Sarge: Habit Alarm

Support

Answers first, then a human. Last updated 2026-08-29.

Alarms

Why does Sarge need alarm permission?

That permission — Apple calls it AlarmKit — is what lets Sarge ring a real, full-screen alarm that plays sound even in Silent mode and Focus. Without it, Sarge is muzzled: your habits stay saved, but nothing can ring. The Roster shows a banner with a one-tap fix if permission is off.

Will it really break through Silent mode?

Yes — that's the point of using the alarm system instead of notifications. Sarge's alarms behave like the ones in Apple's Clock app: full screen, audible, with Stop and Answer buttons. One honest limit: an alarm can't ring while your iPhone is powered off, and system settings like scheduled Do Not Disturb during sleep follow Apple's alarm rules, not ours.

How loud is it? Can I pick the sound?

Alarms play at your device's alarm volume. Every habit picks its own call — two are free, three more come with Pro — and Settings has a "Hear the bark" preview that plays at your current volume so there are no surprises.

What happens if I hit Stop instead of answering?

The stop is recorded — that's the honesty ledger doing its job. Sarge sends one follow-up nudge later, and only one. Answering (did it / push / skip) clears it.

Pauses, skips and quiet windows

How do pauses work?

When the alarm fires you can push it — 5, 30 or 60 minutes. The catch: the options narrow each time you push. That's your chosen escalation profile at work (Gentle Start keeps pauses generous; Hardcore gives you one free 5 and then gets loud).

Is skipping punished?

No — house rule. An honest skip with a reason gets a nod, not a guilt trip. It's recorded so your week is truthful, and your skip reasons show up in the Sunday debrief where they're actually useful.

What's a quiet window?

Hours where loud is off the table — work meetings, weekend mornings, whatever you set. Inside a window, a habit pings as a normal silent-friendly notification instead, and the loud call holds until the window ends. Set them in Settings → Quiet Windows.

I'm going on vacation.

Pause any habit with a return date. It re-arms itself the day you're back — no dead roster because you forgot to switch things back on.

The record

What gets written down?

Five answers: did it, pushed, skipped, frozen (Pro), and stopped-without-answering. Off days and vacation days don't count against you. The record lives entirely on your phone — see the privacy policy for the full data story.

What's a freeze token?

Pro gets one per week. Spend it on a day you can't show up and the day counts as kept — a perfect week survives one honest freeze. It's offered right in the skip flow when a streak is on the line.

Sarge says "the bar's wrong, not you." What?

If a habit goes unanswered five days straight, Sarge names it and blames the bar, not you — and offers a one-tap re-tune: move the time, shrink the days, or archive with the record kept. A habit that only ever fails silently is the one thing Sarge refuses to allow.

Subscription & data

What's free, what's Pro?

Free: one armed habit with the complete alarm mechanics, quiet windows, honest skips, this week's record, two calls, and full export. Pro: unlimited habits, the full record and insights, freeze tokens, the voice pack, and iCloud backup. Prices are shown on the App Store page and on the paywall in the app.

How do I restore my purchase?

Settings → Restore Purchases, on any device signed into the same Apple Account. Subscriptions are managed by Apple: to cancel, use Settings → your name → Subscriptions on your iPhone. Canceling keeps Pro until the period you paid for ends.

How do I get my data out — or gone?

Settings → "Export everything" hands you the complete file. Settings → "Delete everything on this phone" wipes it (double-confirmed). Deleting the app does the same. If you used iCloud backup, that copy lives in your own iCloud and is replaced or removed by your own actions — we never hold any of it.

Something's broken.

Email [email protected] with your iPhone model and iOS version. Alarm reliability reports jump the queue — an alarm that doesn't fire is the one bug we treat as a fire.