Upend

About Upend

Upend is a mobile game that turns mornings into head-to-head races between friends. When your alarm fires, stopping it starts your clock and you begin racing from your own wake-up time on your own schedule, while your rival races from theirs. You complete a challenge such as counting squats on camera, scanning a barcode, or photographing a kettle. Your time locks and disappears once you finish—you don't know if you've won or lost. Both times stay hidden until both mornings are over, when the scoreboard drops all at once showing the winner. Every morning ends in a card that lands in the chat, records the series score and streak, and notes any missed challenges.

• fitness
• racing
• competitive
• morning
• friends
• challenge
• alarm

FAQ

How does the camera counting work?

The camera counts your body pose using on-device processing to verify reps. It reads your body pose and is honest about when it cannot see you. Standing facing the phone and giving it a moment of stillness before and after helps most. If the count is not confirmed, the app asks you how many you actually did. No video is ever recorded, stored, or sent.

What happens if a challenge link opens Safari instead of the app?

When an invite link opens Safari instead of the app, iOS has not yet associated the domain with the app. This is normal on a fresh install and usually resolves itself. You can open the app once directly and tap the link again, long-press the link and choose Open in Upend, or sign in on the app and find the invite in your inbox.

Why is my alarm not going off?

Upend schedules a real system alarm and iOS asks permission for it the first time. If the alarm is not firing, check that Upend is allowed to schedule alarms in Settings, and that Focus or Do Not Disturb is not silencing it. Note that swiping the alarm away starts nothing—you must stop it to start your clock.

What data does Upend collect?

Upend does not collect email addresses, phone numbers, location data, or contacts. There is no analytics SDK, no attribution SDK, and no advertising. No health or fitness data is read from HealthKit. The app only requests your name from Apple for device recognition and all pose processing happens on-device with no video ever transmitted.

What does it mean if the challenge button is missing for a rival?

If the challenge button is missing from a rival, your series with them is paused after three no-shows in a row. This is a circuit breaker to prevent someone who has stopped showing up from continuing to receive alarms. Only they can restart it with one tap whenever they like.