For the dad
You meant to make pancakes. You meant to lace your kid's shoes. Instead it's 7:42, the bus is leaving, and you're thirty Reels deep with cold coffee.
Alarm + app blocker for iPhone
Wake on time. Stay off your phone.
Your phone is built to keep you scrolling from the moment you wake. Anchor rings until you get up and scan a code in another room, then keeps your feed locked so the first hour goes where you meant it to.
Try it free, then your plan renews. Cancel anytime in Settings.
- From $6.99/month
- No hardware needed
- Cancel anytime
- Starts working
- Tomorrow morning
- Built on
- Apple's AlarmKit
It was never a fair fight
You're not weak. You're outnumbered.
Every app on your phone has a team whose whole job is to keep you there one more minute. That's who you're up against at 6 a.m., half-asleep, before coffee.
You shouldn't have to win that fight half-asleep. With Anchor, the alarm stops when you scan a code in another room, and by then you're already up.
Inside the app
Designed for the half-asleep, the committed, and the hopeful.
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Alarms. Set it once.
Pick a time, a scan code, and the apps that lock the moment you're up.
Alarms -
Alarm fires. Rings until you're up.
Through Silent and Focus. Tap I'm Up for a sixty-second Quiet Walk to your code. There's no turning it off from the pillow.
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Quiet Walk. Sixty seconds to reach your code.
A minute of quiet to walk to the kitchen. If you haven't scanned by then, the alarm comes back.
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App blocker. Your apps stay locked.
Group the apps that pull at you. Lock them now, on a timer, or on a schedule. Three emergency overrides a month for the days that need one.
At Rest, after wake
Who are you today?
For the snoozer
Nine more minutes, nine more times. Shower skipped. Workout bumped. The day you wanted is gone before your feet hit the floor.
For the founder
The best thinking comes before the inbox opens. That hour is yours. Don't hand it to the feed.
How it works
Set it tonight. Scan it tomorrow.
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Set.
Pick a wake time, a barcode, and the apps you want locked. Then go to bed.
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Wake.
It rings through Silent, Focus, and force-quit. It stops when you scan your barcode, QR code, or NFC tag, and not before.
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Stay off your phone.
The apps you chose stay locked for as long as you set. Lock them again for dinner, deep work, or bedtime.
Two mornings
One rushes past you. The other your family remembers.
Without Anchor: the morning you keep getting.
- 5:47 AM Phone goes off. You silence it from the pillow.
- 5:50 AM "Five more minutes." Snooze. Eyes open in feed light.
- 6:18 AM Still in bed. Forty-three swipes deep on Instagram.
- 7:10 AM Kids are up. You are not. Cartoons fill the gap.
- 7:42 AM Bus is leaving. Shoes untied. Breakfast is a granola bar in the car.
With Anchor: the morning you start having.
- 5:47 AM Alarm rings. You stand up and walk to the kitchen.
- 5:48 AM Scan the coffee bag. Alarm off. Your feed stays locked.
- 6:00 AM Coffee and Bible time. No Instagram, no TikTok. The thing you said you'd do.
- 7:00 AM Pancakes on the stove. Your kids get all of you.
- 7:42 AM Out the door on time, with everyone's shoes tied.
Same alarm, same kids, same bus. Anchor changes what happens between 5:47 and 7:42.
I'm Brady Davis. I built Anchor because the first hour of my day kept losing to the feed. It runs on Apple's AlarmKit, nothing you set leaves your phone, and I read every email that comes in at hello@anchormorning.app.
Start free → Set it tonight · $6.99 a month · Cancel anytime
Not ready tonight? Read the setup guide or save the link for later.
App blocker
Lock your apps at any time of day.
Pick the apps that pull at you and choose when they lock. Calls and texts always get through. In the app, it's called At Rest.
01 · After your alarm
The moment you scan, the apps you picked lock for as long as you chose, from 15 minutes to 8 hours. The first hour goes where you meant it to.
Good for: the first hour, the school run, the commute.
02 · Right now
Lock the apps you picked whenever you need to. Choose to keep them locked until you scan your code, or pick a timer from 15 minutes to 3 hours and they open when the time is up.
Good for: deep work, dinner, a study block.
03 · On a schedule
Set the days and hours once, like weeknights after 9, and the lock turns on by itself every week. You choose whether a scan can end it early or it holds until the time is up.
Good for: work hours, evenings, bedtime.
How strict it is
Hard to cheat at 6 a.m. Easy to live with all day.
You set the rules the night before, while your head is clear. Here is what holds in the morning, and what's always there when you really need your phone.
What holds when you're half asleep
0, 1 or 2 snoozes
You decide how many snoozes you get.
Once they're used, the alarm only stops when you scan your code, like the coffee bag in your kitchen. With Quiet Walk on, tapping I'm Up gives you sixty quiet seconds to get there. Don't scan, and it rings again.
Set in Stone
Tonight's alarm can't be changed at 5 a.m.
Optional, per alarm. For the two hours before it rings, the alarm can't be edited, turned off, or deleted. Scanning your code still ends it early.
Hardcore Mode
Deleting apps won't end a block.
Optional and off by default. While a block is running, apps can't be deleted, Anchor included.
What's there when you really need your phone
Calls and texts
The people who need you can still reach you.
Anchor only locks the apps you pick. Calls and texts always work, and it never locks the whole phone.
3 overrides a month
A real emergency always has a way out.
An override stops a ringing alarm or opens a block. You get three a month, shared across both and refilled on the 1st, and you can borrow up to three more from next month.
Your choice
Start gentle and tighten it when you're ready.
Set in Stone, Hardcore Mode, and every block are optional. Use only the rules that help you.
