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Alert24

Free alarm

Don't Touch My Phone: the motion alarm

Put your phone on the table, tap Activate, and walk to the counter. If anyone picks it up or moves it, Alert24 beeps, then rings a siren at full volume until you enter your PIN.

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Woman checking her smartphone at a desk with a laptop and breakfast pastries

How the motion alarm works

Don't Touch My Phone is the first tab on the Alert24 dashboard. Tap the big Activate card and a 10-second countdown starts. That is your time to put the phone down and take your hand off it. When the countdown ends the card reads Currently Active and the phone is armed.

From then on the app watches the motion sensor. If the phone is lifted, slid or knocked, a warning beep plays for 5 seconds. If nobody unlocks the phone during the beep, a full-screen alarm appears and the siren starts at maximum volume. It keeps ringing until your PIN, pattern, knock code or fingerprint is entered on that screen.

  • 10-second countdown, so you never trigger it yourself
  • Pre-alarm beep gives you a moment to unlock and cancel
  • Siren at full volume with optional flash and vibration
  • A persistent notification shows that your phone is protected

How to set up the Don't Touch My Phone alarm

You need Alert24 installed with a PIN set. The app asks for the Display over other apps permission during setup; without it the alarm screen cannot appear.

  1. 1

    Open Alert24 and choose the Don't Touch My Phone tab

    It is selected by default when the dashboard opens. Tap the gear icon if you want to adjust sensitivity first, and switch Flash and Vibrate on or off.

  2. 2

    Tap Activate and put the phone down

    The card counts down from 10. Place the phone on the table or desk and let go. If you change your mind, tap the card again during the countdown and nothing is armed.

  3. 3

    Wait for Currently Active

    Once the card says Currently Active, the phone is armed. You can lock the screen; the alarm keeps working with the screen off.

  4. 4

    Stop or disarm it yourself

    If it fires, enter your secret on the alarm screen. To disarm it without an alarm, unlock the phone, open Alert24 and tap the card. Unlocking the phone during the warning beep also cancels the alarm.

Sensitivity slider: from a nudge to a shove

Tap the gear icon on the tab to open the Sensitivity sheet. The slider runs across 40 steps and the default is 32. A higher value means a smaller movement is enough to trigger the alarm. A lower value ignores small bumps and only reacts to the phone actually being picked up.

For a solid desk or a cafe table the default is a good start. On a train seat, a wobbly table or next to a loudspeaker, lower it a few steps so passing vibration does not set it off. The value is saved as you move the slider.

Flash, vibration and your own alarm tone

The siren is only part of it. Each tab has its own switches so the alarm fits the place you are in.

  • Flash

    The camera torch strobes on and off while the siren rings, so the alarm is visible across a dark room or a bar.

  • Vibrate

    The phone vibrates in a steady pattern for the whole alarm, which is hard to hide in a hand or a pocket.

  • Alarm tone

    Pick one of five sirens, any system ringtone or an audio file of your own. See alarm tones and the pre-alarm beep.

Stop it only with your PIN, pattern, knock code or fingerprint

The alarm screen covers the whole display and asks for the same secret you use to open Alert24. There is no cancel button. If the wrong secret is entered the siren keeps ringing, and after the number of wrong attempts you set (1, 2 or 3), the front camera quietly takes a photo.

Because the secret is yours, someone who grabs the phone cannot silence it by tapping around. Choose a PIN you can type fast under stress. Fingerprint unlock can be switched on in the app lock settings if you prefer.

A selfie is taken when the alarm starts

The moment the siren starts, Alert24 takes a photo with the front camera. It is silent and it happens before the person has time to react. The photo is saved with the time, the address if location is allowed, and the label Anti-Motion, so you can filter for it later in the Intruders Pictures gallery.

This needs the camera permission. Photos stay on your phone unless you sign in with Google, in which case they also sync to your own account. More on how photos are stored on the intruder selfie page.

Works with the screen off and without internet

The alarm runs inside a background service, not the app screen, so it keeps going when you would expect an app to stop.

  • The screen can be locked and off; the motion sensor is still read
  • No internet connection is needed to arm, trigger or stop the alarm
  • The siren is raised to full volume even if the phone was on low volume
  • Volume keys can lower the siren a little but never below 60% of maximum
  • If you are on a phone call when the phone is moved, no alarm sounds, so a call is never interrupted

Everyday uses: desk, cafe, bedside, shop counter

Limits worth knowing

  • One-shot arming: after the alarm fires and you stop it, the tab returns to Activate. Arm it again before you walk away again.
  • The siren rings continuously for up to 5 minutes, then goes quiet. The lock screen stays until your secret is entered, and a new movement rings it again.
  • The Display over other apps permission is required. Without it the alarm screen cannot show and no siren plays.
  • Some phones stop background apps aggressively. If the alarm does not fire after a long time, check the battery settings described in the troubleshooting guide.
  • In the free version, when you are online, a short ad may play before the alarm arms.

Don't Touch My Phone alarm: questions

Does the alarm work when the phone is locked?

Yes. Once armed, the screen can be locked and off. Movement still triggers the beep and the siren, and the alarm screen appears over the lock screen.

Can someone stop the alarm by turning the volume down?

Not much. The siren starts at maximum volume, and the volume keys cannot take it below 60% of maximum. Only your PIN, pattern, knock code or fingerprint stops it.

Will it go off from a bump on the table?

It can, if the bump is strong. Lower the sensitivity slider a few steps for busy or wobbly places. The 5-second warning beep also lets you unlock and cancel before the siren starts.

Does it drain the battery?

The motion sensor is read at a normal rate and the alarm only uses the speaker, torch and camera when it fires. Keeping the app excluded from battery optimisation helps it stay armed. See battery and background behaviour.

Is the Don't Touch My Phone alarm free?

Yes. It is free with ads. Premium removes ads and adds Remote Access, but the alarm itself does not change.

How is this different from the anti-pickpocket alarm?

This alarm reacts to movement while the phone lies still somewhere. The anti-pickpocket alarm uses the proximity sensor and reacts when the phone leaves your pocket or bag while you move around.

Put your phone down without worrying about it

Install Alert24, set your PIN and tap Activate before your next coffee. Free on Google Play for Android 7.0 and later.

Get it onGoogle Play