I frequently miss my 1AM meetings because calendar is too quiet.

I know about Shortcuts but: the alarms ring without title so I need to make conscious effort to check for what it is and standard alarms come at full volume immediately which wake my wife and daughters.

So I made an app, packed AppIntent that extracts event title and passes to alarm title. All in one provided Shortcuts you can call any time of day. No more missing meeting.

Lockscreen widgets to show what was scheduled and when.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

I often see on this subreddit people asking for help with configuring their shortcuts to set alarms automatically based on their work schedule and it’s always the same mess of logic that should work but failed silently. So I thought I would share a solution.

My app, VariAlarm, automation feature helps making this into a user friendly rule based where the app looks for an event matching positive keywords, filtering out negative ones and let you set preceeding alarms. All you need to call every night is a single provided shortcut. The app has lockscreen and homescreen widgets so you can tell when the next alarms are. It can set multiple alarms before a matching event in case you need to prepare.

One of its biggest strength is pulling the event name to name the alarm. Since alarm in my app is fire and forget, they don’t linger around. I use this to set alarms for my meetings automatically and have an idea what it is ringing for.

My German users use this to set 1 hour alarm for his commute and 15 mins for his work from home days. My Italian users use this to never have to set an alarm again and just plan in his Calendar.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

You access this by Schedule tab - action button - Calendar

I keep getting compliments for my templates system and actually added 2 improvements based on user's feedback:

1. Tap on calendar to apply to days: a Japanese user needs to work every 5 days but not weekends nor Japan holiday which is very usual nor days where his colleagues can cover. This was the only system that works for him.
2. Forever recurring: a Productivity expert emailed me that he runs program every Tuesday/Thursday and he just wishes the app would do it automatically forever. Now he just open the app and it auto-schedule his days. No distraction from his work.

So I leaned into templates and these 2 new improvements to make new sets of screenshots all about how flexible and customizable the app is. What do you think?

Did the updated screenshot capture those 2 types of users? I also changed the app from Utilities category to Productivity category.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

My iOS alarm app most unique feature is the template system so I'm thinking of leaning heavily into it for App Store discovery. My keywords are heavily skewed towards managing schedules, not the typical alarm keywords where I don't want to fight with Alarmy, etc.

The template system allows users to set up their month of alarms any way they want: add one time to a day, select multiple on calendar, repeating for weeks or forever with flexible skip/modify.

The app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

Say you work shift based but it follows no every x days pattern, excluding holidays, how do you schedule multiple alarms through out the day?

With the newly included “apply template to days on Calendar” in VariAlarm, you can just select days that you need and all your alarm needs are done.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

One of common theme user calls my app is "most flexible alarm app on iOS".

So I thought about leaning into that and make it more appealing to average users with varied schedule instead of just power user.

What do you think? Compared to current set?

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

I'm updating my screenshots to have callouts show which part of the device screenshots users should look at.

The design matches my app's clean aesthetic but I feel there are too many words though I don't know what to cut. I'm trying to increase my conversion by appealing to many types of users who need more flexible alarms as that is one recurring theme in my reviews and support emails.

Can you please let me know any ideas?

For reference, the current ones are here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

On one hand, it is the app’s main strength. On the other, I don’t think users go to the store searching for flexible alarm app.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

The first one was a CRM app that aims to help me manage projects and follow up with customer. Didn’t even got to Apple side of release.

The second one was a todo app but with Vietnamese NLP. Too small market that is unwilling to pay and change their way of life.

The third one was a Vision Framework project, only on iOS. Taught me users don’t look for problems they don’t have.

The fourth one is an alarm app but it is NOT like other ios alarm app. It took what I learnt from the first 3: app architecture, where to look for problems to solve and how to validate to have some successes.

Not big, but makes me immensely proud.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

Every night, you stare at it hoping you choose the right one for tomorrow. Stress and anxiety build up as you want to make sure you did not forget anything. But what if there is a better way?

A (ANSWER): just tie them together into a reusable template and apply to days or weeks ahead. They fire and app forgets. Never linger around but reusable with 1 click.

B (BETTER): no other IOS alarm app allows this planning, big or small. They all follow Clocks model of operation. Android has it for years I heard.

C (COST): mostly free. There is a Lifetime purchase option for unlimited templates (free has 3 daily and 1 weekly), unlimited folders (free has 3), unlimited calendar automation (free has 2) and PRO only alarm sync via iCloud (newly added yesterday).

Monthly $1.99, annual $14.99 and lifetime $19.99. I adjusted price for lower income countries in app.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

If you had been a long time user who would like to commit to PRO now, I will price match the option available to you on the date you downloaded the app. Even if that is free, before I added IAP for templates as that shows you as an early supporter. Just email me a screenshot of your App store showing the date.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6757322888

Every night, you stare at it hoping you choose the right one for tomorrow. Stress and anxiety build up as you want to make sure you did not forget anything. But what if there is a better way?

A (ANSWER): just tie them together into a reusable template and apply to days or weeks ahead. They fire and app forgets. Never linger around but reusable with 1 click.

B (BETTER): no other IOS alarm app allows this planning, big or small. They all follow Clocks model of operation. Android has it for years I heard.

C (COST): mostly free. There is a Lifetime purchase option for unlimited templates (free has 3 daily and 1 weekly), unlimited folders (free has 3), unlimited calendar automation (free has 2) and PRO only alarm sync via iCloud (newly added yesterday).

Monthly $1.99, annual $14.99 and lifetime $19.99. I adjusted price for lower income countries in app.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

This app requires IOS 26 but I’m working on another for IOS15+.

