If your question isn’t answered below, or you’d like to offer feedback, don’t hesitate to get in touch via email (support@meetCARROT.com) or Twitter (@CARROT_app).
Using the app
Setting an alarm
Just swipe up or down to choose your alarm time, then drag CARROT’s ocular sensor to the right to set your alarm. It’s so easy, even CARROT’s lab monkeys can do it.
Before bedtime
When you’re ready to turn in, leave CARROT running in the foreground before you lock your screen, and plug your device in to charge overnight. If you feel a tingly sensation while you sleep, don’t panic. She’s just harvesting your DNA.
(Note: If you wish to leave CARROT in the background overnight, ensure your device is not on Silent or Do Not Disturb so that you’ll be able to hear your alarm. Additionally, ensure that notifications are enabled in the Settings app.)
In the morning
At the appointed hour, CARROT will interrupt your dreams with one of her chart-topping songs.
To shut off your alarm, simply drag CARROT's ocular sensor to the top of the screen, then complete a few of CARROT’s daily chores.
Don’t worry - she’ll reward you for all your hard work.
Sleeping in
It's tempting to sleep in, but CARROT hates lazy humans. Hitting that snooze button (or taking more than a minute to respond to the alarm) is guaranteed to make CARROT upset. And, believe me, you do NOT want to make CARROT upset.
(OK, actually, it’s kinda fun to piss her off - but don't make it a habit or anything.)
Accessing the menu
To reveal CARROT's menu, simply swipe to the left. You'll find your current level here, along with such classic buttons as "Settings" and "Support"!
Daily chores
CARROT’s chores range from the mundane (upgrading her RAM, cleaning out the lab monkey cages) to the bizarre (granting sentience to a toaster, kidnapping the Chinese gymnastics team). CARROT has over 1,000 unique chores waiting for you - try to complete them all!
The mini-games start out with simple multitouch gestures (caressing CARROT’s ocular sensor, pressing a button, shaking your device). As you level up, you’ll unlock new mini-games.
If you make CARROT angry, you’ll have to complete more (and more difficult) chores to shut off the alarm.
Rewards
Once you've finished CARROT's chores, she'll award you points. (Owners of CARROT To-Do receive additional bonus points.)
Gain enough points, you level up and receive a reward.
CARROT has over 100 unique rewards to dole out, from new songs to app upgrades to a collection of bedtime stories. Who doesn’t love a good bedtime story?
App upgrades
CARROT may start off as a simple alarm clock with just a few features, but as you wake up each morning and level up in her game, she’ll start to evolve new features.
When you hit level 8, for example, you unlock a vibrate feature. At level 14, meanwhile, CARROT will figure out how to automatically repeat your alarm. And level 19 enables a soothing lullaby to help you fall asleep!
There are a lot more unlockables planned for future updates, so stay tuned.
Alarm tones
Turns out that humans can grow so accustomed to the sound of their alarm clock that they sleep right through it. That’s why CARROT put her lab monkey, Mr. Bubbles, in charge of selecting your wakeup music each morning.
CARROT’s alarm tones start out as simple computer beeps and whistles. As you level up, you’ll unlock beautiful, fully-orchestrated songs. Enjoy over 30 chart-topping hits, including “Chiptune Overload,” “Smile or Else,” and “Won’t You Be My Minion?”
Of course, if you go and piss CARROT off, her alarm tones won’t be quite so beautiful.
iCloud progress sync
The progress sync feature allows you to sync your current level and upgrades across devices. Once you've gained a few levels in CARROT Alarm on one device, you can launch the app on a second device and you'll get a popup asking if you'd like to sync your progress. (Note: You'll have to go through part of the tutorial before this popup will appear.)
Sync can be turned on or off by double tapping CARROT's eye, then typing "iCloud" in her command line.
(Note: If you're having issues getting sync to work, go to your Settings app, then tap iCloud, then Documents & Data, then make sure Use Cellular Data is set to "on." A bug in iOS prevents data from syncing even over wifi if this setting is switched off.)
CARROT To-Do integration
CARROT Alarm works great with CARROT To-Do, the original CARROT app!
Just open CARROT's menu in either app and tap the corresponding button to quickly switch between apps.
Unlock Auto-Launch at level 18, and you can automatically switch over to CARROT To-Do upon waking up. What a great way to get started on your day.
And, best of all, you can earn a heaping helping of bonus points if you have both apps installed on your device!
Commands
CARROT can respond to your commands. Simply double tap her ocular sensor to bring up her command line.
"Sound effects" Turn CARROT's sound effects and speech synthesizer on and off.
“Volume” - Toggle the volume of CARROT's alarm tones.
"Vibrate" - Toggle the vibration feature. (Vibration during alarm unlocks at level 8; iPhone only.)
"Sounds" - Toggle sound effects.
"Strobe" - Toggle the strobe light feature. (Unlocks at level 11; iPhone only.)
"iCloud" - Toggle iCloud progress sync.
"Twitter" or "Facebook" - Switch your default sharing service.
"Snooze shaker" - Toggle the Snooze Shaker feature, which allows you to shake your device to snooze your alarm. (Unlocks at level 25.)
"Hard mode" - Toggle hard mode, which increases the number of chores you have to complete each morning. (Unlocks at level 21.)
"Easy mode" - Toggle easy mode, which reduces the number of chores you have to complete each morning. (Unlocks at level 30.)
"Tell me a bedtime story" - Pretty self-explanatory. CARROT is a great storyteller! (Unlocks at level 5.)
"Sing me a lullaby" - Have CARROT sing you a soothing, white-noise-style lullaby to help you fall asleep. To stop the song, single-tap CARROT's ocular sensor. (Unlocks at level 19.)
"Put me to sleep" - Have CARROT give you a link to an exceedingly boring page on Wikipedia to help you fall asleep. (Unlocks at level 66.)
“Reset” – Reset your progress to level 1. Warning! This action cannot be undone.
There are a couple fun commands that you can try for yourself, too, like "tell me a joke", “dance for me”, “write me a poem”, “sing me a song”, “let’s play a game”, “who are you”, and “do you love me?”.
Acknowledgments
CARROT uses these fine open source components to wake you up on time.
Future updates
CARROT Alarm's feature roadmap is chock full of awesomeness. Look for new songs, more unlockable app upgrades, and additional chore minigames in the future.
Your continued support will ensure these updates keep coming, so tell your friends and remember to rate CARROT in the App Store!
One last thing...
Don’t poke CARROT’s eye. She doesn’t like that.