Press kit
Everything you need to write about Dawnling: facts, boilerplate, screenshots, logos and Wick himself. All of it may be used freely in coverage of the app.
All screenshots, logos and sprites below in one file, about 7 MB.
The short version
Dawnling is a cozy pixel-art alarm clock for iOS and Android. A little candle called Wick sleeps when you sleep, wakes when your alarm rings, and walks you into your morning routine. It has no streaks, no guilt, no ads, no account, and collects no data at all. The core app is free.
The longer version
Alarm apps come in two flavors: the drill sergeant that punishes you for snoozing, and the gentle habit companion that isn't actually there at 7am. Dawnling is the missing third thing. It rings reliably (on iOS 26 it uses Apple's new AlarmKit framework, so it plays at full volume through Silent mode and Focus, the same as the built-in Clock), and it is simply glad you're awake.
When the alarm rings, Wick wakes up too. You wake him, he walks you through a gentle morning routine, and your little pixel room slowly grows with furniture and light that follows the real time of day. There are no streaks to break. Missing a morning costs nothing, which the habit-formation research supports: missing a single opportunity does not materially affect habit formation (Lally et al., 2010).
Dawnling collects nothing. No analytics SDK, no accounts, and the app makes zero network requests; the Android build ships without the INTERNET permission, so the operating system enforces it. It is built by one person in Hamburg.
Fact sheet
| Name | Dawnling: Cozy Alarm Clock |
|---|---|
| What it is | Alarm clock and morning routine app with a pixel-art candle companion |
| Platforms | iOS 17 and later, Android. AlarmKit alarms on iOS 26 and later |
| Price | Free. No ads, no subscription, no consumable currency. Optional decorative collections as one-time purchases are planned |
| Privacy | No data collection of any kind. No analytics, no accounts, zero network requests. Android ships without the INTERNET permission |
| Accessibility | VoiceOver, Dynamic Type and Reduce Motion supported |
| Status | In beta, launching 2026 |
| Developer | Michiel, solo developer in Hamburg, Germany, publishing as Mitch Creates |
| Website | dawnling.app |
| Contact | hello@dawnling.app |
What makes it worth writing about
- One of the first AlarmKit apps. iOS 26 finally lets third-party alarms ring with Clock-app reliability. Dawnling adopts it with a full fallback down to iOS 17.
- Genuinely zero data collection. Not "minimal analytics": zero network requests, verifiable with a proxy, enforced on Android by the missing INTERNET permission.
- An alarm with no loss-aversion machinery. No streaks, no guilt copy, no punishments. The design bet is that a companion who is happy to see you beats a counter you're afraid to lose.
- Hand-crafted pixel art. A warm, hand-placed-pixel look in a category full of gradients and dashboards.
Screenshots
iPhone screenshots, 1206 × 2622. Click for full size.
Android:
Logo, icon and Wick
Pixel sprites are shown here upscaled; the files are crisp originals. Please scale them with nearest-neighbour only, so the pixels stay square.
Animated GIFs
The same animations the app plays, exported at 432 × 432 with transparent backgrounds. Right-click to save.
Usage notes
- Use the assets as they are: no recolouring, stretching, rotating or adding effects.
- Please don't use Wick or the Dawnling name to imply endorsement of another product.
- Need something specific (a transparent version, a GIF of an animation, a different crop)? Email and you'll usually have it the same day.
Press contact
One person makes Dawnling, so you're always talking to the developer. Interviews, review builds, promo codes and background on AlarmKit or the no-tracking architecture are all easy to arrange.
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