dawnfold
Dawnfold app icon: a sun rising over a dark horizon

A sunrise alarm for your nightstand.

Before your alarm goes off, Dawnfold slowly fades your iPhone screen from deep red through amber to bright white. Light starts waking you before sound does.

Coming soon to the App Store

Free. Dawnfold Pro is a one-time $3.99 purchase.

How a morning goes

You choose how long the sunrise lasts, anywhere from 1 to 30 minutes. The default is 30.

  1. When the sunrise starts The screen comes up a very dim, deep red. Brightness rises slowly at first.
  2. Along the way The red warms into amber, and the room slowly gets lighter.
  3. The last few minutes If you picked a nature sound, it fades in quietly. Birdsong is free.
  4. Wake time The screen is bright white and a soft marimba alarm plays.
  5. Two minutes after If Dawnfold was closed overnight, a regular system alarm rings as a backup.

Made for iPhone Duo

Turn iPhone Duo sideways and fold it halfway, like a laptop on the nightstand. The top half aims the light at your pillow. The bottom half lies flat and holds the snooze and stop buttons.

Dawnfold also works on any iPhone running iOS 27. Use a stand, with the screen facing your pillow.

Side view of iPhone Duo folded on a nightstand. The upright half shines light toward a pillow. The flat half holds the snooze and stop buttons. pillow snooze and stop light

A screen that stays out of the way

Until the sunrise starts, the screen is pure black with a dim red clock. The clock drifts a few points each minute to protect the display.

Dawnfold has to stay open on screen overnight for the sunrise to happen. If you lock the phone, the sunrise stops, but the backup alarm still rings. Keep it plugged in.

Before you go to sleep

Try a test sunrise. It runs the whole fade in 60 seconds, so you can check where the phone sits and how the light lands.

Run through the bedtime checklist. It covers four things: charging, position, Low Power Mode, and volume.

Add the flashlight, if you like. The flashlight boost fades in the rear flashlight over the last few minutes and lights the wall behind the phone. It is free and off by default.

Free, with an optional Pro

The sunrise, the alarm and the backup alarm are all free. Dawnfold Pro is a single $3.99 purchase. There is no subscription.

Dawnfold Free

  • The sunrise, from 1 to 30 minutes
  • Birdsong and the marimba alarm
  • The black night screen with its drifting clock
  • Backup alarm
  • Test sunrise and bedtime checklist
  • Flashlight boost

Dawnfold Pro $3.99 once

  • More sunrise styles: Ember, Coastal, Nordic, and a custom end color
  • Two more brightness curves
  • Soft rain and wind chimes
  • A wind-down sunset: a dim orange glow that fades out at bedtime
  • HomeKit lamps that follow the sunrise, for far more light than a screen

Worth knowing

A phone screen is dimmer than a dedicated wake-up lamp. Closer is brighter. The support page has tips for getting the most light out of it.