Sunrise Clock
Turn on Nightstand
Open Settings in the options at the bottom and turn on Nightstand, under Bedside — it keeps the screen awake and dims the lamp to a faint glow after a short idle, brightening the moment you tap. It is what turns this from a web page into a bedside object.
A warm sunrise lamp for the bedside, with the time woven into the cloth.
Sunrise Clock turns a spare phone or tablet into a bedside sunrise lamp: a warm light chamber above, woven speaker cloth below, and the time glowing through the weave. It is the shape of the sunrise alarm clocks sold as wake-up lights, without the shelf space or the price.
The glow follows the real hour rather than sitting still — low and ember-warm through the night, climbing brighter towards dawn — so a glance across a dark room tells you roughly where you are in it. Set an early alarm and the climb waits for it instead, brightening over the half hour before it rings, the way a wake-up light does; a later one leaves the morning to the sun. Quiet enough to sleep beside, legible enough to read at arm’s length.
Questions fréquentes
What is a sunrise clock?
A bedside clock built around a warm light rather than a bright screen. Instead of white digits on black, the time sits inside a soft glow you can look at half-asleep. Physical ones are sold as sunrise alarm clocks or wake-up lights; this is the same idea on a screen you already own.
Does it actually wake me up with light?
A phone or tablet screen is far dimmer than a dedicated wake-up light, so treat this as a calm bedside display rather than light therapy. Set an early alarm in the Alarms tool, though, and the glow does follow it: it stays at its lowest through the night and climbs over the half hour before the alarm, so the room is already warming when it rings. That holds for alarms up to about half past eight; a later one leaves the morning on its regular schedule.
Is it dim enough to sleep next to?
Yes. The dot-matrix display lights very few pixels and the glow drops to its lowest through the small hours. Turn on Nightstand under Bedside, under Settings in the options at the bottom, to dim it further after a short idle, and lower your device brightness.
Can I change the colour?
Yes. The face carries five lamp colourways — Original, Golden, Sage, Moon and Rose. Pick a theme in the options at the bottom of the clock and the lamp settles on the colourway nearest to it; on the full clock, the Showroom theme offers all five as swatches.
Can I stand it in a room?
Yes — pick one of the bedroom swatches in the options at the bottom of the clock and the lamp stands in it; the plain swatch before them takes it back out. “Make this my clock” saves the scene with the rest of the look.
Does it show seconds?
No, by design. It shows hours and minutes only, the way a bedside lamp does — a ticking seconds column is the opposite of restful. Most faces on the full clock offer them if you want them.
How does this compare to a Hatch or Philips sunrise alarm?
Those are lamps with real bulbs; this is a clock face on a screen you already own. They will always win on light output, and if what you want is bright light to wake to, buy one. What this gives you for nothing is the rest of it — the shape, the warm glow that follows the hour, a dot-matrix display behind woven cloth, and a bedside clock that is not a harsh white rectangle at 3am. It runs on the old phone in your drawer.
Can I use an old phone as a sunrise clock?
That is what it is for. Open this page on the phone, open Settings in the options at the bottom and turn on Nightstand, under Bedside, so it keeps the screen awake and dims after a short idle, then plug it in and put it face-up on the table. Any phone or tablet with a browser works — there is nothing to install and no account.