App review: WakeMeHere Lite

By: Levire UG (haftungsbeschränkt) & Co. KG
Available free on iOS
Ages: 15 to 25

Review

Reviewed by Liam (20) who is mildly deaf.

Liam

"Sleeping on a train isn’t without its risks. It’s possible I could end up in Brighton instead of London, snore, or fall asleep on the person next to me as they read the Evening Standard.

Cue WakeMeHere Lite. Using GPS, the app wakes you up when you enter a certain radius. So, as your train approaches your destination, you get a discreet vibration in your pocket alerting you. Sounds promising, right?

Yet I was a bit disappointed when I tried it out on my way to work recently. A simplistic design meant setting up an alarm was somewhat straightforward, but as this is the free version of the WakeMeHere Lite app it comes with adverts, long videos for mobile games that reminded me why I deleted Candy Crush from my iPhone. Changing an alarm meant deactivating it and watching yet another advert afterwards.

The search function doesn’t recognise station names so you need to take care in typing in the exact address, or choosing it on the map, and setting a wide enough radius. If you just enter a street name, but no exact address, the app may not go off, which is quite alarming – pun intended."