Frequently asked questions
Direct answers about how ShabbatRise works.
What is ShabbatRise?
ShabbatRise is a free alarm clock app for Shabbat (Shabbos) and Yom Tov, and it is built around one idea: you set your alarms before the day begins, and while it lasts the phone does everything alone. The alarm rings at the exact time you chose and stops by itself, so you never need to touch the phone.
How can an alarm clock work on Shabbat without touching the phone?
Every alarm is armed before candle lighting, the same principle as a Shabbat timer for lights, and during Shabbat ShabbatRise rings and silences itself with no interaction from you. It turns itself off after a duration you chose in advance, 15 seconds to 2 minutes, with no taps, no swipes, no buttons.
Does the alarm really stop by itself?
ShabbatRise alarms stop by themselves: you choose 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute or 2 minutes in advance, and the ring ends on its own with no tap and no swipe. You can also set one automatic repeat a few minutes later in case you sleep through the first ring.
Does it work offline?
ShabbatRise works fully offline: candle-lighting and havdalah times are calculated on your phone, and the app makes no network connections, so airplane mode is fine. The same is true for every Yom Tov in the calendar. The calculation uses standard astronomical formulas.
How does it know my candle-lighting time?
You set your city once. The app computes sunset for your exact location and applies your community's offsets: 18, 20, 30 or 40 minutes before sunset for candle lighting, and 42, 50 or 72 minutes after sunset for havdalah. These are fixed minutes rather than zmaniyot, and the same offsets are used for Yom Tov.
Is it free? Are there ads?
ShabbatRise is completely free, with no ads, no in-app purchases and no subscription. That is true on iPhone now, and it will be true on Android when that version arrives.
What data does ShabbatRise collect?
None. There are no accounts and no analytics, and the app makes no network connections. Your location is used only on your phone to compute Shabbat and Yom Tov times.
What iPhone do I need?
ShabbatRise runs on iPhone with iOS 26 or later, because that version introduced Apple's alarm framework that lets a third-party alarm ring reliably. On older versions a Shabbat alarm could not be trusted, so we don't support them.
What is Bedside Mode?
On iPhone, Bedside Mode is how ShabbatRise rings: you leave the app open on the charger and the screen dims to a clock you can read from bed. Every alarm starts and stops at the exact minute, with the screen locked, for as long as Shabbat or Yom Tov lasts. Nothing has to be pressed.
Is there an Android version?
ShabbatRise comes to iPhone first. An Android version is being built and will need Android 10 or newer, where alarms can ring and stop exactly on time with the app closed and the screen locked. There is no date for it yet.
Do alarms repeat every week?
An alarm set to Always comes back on every Shabbat and every Yom Tov until you switch it off. An alarm set to Only this day rings once, on the date you ticked, and is then done. The reminder before the day begins shows you what is switched on.
Does it work on Yom Tov?
Yes. Alarms attach to dates rather than to weekdays, so one alarm returns on every Shabbat and every Yom Tov, or on a single date if that is what you chose. Consecutive rest days join into one occasion: Rosh Hashanah is one block on the calendar with each of its days set separately, and the night it ends is an ordinary night with nothing scheduled to ring.
Which halachic opinions does it follow?
ShabbatRise takes as few positions as it can, and it tells you which ones it takes. The candle-lighting and havdalah offsets are yours to choose. Whether you keep one day of Yom Tov or two comes from the city you set. Fixed minutes are used rather than zmaniyot. Beyond that the app rules on nothing, and whether to use an alarm on Shabbat at all is a question for your rabbi.
Who makes ShabbatRise?
ShabbatRise is an independent app made with love for the Shabbat table. You can reach us at [email protected].
Which days are in the calendar?
The calendar covers Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, Pesach and Shavuot, with Chol HaMoed drawn as its own kind of day. Chanukah, Purim, Rosh Chodesh, the fast days and the weekly parashah are not in it. Those are days you may use the phone, so the alarm clock already on it still works. ShabbatRise builds the days you put the phone down for.
What languages is the app in?
The app itself is in English, Hebrew, Spanish and French, and you can switch between them inside the app at any time. Hebrew runs right to left throughout, not only the text.
Is there a backup alarm?
There is, and it ships switched off. It is a system alarm from iOS, and it is the one alarm in ShabbatRise that does not stop by itself: someone has to press Stop. That is why it is off. If you would rather be woken by an alarm you have to touch than risk not being woken at all, one switch in Settings turns it on, and the app says plainly what you are turning on.
One day of Yom Tov or two?
That comes from the city you set when you installed the app, and you are never asked. A city in Israel keeps one day, a city anywhere else keeps two, and Rosh Hashanah is two days in both. Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot are drawn accordingly, and in Israel Simchat Torah is Shemini Atzeret. If you travel for Yom Tov, change the city before you go, and ask your rabbi what you keep where you are going.
Can I use it only for Yom Kippur?
Yes, and nothing has to be set up permanently. Pick the date, set a time, choose Only this day, and it rings once. If Yom Kippur is the only day of the year you put your phone down, the app is built for that too.
The phone is muktzeh. How does this work?
ShabbatRise is built so that nobody touches the phone. Every alarm is armed before candle lighting, the way a Shabbat timer is set for the lights, and each one rings and stops on its own. In Bedside Mode the screen stays on and dimmed, and the clock on it changes by itself, like a digital clock already running before the day came in. That is a description of the mechanism, not a ruling on it. Practices differ, so ask your rabbi.
A quiet phone from candle lighting to havdalah.
iPhone first. Android is being built, with no date yet.