Prevent power-off

The oldest way out of an alarm that makes you do push-ups is to switch the phone off. Beyond Alarm's prevent power-off closes that exit on Android. While the alarm rings, the power menu closes as soon as it opens, so Power off and Restart never get tapped. Add Prevent app uninstall and deleting the app on impulse is off the table too.

What it does

Prevent power-off is one of the jobs of Beyond Alarm's guard, the Android accessibility service that also enforces Phone Block and Morning Lockout. Once the guard is on:

While an alarm rings, the guard also brings the alarm straight back if you go to the home screen or open an app from a notification. Calls still come through: during a ring, the phone app and an active call always win.

Prevent app uninstall is a separate, optional switch. It uses Android's device admin, and while it's on, Android itself refuses to uninstall Beyond Alarm, from the home screen, from Settings or from the Play Store. While any block is running, the switch is locked on, so "turn it off, then uninstall" isn't a way out of a block.

How it works

1. The guard watches for the power menu. It recognises a power menu by its words: Power off, Restart, Shut down, Reboot. That works across makers, including phones whose power menu has an unusual name, like vivo's.
2. It checks continuously, not only on events. While an alarm rings or a whole-phone block runs, it keeps checking the screen, so a second press straight after the first is caught too.
3. It closes the menu and brings back the alarm, or the block.
4. A forced restart is covered too. Holding the hardware buttons to force a reboot happens below any app. So when the alarm starts ringing, Beyond Alarm leaves itself a note in storage that's readable before you unlock. When the phone starts back up, the alarm rings again on the lock screen.

Beyond Alarm

Beyond Alarm does this part for you: the alarm will not switch off until you have actually moved, and the apps you pick stay locked afterwards.

When to use it

• You've switched a phone off to silence an alarm before. You know who you are.
• You use exercise, photo or barcode missions, which only work if they can't be skipped.
• You run whole-phone blocks and want them to hold.
• You uninstall blockers in weak moments. Prevent app uninstall turns that into a trip to Settings once the block is over.

Set it up

1. Open Settings in Beyond Alarm.
2. Under Protection, tap Prevent power-off. A sheet explains exactly what the guard does.
3. Tap Turn it on in Accessibility settings, read the disclosure, and switch Beyond Alarm on in Android's Accessibility settings.
4. Optional: switch on Prevent app uninstall under Protection and confirm Android's device admin dialog.
5. Check Alarm reliability in Settings. Power-off guard should now be listed as working.

Related

• Alarm reliability check
• Whole-phone block
• Push-up alarm
• How to stop turning your phone off when the alarm rings
• Alarm not ringing after a restart