The fine print
- Nothing leaves your phone. No account, no login. Your settings live on the device.
- Keep it charged overnight. A phone that's switched off can't ring. Force-quitting the app doesn't matter.
Why Anchor
You've tried other things. Here's what's different.
Some alarms get you up. Some tools lock your apps. Anchor does both, with what's already in your house.
| Feature | Anchor | Apple Clock | Alarmy | Unbed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Works with what you already own | Yes | Yes | Yes | No (needs their block) |
| Scan to dismiss | Barcode, QR, or NFC | No | Barcode or QR | Their NFC block |
| Built-in app blocker | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Apps stay locked when you wake | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Scheduled blocks, any time of day | Yes | No | No | With Unbed+ |
| Limited emergency exit | 3 a month, reset on the 1st | Not applicable | Not applicable | Limited (5 to start) |
| Price | $6.99/mo, $39.99/yr, or $79.99 once | Free | Free + premium | Block $51–55 + optional $39.99/yr |
No hardware needed. Any barcode in your house works.
Compared against each product's own website and App Store listing on September 30, 2026. Products change. Check theirs.
Pricing
About 11 cents a morning.
On the yearly plan, that's $39.99 for 365 mornings. Every plan unlocks the whole app, with nothing else to buy inside it. Billing and refunds go through Apple.
Try it free, then your plan renews. Cancel anytime in Settings.
Every plan includes
- An alarm that rings through Silent, Focus and a force-quit
- Stops when you scan your barcode, QR code or NFC tag
- 0, 1 or 2 snoozes, plus an optional 60-second Quiet Walk
- Set in Stone, so tonight's alarm can't be changed at 5 a.m.
- Apps that lock after your alarm, from 15 minutes to 8 hours
- App blocking any time: until you scan, on a timer, or on a schedule
- Hardcore Mode and 3 emergency overrides a month
- No account, no ads, and no data collected
- Monthly: $6.99/month. Try it free, then it renews each month.
- Yearly: $39.99/year. Try it free, then it renews. About $3.33 a month, 52% less than monthly. Best value.
- Lifetime: $79.99 once. Pay once. No subscription. No free trial.
Questions
What people ask before they buy.
- What does Anchor cost? Is there a free trial?
- $6.99 a month, $39.99 a year, or $79.99 once for Lifetime. Try it free on Monthly and Yearly, then the plan renews. Cancel anytime in iPhone Settings → your name → Subscriptions. Lifetime is paid once, with no trial. Billing and refunds go through Apple. Family Sharing isn't supported.
- Do I need any hardware to use Anchor?
- No. Any household barcode works: a cereal box, a shampoo bottle, or a QR sticker. Any NFC tag works too. The Anchor Tag is an optional $9.99 accessory. You can reserve one with your email, with no charge today.
- Can Anchor lock me out of my phone?
- No. It locks only the apps you pick. Calls and texts keep working. A scan ends a ringing alarm, and you get three emergency overrides a month for the days a scan isn't possible.
- Will it wake up the whole house?
- It doesn't have to. Turn on Quiet Walk and tapping I'm Up silences the ring for sixty seconds while you walk to your code. If you haven't scanned by then, it rings again, so keep the code somewhere you can reach in a minute.
- Why pay for this when the Clock app is free?
- Clock stops when you tap it. Anchor stops when you walk to the kitchen and scan the coffee bag. You're paying for the part you can't talk yourself out of, and for the apps that stay locked once you're up.
- Isn't this just discipline with extra steps?
- Partly, yes. The difference is when you decide. You choose the night before, when you still want the morning, and Anchor holds you to it at 6 a.m., when anyone would rather stay in bed.
- Does the alarm work on Silent or after force-quit?
- Yes. Anchor is built on Apple's AlarmKit, which is why it needs iOS 26.1 or later. It rings through Silent Mode, Do Not Disturb, and Focus, and force-quitting the app doesn't stop it, because the alarm lives in AlarmKit. A phone that's dead or switched off can't ring, so keep it charged overnight.
- Can I change an alarm after I set it?
- Yes. A saved alarm can be edited, turned off, or deleted right up until it rings, unless you've turned on Set in Stone, which locks it for the final two hours. Once it's ringing, only a scan or an override ends it.
- What if I really need my phone during a block?
- Calls and texts always work. For everything else you get three emergency overrides a month, shared across alarms and blocks, and they refill on the 1st. If you set a block to end with a scan, scanning your code ends it early. A timed block, or a schedule you set to hold, runs to the end unless you spend an override.
- Why doesn't Anchor have App Store ratings yet?
- It's new. Apple only shows a rating once enough people have left one, and Anchor isn't there yet. If you try it, an honest rating helps the next person decide, and anything that isn't working can go straight to hello@anchormorning.app.
- iOS 26.1+ only. What about older iPhones or Android?
- Anchor needs iOS 26.1 or later because it's built on AlarmKit, the part of iOS that lets an alarm ring through Silent and survive a force-quit. Older versions don't have it. Android isn't on the roadmap yet. Leave your email below and we'll tell you if that changes.
Read the full FAQ → · Or write to hello@anchormorning.app
Anchor Morning, now on the App Store
Tomorrow morning starts tonight.
Download it tonight, set one alarm, and pick something in your kitchen to scan. Tomorrow it rings until you're up. For iPhone on iOS 26.1 or later.
Not ready tonight? Read the setup guide or save the link for later.
On Android or an older iPhone? Leave your email and we'll send one note if that changes: hello@anchormorning.app.
Optional NFC tag
The Anchor Tag.
Reserve · $9.99. Reserve yours with your email. No charge today.