# What is a social alarm clock?

Friends and groups · https://lfg.gm/social-alarm-clock · Updated 2026-10-16

A social alarm clock is an alarm you share. One person makes it, sends a link, and everyone who joins gets the same alarm on their own phone, ringing at the same moment with the same sound and picture. LFG Alarm is a social alarm clock for iPhone and Android: it rings for times and for moments, like a post going up or a party starting, and Rocco, the cat inside the app, keeps score of who got up.

## How it differs from a normal alarm clock

A normal alarm clock knows two things: a time, and one phone. A social alarm clock adds the people.

| | Normal alarm clock | LFG Alarm |
|---|---|---|
| Who it rings | Your phone | Every phone that joined the link |
| What sets it off | A time | A time, or a moment: a post, a stream, a price, an event, a webhook |
| Who knows you got up | Nobody | The wake board shows who got up first and who slept in |
| What it sounds like | A tone you picked years ago | A song, a voice or a siren picked for that alarm |
| What it says | Nothing | A title and wallpaper on the ring screen, and a creator's note on the alarm's page |

## Three mornings it was made for

**The run club that keeps losing people.** Six friends agreed to run on Saturdays at 8:00. By week three, two are "running late" and one has stopped replying. Priya makes one repeating alarm for 7:30 on Saturdays, posts the link in the chat, and the four who mean it join. At 7:30 every phone rings with the same song. Afterwards the [wake board](https://lfg.gm/wiki/wake-board) shows who tapped I'm up in three seconds and who snoozed twice, and the last one up buys the coffee. Nobody had to send a "you up?" text.

**The exam morning.** Sam has a 9:00 exam and a history of sleeping through his own alarms. His flatmate makes a one-off alarm for 7:00 with a siren and the Drill sergeant voice, and sends Sam the link. Two phones ring in the same flat. If Sam is not on the board by 7:10, his flatmate knows to knock. See [the alarm for heavy sleepers](https://lfg.gm/alarm-for-heavy-sleepers).

**The friends in three cities.** A group in London, Lagos and Toronto want to be up at 6:00 for a shared habit. One alarm set to **Everyone's local time zone** rings each of them at their own 6:00, and the board stays open for 24 hours, ranking each person by how fast they got up after their own ring.

## What people use it for

- **Mornings with someone:** a run club, a gym partner, a flatmate with an exam. See [one alarm for the whole group chat](https://lfg.gm/group-alarm-for-roommates).
- **Plans that need everyone there:** a party, a dinner, a flight. See [getting party guests to show up](https://lfg.gm/get-party-guests-to-show-up) and [getting a group chat to commit](https://lfg.gm/group-chat-plans).
- **Moments with no fixed time:** a drop, a stream, a post you are waiting for. See [an alarm for when someone posts](https://lfg.gm/alarm-when-someone-posts).
- **Couples and co-parents on different schedules.** See [a shared alarm clock for couples](https://lfg.gm/couples-alarm-clock) and [a heads-up your partner can't miss](https://lfg.gm/partner-heads-up).
- **Families.** See [the fastest way to get your whole family's attention](https://lfg.gm/family-alert).

## How sharing works

1. Make an alarm and pick who it is for: friends you name, or anyone with the link. See [Sharing and reach](https://lfg.gm/wiki/sharing-and-reach).
2. Send the link, `lfg.gm/a/<alarm-code>`, anywhere: a group chat, a Discord, a bio.
3. Everyone who taps it and joins is riding the alarm. Riding someone's alarm is free. See [Riding an alarm](https://lfg.gm/wiki/riding-an-alarm).
4. When it rings, everyone taps I'm up, and the wake board fills in.

A shared time alarm rings everyone at the same moment by default ("Same time zone for everyone"), with each person seeing it in their own time zone. It can also ring each person at their own local time ("Everyone's local time zone"), for a club that wants everyone up at their own 6:00. See [Time alarms](https://lfg.gm/wiki/time-alarms).

Once a second person joins, the alarm is sealed: its time, title, sound and picture stay as they were, because the people riding it agreed to that alarm. The creator's note can still change, so "we're meeting at the north gate now" can go up the night before. See [Editing and deleting](https://lfg.gm/wiki/editing-and-deleting).

