Color search
Color searchA color hunt alarm: find something red, blue or green to stop it
A color hunt alarm draws a color and keeps ringing until you point your camera at something that color. In WakeOps it is called Color search, and anything counts (a red mug, a yellow towel, a green plant) as long as the color fills the middle of the viewfinder for a moment.
How it works
- 1
Choose the colors in play when you set the alarm. The default pool is red, yellow, green and blue; orange, purple and pink can be added.
- 2
When you start the mission, a reel spins and lands on a color. With a single color in the pool there is nothing to draw, so the camera opens straight away.
- 3
Point the back camera at anything that color. The brackets on screen mark the area it reads, and it counts once about a third of that area is the color for several frames in a row.
- 4
Set more than one color and they come in a row, shown as swatches that tick off as you find each one. The same color never comes up twice in a row while the pool has another.
- 5
After the last color the alarm stops and the morning is recorded.
What you can set
- Colors in play: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and pink (red, yellow, green and blue by default).
- Colors in a row: 1 (the default), 2, 3 or 5, or a custom number up to 10.
- Mission Clips (optional, off unless you turn it on): the search is filmed with the back camera for a short clip that stays on your iPhone.
- Try it now: a free rehearsal with your exact settings.
Why the camera won't see your color
Light changes how a camera sees color, so a strongly colored object in good light is always the safe choice. When a color won't register, it is usually one of these:
- Too dark. Dark pixels don't count as any color. Switch a light on or open the curtains.
- Too pale or grayish. A washed-out color reads as gray. A cereal box beats a faded T-shirt. Pink is allowed to be paler than the others.
- Too small. Move closer, so the color fills the area inside the brackets rather than one corner of it.
- Between two colors. A yellowy green or an orangey red may count as neither, because the color bands leave gaps on purpose. Try something closer to a plain red or a plain green.
- Shine. Glare and reflections read as white. Tilt the object or the phone.
If nothing matches after about 45 seconds, the screen offers Math, and the alarm keeps ringing until that is solved.
Color search or Item search?
Both get you up and pointing the phone at your home. Item search asks for particular kinds of things; Color search asks for a color and doesn't care what wears it.
| Compared on | Color search | Item search |
|---|---|---|
| What counts | Anything in the color drawn | A kind of thing: any mug, any shoe |
| How it decides | Measures the colors in the middle of the frame | Apple's image recognition, on the iPhone |
| What you set | Up to 7 colors, 1 to 10 in a row | Your pick of 216 items, 1 to 10 per morning |
| Best when | You want it quick and simple | You want a walk through several rooms |
Free to download for iPhone (iOS 17.6 or later). Setting alarms needs WakeOps Premium, an in-app subscription. Every mission can be tried for free.
Common questions
Why can't I choose white, gray or black?
Every bedroom wall and every dark room would already pass. Only colors you have to go and look for are offered.
Does Color search use AI or the internet?
Neither. It measures the colors of the pixels in the middle of the frame, on your iPhone, so it works offline and does not need to know what the object is.
Can I use it if I'm color blind?
Often, yes: the camera judges the color, so you can point it at things you already know are, say, blue. If some colors are hard for you to tell apart, leave them out of the pool. Color tap is the mission that depends on seeing color, and the app marks it.
