How to Use Your Phone as a Bedside Alarm Clock With StandBy and Bedtime Modes

Whether or not you employ your cellphone as an alarm to stand up within the morning, prefer to hearken to podcasts or sleep sounds as you drift off, or just wish to make sure the battery is full come morning, a nightstand charger is a helpful gadget. We’re large followers of wireless chargers. Android telephones and iPhones additionally supply nightstand modes to rework your gadget right into a bedside alarm clock for the evening.

Having your smartphone sit in your nightstand with out enabling a quiet mode of some kind is a foul concept. If notifications are waking you up, take a look at our guide on silencing your gadgets at night. You must also take a look at how to create a bedtime routine. However each sleep specialist we now have spoken with suggests leaving your cellphone exterior the bed room at evening.

That mentioned, it’s laborious to interrupt the behavior of sleeping subsequent to your cellphone, and if it’s on the nightstand anyway, it might as nicely make itself helpful.

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Apple’s StandBy is considered one of our favorite iOS 17 features. It means that you can use your iPhone as a bedside alarm clock, photograph body, or show for actions or widgets.

To make use of StandBy, you will need to have a MagSafe charger that means that you can connect your iPhone in panorama orientation. You could find such a charger in our guides to the best Apple 3-in-1 wireless chargers or the best MagSafe accessories. The Twelve South HiRise 3 Deluxe ($150) is our present favourite.

Right here’s learn how to arrange StandBy:

1. Open Settings in your iPhone, scroll down and faucet StandBy.
2. Be certain that StandBy is toggled on.
3. You must also faucet Show and select when the show ought to flip off, whether or not you wish to use Evening Mode so it dims and has a crimson tint when it’s darkish to reduce disturbance, and whether or not you need Movement to Wake the show at evening. (We suggest toggling each on.)
4. As soon as arrange, merely place your iPhone on a MagSafe charger in panorama orientation and press the aspect button to see the clock.
5. It is going to present a clock and calendar by default, however you may tweak it by swiping up and down. You possibly can swipe proper to left to get pictures with the time show. Swipe once more, and also you get a big clock show. You possibly can swipe up and down on every mode to cycle by way of extra choices.
6. Your iPhone will bear in mind your most popular clock type for that charger, so that you would possibly set one type for the charger in your nightstand and one thing else for the charger in your desk or kitchen counter.

Notice: The At all times-On Show can keep on completely if in case you have an iPhone 14 Professional, iPhone 14 Professional Max, iPhone 15 Professional, or iPhone 15 Professional Max. For older fashions, merely faucet the display screen, bump the nightstand, or ask Siri to carry StandBy to life.

The Apple Watch has lengthy had a Nightstand mode that shows the time. Like StandBy, you want a charger that helps Nightstand mode and ideally affords you a straightforward view of your Apple Watch display screen. We just like the Belkin Boost Charge Pro Portable Fast Charger for Apple Watch ($60). Right here’s learn how to arrange Nightstand mode:

1. Open Settings in your Apple Watch.
2. Go to Common > Nightstand Mode and switch it on.
3. If you wish to set any alarms, open the Alarms app in your Apple Watch.
4. Faucet the plus icon so as to add an alarm and select your time. You can too simply ask Siri to set an alarm.
5. When the alarm sounds, you may press the Digital Crown to snooze it for 9 minutes or the Facet button to show it off.

Though Bedtime began out as a Pixel unique characteristic, Google has rolled it into the usual Android Clock app. In case your cellphone would not have the app, set up Google’s Clock app from the Play Retailer.

We recommend getting a stand (see our Best Wireless Chargers information) to prop your cellphone on the nightstand. The Twelve South PowerPic Mod Wireless Charger ($60) is our present favourite.