Common Sense Media Review
By Christy Matte
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Social alarm gets kids to communicate as they coordinate.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
Galarm - Alarms and Reminders
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's It About?
GALARM - ALARMS AND REMINDERS is a social twist on the standard alarm application. Users can set personal alarms, but they can also set alarms on behalf of someone else (e.g., reminding kids to get ready for school) or for a group (e.g. reminding friends about an upcoming birthday party). If you tend to "snooze" too many times, you can set a back-up alarm on someone else's device. In order to set alarms for others, both users must be registered with Galarm - Alarms and Reminders and have the app on their phone. They also need to add each other as a contact. Users on group alarms can chat, which is where the social aspect really comes into play. The app comes with a number of built-in alarms, but teens can also use their own music from their device. Alarms might be a one-time reminder, or set to repeat every so many hours, on certain days, each month, or even annually. There are records for missed alarms so users can keep track of their progress toward goals.
Is It Any Good?
The idea of a social alarm is new, and there are definitely applications where it could come in handy to not only set an alarm for someone else, but also see if they've acknowledged it. Galarm - Alarms and Reminders solidly performs its basic role to set off an alarm on your phone as scheduled and has all the features you'd expect in an alarm app. But you may never have considered a social alarm or how you would use one. You could remind kids to take their medicine, walk the dog, or start their homework. And while there are calendars that serve this purpose, having a shared alarm system makes it hard to miss or forget. The downsides are, of course, that everyone else needs to use the app, too, to make it useful in a social sense. So if it fits your family's needs, Galarm - Alarms and Reminders has a purpose and it rises to the occasion.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about using alarms (like the ones in Galarm - Alarms and Reminders) for being on time, but also to help with productivity. What are some way kids can use alarms in their daily life before waking up in the morning?
Talk about sharing permissions with apps. What are kids allowed to do? What are they not allowed to do? Is sharing contacts OK?
App Details
- Devices : iPhone , Android
- Skills : Self-Direction : goal-setting , time management
- Pricing structure : Free
- Release date : May 8, 2019
- Genre : Productivity
- Publisher : Acyn
- Version : 2.1.5
- Minimum software requirements : iOS 10.0 or later; Android 4.4 and up
- Last updated : June 12, 2019
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