Here’s How to Set Your Playlist as Alarm on Android

Your alarm is the first thing you hear every morning, so why settle for a generic beep? Even a favorite song can get old quickly when played on repeat. Using a playlist keeps your routine fresh and makes getting out of bed much easier. Here is how to set a playlist as your alarm on Android.

Why You Should Set a Playlist as an Alarm on Android

Before we dive into the setup, it’s worth asking: why a playlist instead of just one song? Using your playlist as an alarm isn’t just a gimmick – it offers several practical benefits to help you wake up better. Here are the most useful ones:

• Your brain can get used to the same tune and filter it out, making you sleep through the alarm. With a playlist, the tunes change whenever the alarm goes off, forcing the brain to identify each tune.
• Most people who use their favorite song as an alarm often end up developing a Pavlovian hatred for the track. With a playlist, you can keep switching between your favorite tunes to avoid associating any specific tune with the alarm.
• You can curate a wake-up arc by starting an alarm with gentle tracks and switching to higher-tempo songs gradually
• If you are waking up for a specific goal, like working out, photography, competitive gaming, etc., you can curate your playlist with motivational tracks around your goal.

If you are ready to set a playlist as your alarm on Android, here are two ways to do it:

Setting a Local Playlist as an Alarm on Android

If you want to use a local playlist as an alarm, you’ll need an alarm clock app that supports a playlist as an alarm tone. For this purpose, I find Turbo Alarm most reliable as it’s free and offers two reliable methods to use a local list of tracks as the alarm. You can either import a playlist (.m3u file) or choose a folder with your tunes.

Create a Playlist to Use With Turbo Alarm

To use a dedicated playlist, you’ll need to save it on your phone as a .m3u or .m3u8 file. If your music player app supports exporting playlists, then you can create this file using it. Otherwise, download the Music Playlist Manage app to create a new playlist from the tracks saved on your phone.

After installing, open the Music Playlist Manage app, tap on the dots menu at the top-right corner, and select Create Blank Playlist.

Afterward, search and add tracks to this playlist by selecting each track and then selecting Add to playlist. Once the playlist is created, tap on the main menu in the top-left corner and select Export (m3u Format).

Once exported, open the Turbo Alarm app, tap on Add alarm, and select your alarm time. In alarm settings, tap on Melody and select Playlist. The app will automatically search and show you your playlist to select. That’s it, now your full playlist will play when the alarm goes off.

Create a Songs Folder to Use as an Alarm

If you don’t want to create a dedicated playlist, you can also just copy/move your tunes to a folder, which will effectively work like a playlist for the alarm. Open the file manager app on your phone and move to Internal storage. Here, tap on the dots menu in the top-right corner and select Add new folder to create a new folder.

Now, just move the songs you want to play as an alarm to this folder by selecting the songs and selecting Move to or Copy to from the dots menu.

Afterward, create a new alarm in the Turbo Alarm app, and in the Melody option, select the Songs folder option to select this folder. The folder will now work like a playlist to play your songs when the alarm goes off.

Set Your Spotify Playlist as an Alarm on Android

If you don’t want to use a local playlist, you can also use your Spotify playlists as an alarm on Android. To do so, you’ll have to use the Google Clock app, which is the default on many Android devices. Even if your phone doesn’t have it, you can always download it. You also need to make sure the Spotify app is on your phone, and you are logged into it.

Open the Google Clock app, create a new alarm, and tap on Sound in alarm settings. Here, move to the Spotify section and tap on the search button in the bottom-right corner. Search for your playlist name here, and your personal playlist will be at the top. Select it, and it will be set as your alarm.

With these methods, not only does your phone play a new song with every alarm ring, but it will also change the song when you snooze the alarm. If you want to use a playlist because you are a heavy sleeper, check out these annoying alarm clocks as well.