Store purchase (processed by Apple and RevenueCat), Apple's WeatherKit for weather, and a small static settings file it downloads at launch. None of these carry your sleep, health, or usage data. There are no analytics, no ads, no trackers, and no accounts.

Try force-quitting the app and reopening it. If the issue persists, delete and reinstall Rouse from the App Store. Your purchases will restore automatically, and your alarms will re-sync. If you continue to experience issues, contact support.

Alarm sounds use the system alarm volume, which is separate from media volume. Check your device volume using the physical buttons. Also ensure the Silent Mode switch (on the side of your iPhone) is not affecting preview playback — though AlarmKit alarms will still sound in Silent Mode when they fire.

Rouse has no account, so nothing syncs through a server — instead it gives you a backup you control. Go to Settings > Data & Privacy > Back Up & Restore to export your alarms, timers, routines, and countdowns to a single file, save it wherever you like, then import that file on the new iPhone. Purchases are separate: restore those with Restore Purchases, which uses your App Store account. Backup and restore are free for everyone.

Email us at [email protected]. Please include your device model, iOS version, and a description of the issue. We typically respond within 24 hours.