This is for a specific person: you installed Alarmy, you set up the barcode mission, and you have never touched the sleep tracker, the sounds, the statistics or any of the other missions. You are carrying 233 MB and an advertising SDK for one feature.
What you actually need to replace
Before switching, be clear about which parts of the mechanic you rely on, because the four alternatives differ on exactly these points:
- Registering a specific code so only that one dismisses the alarm, rather than any barcode.
- A backup code for when your item gets used up, recycled or moved by someone else. This is the most common reason barcode setups quietly stop working.
- An emergency exit for when both are genuinely unreachable, so you are not locked out of your own phone.
- Something after the scan, if your failure is getting up, scanning and going back to bed.
The four options
| Mornio | SuperAlarm | Nuj | Alarm Scan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Register a specific code | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Backup code elsewhere | Yes, optional second item | Not stated | Step count alternative | Not stated |
| Emergency dismissal | Yes, logged in history | Not stated | Not stated | Not stated |
| Check after the scan | Stay-awake check, then restarts | Wake up check | Get-up deadline | Backup alarms |
| Other mission types | None | Six more | Step count | None |
| Advertising indicator | None | Sells ad removal $2.99/mo | None | Sells ad removal $1.49/mo |
| Data used to track you | None declared | Location, Identifiers, Usage | None declared | None declared |
| Minimum iOS | 26.1 | 17.0 | 15.0 | 26.0 |
| Track record | New, small review base | 4.6 stars, ~4.2K ratings | 4.7 stars, ~81 ratings | 1 rating when checked |
Which to pick
Mornio
Built entirely around this one mechanic, so everything around it is designed for the failure cases: an optional backup item in another room, an emergency dismissal that always works and is recorded honestly in your history rather than hidden, and a stay-awake check a few minutes after the scan that restarts protection if you ignore it.
Codes are stored as a salted one-way hash with a label you choose, never as a photo or readable value, and there is no account. The catch is iOS 26.1, and that scanning is the only mission on offer.
SuperAlarm
Barcode and object scanning plus maths, memory, Face ID, walking and squats, and a wake up check, on iOS 17 and later with about 4,200 ratings at 4.6 stars. The closest like-for-like swap for Alarmy overall.
But if ads or tracking were why you were leaving Alarmy, note that SuperAlarm sells a $2.99 monthly ad removal and declares Location, Identifiers and Usage Data under tracking. On those two measures it is a sideways move.
Nuj Alarm Clock
Barcode challenge plus a separate get-up deadline and a penalty you set, on iOS 15 and later. If you have got good at scanning half-asleep and walking straight back to bed, adding money is a category change rather than another mission. It requires payment details, and its label lists financial info linked to you.
Alarm Scan: Barcode Wake Up
Narrowly built around locking the alarm until you scan a barcode or generated QR code away from the bed, with backup alarms, on iOS 26.0 and later. Its privacy label lists only Usage Data and Diagnostics, not linked to you, which is clean. It is ad-supported at $1.49 monthly to remove, and it showed a single rating when we checked, so treat it as unproven and test it on a morning that does not matter.
A note on keeping Alarmy
If the barcode mission is working and the ads do not bother you, staying is a perfectly good answer. Alarmy's scan mission is mature and it runs on iOS 16, which matters if your iPhone cannot take iOS 26.1. Switch when something specific is costing you: the advertising, the Location tracking declaration, the size, or the absence of a follow-up check outside its premium tier.