This week on Product Fridays, we’re trying something new: a deep dive. We focus on a single product and debate whether it’s worth keeping on our phones.

First up: Rise, the sleep and energy-tracking app that promises to turn anyone into a morning person—whether you like it or not.

We break down what makes Rise different from other sleep apps (spoiler: it’s not just the graphs), how it gamifies your sleep debt and energy potential, and whether it actually works. Along the way, we compare our numbers, debate alarm strategies, and explore why some of the app’s early guesses about our sleep schedules were… deeply cursed.

Plus:

* McGill’s daughter vs. the Rise smart alarm

* Why passive sleep tracking is still messy

* The joy of a good dopamine loop

* What Rise could learn from Flighty

* Why you should cancel just to get the 50% discount

What app is worthy of our next case study? Reply to this email or comment on Substack to tell us!

Happy Friday,

The Andrews

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit productfridays.substack.com