Built an app that locks your dream journal entry 2 minutes after your alarm goes off — because that's actually how long you have

I've been a on-and-off dream journaler for years and the single biggest failure mode is always the same: I wake up, I remember the dream vividly, I think "I'll write it down in a minute" — and then it's gone.

Not faded. Gone. Like it was never there.

There's actual sleep science behind this. Dreams are held in working memory immediately after waking and decay within 2–5 minutes unless actively encoded. Every minute you spend doing anything else — checking your phone, lying there, making coffee — is memory you're losing.

So I built Somnia around that one fact.

How it works:

Set your wake-up alarm inside the app. When the alarm fires, you get a notification that opens directly to a capture screen — no home screen, no navigation, no loading. The 2-minute countdown started the moment the alarm fired.

Write anything. A word, a feeling, a color, a face. The moment you type the first character the timer stops and you have unlimited time to finish.

If 2 minutes pass with nothing written, the day's entry locks. No second chance.

I know that sounds harsh. But I've found the urgency is actually what makes it work. When you know the window is closing, your brain prioritises the memory differently. You reach for it instead of letting it dissolve.

Some things I've noticed since using it myself:

— Even a single word written in the first 30 seconds unlocks more detail than I expected. The act of starting seems to be the thing.

— The dreams I "definitely would have remembered" and didn't write down are gone within the hour. The ones I captured even badly are still retrievable weeks later.

— Streaks matter more than I expected. Missing a day feels like something was actually lost, not just skipped.

It also does pattern recognition across entries over time — recurring symbols, emotional threads, places that keep appearing. But honestly the alarm mechanic is the part I'm most proud of.

It's free to use: dream-journal-b8wl.vercel.app

Would genuinely love feedback from people who take dream journaling seriously. Especially on the 2-minute window — too tight? Too loose? I have a theory it's exactly right but I'm one data point.