Challenges, not a button
Math (1–10 problems), shaking (10–100 shakes) and a QR scan. Enable one, two or all three per alarm — they run one after the other, and only then does Stop alarm appear.
Android · Open source · Free
The alarm clock
you can't ignore.
Brutus only stops once you have solved math problems, shaken your phone or scanned a QR code on the other side of the flat — your choice, in any combination. No ads, no tracking, offline by default.
Built so that snoozing takes more effort than getting up
Hardcore mode
While the alarm rings, its volume stays at maximum and the volume keys do nothing. The moment it is dismissed, your phone behaves normally again.
No going back to bed
Ultra Hardcore rings again 10 and 15 minutes after you dismiss it — unless you walk 30 steps with the phone. The follow-ups survive a reboot.
Sounds made on the phone
25 alarm sounds are synthesized in real time — 17 harsh ones, from klaxon and air-raid siren to steel hammer, and 8 gentle ones like singing bowl, birdsong and ocean waves — plus the system tone. Preview each one while you set the alarm.
Sunrise and widget
An optional pre-alarm brightens the screen over the ten minutes before it rings, with a gentle sound of your choice. A home-screen widget shows the next alarm with a countdown.
Reliable, offline by default
Exact alarms that ring in Doze and come back after a reboot — even before you unlock the phone, with banners when the system would block them. Online only if you switch on update notices — then it reads the newest version once a day.
Hear the sounds
All 25 sounds are made on the phone, in real time — nothing is downloaded. Tap one to hear it; these previews play a little quieter than your phone will.
PlayHarsh — to get you up
-
Klaxon
Pulsing two-tone alarm
-
Nuclear alert
Fast, sharp beeping
-
Piercing
Ultra-high beep — maximum annoyance
-
Stadium horn
Blaring air horn made of detuned sawtooths
-
Jackhammer
Pounding low-end bursts like a construction site
-
Fire alarm
Temporal-3 smoke-detector pattern at 3.1 kHz
-
Dental drill
FM-modulated dental drill — screeching grind
-
Banshee
Dissonant, rising cluster of beating tones
-
Air-raid siren
Motor siren: winds up, holds, winds down — full of overtones
-
Dive alarm
“A-OO-GA” — a two-step horn blast in quick succession
-
Car alarm
Changes pattern every 1.5 s: wail, yelp, horn, warble
-
School bell
Mechanical clapper, about 22 strikes a second, metallic
-
Reverse beeper
Low, hard warning beep that keeps getting faster
-
Shepard siren
A tone that seems to rise forever — restless, never resolves
-
Steel hammer
Irregular hammer blows on metal with a ringing tail
-
Strobe
High beeps that get faster and higher
-
Evacuation whoop
Industrial alarm: fast upward sweep, hard restart
Gentle — for Sunrise and the timer
-
Singing bowl
Deep, long-ringing bowl tone with a gentle beat
-
Birdsong
Quiet chirps, loosely spread, like early morning
-
Wind chimes
Pentatonic bells, set off at random by the wind
-
Kalimba
Thumb-piano motif, round and woody
-
Harp
Rising harp arpeggios over two chords
-
Ocean waves
A wave that rolls in and draws back
-
Electric piano
Calm Rhodes chords, softly struck
-
Daybreak
A sound pad that breathes and brightens
Material 3 Expressive, built for 6 a.m.
Install in three steps
-
1
Download the APK
One file for every phone with Android 8.0 or later — there is nothing to pick.
-
2
Allow the install
Open the file. Android asks once whether your browser may install apps — allow it.
-
3
Clear the banners
If the alarm list shows a banner — exact alarms, battery optimization, full-screen alarm — tap it and flip the switch. Then test your wake-up chain with Test wake modes now.
Check what you downloaded
- brutus-v2.5.2.apk
1f1614863512c103a6bf96d3b28698b83ef131a7200adf1ed22a2a04a9d4457a
- Signing certificate SHA-256
69d67a10a826cf4050da4b271af9b5ed500c962bfab07a8f8fe863e3d7600382
Every release since 1.0.0 is signed with the same key. Compare with apksigner verify --print-certs.
Brutus is not on Google Play. Every release is built and signed by GitHub Actions from the public source code and published on GitHub Releases.
Questions
Is Brutus free?
Yes. It is free and open source under the MIT licence, with no ads, no account and no tracking.
Why is it not on Google Play?
It is distributed directly as a signed APK on GitHub Releases. Each release is built from the public source by GitHub Actions, and the workflow refuses to publish an APK that is not signed with the Brutus certificate.
Which phones does it run on?
Android 8.0 or later. The QR challenge also needs Google Play Services, which supplies the barcode model; math and shake work on every device.
How do I update?
Switch on Check for updates under ⋮ → Settings & info: Brutus then looks once a day for a new release and notifies you. Download the APK from this page and install it over the existing app; your alarms and settings stay.
What does it do besides alarms?
A world clock, a stopwatch with laps, a timer that rings even after you leave the app, and a home-screen widget. Before an alarm a notification counts down and lets you dismiss it early. Theme (light, dark or system) is set under ⋮ → Settings & info. The app is in English and German and follows the system language.
How do I know the APK is genuine?
Compare its SHA-256 with the value above and check the signing certificate with apksigner verify --print-certs; the certificate is the same for every release since 1.0.0.
Like the app?
Brutus is free, has no ads and stays that way. A small donation keeps it maintained — and a review of celox.io on Google helps just as much.