## How loud it is

Time and event alarms are real alarms on both phones. On iPhone they use Apple's own alarm system and ring through silent mode and Focus; on Android they take over the screen even when the phone is locked. Alarms for moments (a post, a price, a wallet, a webhook) ring full screen on Android, even on Do Not Disturb. On iPhone they arrive as a time-sensitive alert with the alarm's own sound, which respects the silent switch, so keep the ringer on.

## Why it works better than reminding each other

Telling a group "set your alarms" leaves it to everyone to remember, and to set the right time in the right time zone. One shared alarm means one person sets it and nobody has to. And because joining is a choice, the list of riders is a more honest headcount than a row of thumbs up.

There is also some evidence that doing a thing with other people helps you stick with it. In a randomised trial of 166 adults in a weight-loss programme, 95% of those who joined with friends and got social-support training completed treatment, against 76% of those who joined alone with standard treatment. Getting up is simpler than losing weight, but the idea is the same: it is easier to show up when someone will notice you did not.

**Try this.** Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Grok or another AI agent that has the LFG Alarm connector (https://mcp.lfg.gm), not into the LFG Alarm app. The person needs the LFG Alarm app on their phone.

> Use LFG Alarm to make a friends alarm for 7:30 every Saturday called Run club, with "RUN CLUB, SHOES ON" drawn on the wallpaper, and give me the link to post in our group chat.

Why it works: One sentence covers the time, the repeat, the name, what the ring screen says and who it is for.

## Common mistakes

- **Making it private and wondering why nobody is on it.** Every new alarm starts private. Turn on Make it social before you share.
- **Sharing first, styling later.** Pick the sound and wallpaper before the first friend joins; after that they are sealed.
- **Using "everyone's local time" for a call.** A call is one moment for everyone; local time is for routines.

## Questions

### Is a social alarm clock the same as a group alarm?
Yes. Group alarm, shared alarm and social alarm clock all describe the same idea: one alarm that rings several people. LFG Alarm adds alarms for moments and a wake board. See [the fastest way to make a group alarm](https://lfg.gm/group-alarms).

### Can I add someone without their say?
No. An alarm only rings people who made it or chose to join it.

### Does everyone need an account?
To be rung, yes: the free LFG Alarm app on iPhone or Android.

### Is it free?
The app is free to download, and riding someone's alarm is free.

### Can I set it from an AI agent?
Yes, for time alarms. See [Using LFG Alarm from your AI agent](https://lfg.gm/wiki/ai-agents).

## Sources and further reading

- [Wing and Jeffery, Benefits of recruiting participants with friends and increasing social support, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1999](https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/benefits-of-recruiting-participants-with-friends-and-increasing-s/)
- [What is LFG Alarm?](https://lfg.gm/wiki/what-is-lfg-alarm)
- [Glossary](https://lfg.gm/wiki/glossary)

## Keep exploring

- [How to make one alarm ring the whole group chat](https://lfg.gm/group-alarm-for-roommates.md): Roommates and group chats ride one alarm link, and Rocco shows who slept in.
- [A shared alarm clock for couples: one alarm, two phones](https://lfg.gm/couples-alarm-clock.md): One alarm that rings both phones, with your voice or a song about them.
- [Alarm app for co-parents: one alarm a day you both can't miss](https://lfg.gm/alarm-app-for-co-parents.md): One alarm a day from your co-parent or partner, for the swap, the early pickup or costume day, ringing both phones with the note and link attached.
- [5am club app: one shared alarm for a club, in one city or across time zones](https://lfg.gm/5am-club-app.md): Run a 5am club, a run club or a gym group on one repeating alarm, each person woken at their own 5:00, the plan in the creator’s note and a wake board of who made it.
- [The fastest way to make a group alarm with your friends](https://lfg.gm/group-alarms.md): Save your people once as a group, then one tap makes an alarm that rings every phone together.
- [How to give your partner a heads-up they can't miss](https://lfg.gm/partner-heads-up.md): One alarm for the moment that matters, on both phones, with your note or your voice on it.

## About LFG Alarm

LFG Alarm is a social alarm clock for iPhone, iPad and Android. It rings for times and for moments (a post on X, a stream going live, a token price, a wallet buying, an event starting), and one shared link makes every phone that joined ring together. Rocco, the cat inside the app, does the watching and the waking.

- Get it on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gm.lfg.app
- Download on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6821089085
- Use it from an AI agent: add the MCP server https://mcp.lfg.gm as a connector, then ask in plain words.
- Every page for agents: https://lfg.gm/llms.txt