If you had been a long time user who would like to commit to PRO now, I will price match the option available to you on the date you downloaded the app. Even if that is free, before I added IAP for templates as that shows you as an early supporter. Just email me a screenshot of your App store showing the date.

Every night, you stare at it hoping you choose the right one for tomorrow. Stress and anxiety build up as you want to make sure you did not forget anything. But what if there is a better way?

A (ANSWER): just tie them together into a reusable template and apply to days or weeks ahead. They fire and app forgets. Never linger around but reusable with 1 click.

B (BETTER): no other IOS alarm app allows this planning, big or small. They all follow Clocks model of operation. Android has it for years I heard.

C (COST): mostly free. There is a Lifetime purchase option for unlimited templates (free has 3 daily and 1 weekly), unlimited folders (free has 3), unlimited calendar automation (free has 2) and PRO only alarm sync via iCloud (newly added yesterday).

Monthly $1.99, annual $14.99 and lifetime $19.99. I adjusted price for lower income countries in app.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

If you had been a long time user who would like to commit to PRO now, I will price match the option available to you on the date you downloaded the app. Even if that is free, before I added IAP for templates as that shows you as an early supporter. Just email me a screenshot of your App store showing the date.

In January, my app was just like any other alarm app. It has that classic alarm list view everyone is familiar with and even got rejected from Apple for being too similar but it has its own volume and crescendo per alarm.

In February, I came across an idea on Reddit. A nurse was asking for help to make a calendar style alarm scheduler where they can define an alarm set and drag it to days they need. This made me rearchitecture the whole app from ground up and it means my app could support skipping an upcoming recurring alarm without affecting the schedule.

In March, I had connected to calendar and allows manual alarm creation. A German contacted me and said this is too much work and he would like automation. So AppIntents were added to let user define rules and just call the Shortcuts at same time everyday.

In April, many more features were added for Apple Intelligence users and refinement.

Since then, I’m still working on iCloud alarm feature so devices sharing the same iCloud could schedule alarms on another. It’s one of the last feature to add to the app as I think the app finally has a coherent feature set and is at a good size for maintenance.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

Every night, you stare at it hoping you choose the right one for tomorrow. Stress and anxiety build up as you want to make sure you did not forget anything. But what if there is a better way?

A (ANSWER): just tie them together into a reusable template and apply to days or weeks ahead. They fire and app forgets. Never linger around but reusable with 1 click.

B (BETTER): no other IOS alarm app allows this planning, big or small. They all follow Clocks model of operation. Android has it for years I heard.

C (COST): mostly free. There is a Lifetime purchase option for unlimited templates (free has 3 daily and 1 weekly), unlimited folders (free has 3), unlimited calendar automation (free has 2) and PRO only alarm sync via iCloud (newly added yesterday).

Monthly $1.99, annual $14.99 and lifetime $19.99

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

If you had been a long time user who would like to commit to PRO now, I will price match the option available to you on the date you downloaded the app. Even if that is free, before I added IAP for templates as that shows you as an early supporter. Just email me a screenshot of your App store showing the date.

Every night, you stare at it hoping you choose the right one for tomorrow. Stress and anxiety build up as you want to make sure you did not forget anything. But what if there is a better way?

A (ANSWER): just tie them together into a reusable template and apply to days or weeks ahead.

B (BETTER): no other IOS alarm app allows this planning, big or small. They all follow Clocks model of operation. Android has it for years I heard.

C (COST): mostly free. There is a Lifetime purchase option for unlimited templates (free has 3 daily and 1 weekly), unlimited folders (free has 3), unlimited calendar automation (free has 2) and PRO only alarm sync via iCloud (newly added yesterday).

Monthly $1.99, annual $14.99 and lifetime $19.99

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

If you had been a long time user who would like to commit to PRO now, I will price match the option available to you on the date you downloaded the app. Even if that is free, before I added IAP for templates as that shows you as an early supporter. Just email me a screenshot of your App store showing the date.

Every night, you stare at it hoping you choose the right one for tomorrow. Stress and anxiety build up as you want to make sure you did not forget anything. But what if there is a better way?

A (ANSWER): just tie them together into a reusable template and apply to days or weeks ahead.

B (BETTER): no other IOS alarm app allows this planning, big or small. They all follow Clocks model of operation.

C (COST): mostly free. There is a Lifetime purchase option for unlimited templates (free has 3 daily and 1 weekly), unlimited folders (free has 3), unlimited calendar automation (free has 2) and PRO only alarm sync via iCloud (newly added yesterday).

Monthly $1.99, annual $14.99 and lifetime $19.99

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

If you had been a long time user who would like to commit to PRO now, I will price match the option available to you on the date you downloaded the app. Even if that is free, before I added IAP for templates as that shows you as an early supporter. Just email me a screenshot of your App store showing the date.

Thank you!

Every night, you stare at it hoping you choose the right one for tomorrow. Stress and anxiety start to build up as you want to make sure you did not forget anything. But what if there is a better way?

A (ANSWER): just tie them together into a reusable template and apply to days or weeks ahead.

B (BETTER): no other IOS alarm app allows this planning, big or small. They all follow Clocks model of operation.

C (COST): mostly free. There is a Lifetime purchase option for unlimited templates (free has 3 daily and 1 weekly), unlimited folders (free has 3), unlimited calendar automation (free has 2) and PRO only alarm sync via iCloud (newly added yesterday).

Monthly $1.99, annual $14.99 and lifetime $19.99

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/varialarm-schedule-master/id6757322888

If you had been a long time user who would like to commit to PRO now, I will price match the option available to you on the date you downloaded the app. Even if that is free, before I added IAP for templates as that shows you as an early supporter. Just email me a screenshot of your App store showing the date.

Thank you!