Good Alarm Software? - General Topics

I was wanting to know if anyone has come across some alarm sofware for WM5 that fits most of this criteria:
1) One hand operation (WHY does the default alarm have acres of blank space and a tiny time selector?)
2) Lightweight (don't want to know the time in China or 15 skinnable clocks - just an alarm). Plus the ability to have a direct shortcut to the alarms setting section!!
3) Ability to turn on the volume before the alarm goes off (alarms no good if I have my phone on silent) **important!!
So hard to find good alarm software for Windows Mobile
Cheers!

http://www.burroak.on.ca/
i use pAlarm.
I don't know how you'll get round point 3 though

google for AlarmClock ver. 0.03

google pTravelAlarm
Very good 1 handed operation, just does alarms so it's lightweight, but it's not free.. but worth it...
I'd be using it right now but there's a bug that causes a notification error at every softreset. but other than that, it's perfect.

Apmemo is good and free.
Ptravelalarm is 3MB. ( I saw some reviewer said "this small program ...", how can 3MB alarm software is small?)

cellneuron said:
Apmemo is good and free.
Ptravelalarm is 3MB. ( I saw some reviewer said "this small program ...", how can 3MB alarm software is small?)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure the it's not just a 3mb installer? It does come with lots of alarm wavs which are quite large and as for the memory footprint, well, i don't remember since it's not on my device anymore...

mr_yellow said:
Are you sure the it's not just a 3mb installer? It does come with lots of alarm wavs which are quite large and as for the memory footprint, well, i don't remember since it's not on my device anymore...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just installed and checked in my ppc devices. The ptravelalarm.exe itself is 1.9MB.

i am using mort player ,it has good buit in alarm tool with mp3 support.
PPC-DOC

Try googling for PocketWakeup. I think it works really well and will sound the alarm even if your phone is on silent.
Neekos

Related

Modifying Alarm Clock Script in Windows Mobile 6.1

I've been modifying the alarm clock script in previous versions of Windows Mobile by modifying Script in HKEY_CURRENT_USER/ControlPanel/Sounds/Clock. Generally, I change it so the alarm clock keeps repeating and never goes off.
In Windows Mobile 6.1, whenever i modify anything on the alarm clock page, it overwrites the script I saved there. This didn't happen in previous versions of Windows Mobile. Does anyone else have this problem? Anyone have any suggestions other than using 3rd party apps?
I was also disappointed at how lame the WM6 alarm clock app is. First of all, it only lets you assign sounds in the root windows folder, secondly, it only accepts .wav files, lastly, it doesn't play the sound continuously and it seems to randomly pick how many times it will loop the sound.
It's amazing how much Microsoft CAN'T do with almost unlimited financial resources. What are those guys up in Redmond doing all day? Playing golf?
Alarm
Spoon alarm ! Try it !

[Final Release] JustStable - Let's find the bugs!

XIP: 21041
SYS: 21042
PocketIE: 21043
http://justkitchen.info/JustROMs/
Current Build: JustStable - Final
For more information about my ROMs, you can visit: http://thewingster.com/ivanmmj.aspx
This is to keep track of the bugs in the ROM. So far, I've squashed most of the bugs I've noticed but I just ported a whole new build, so there might be all new bugs to deal with.
Current Reported Bugs:
Themes are missing
Lack of Splash theme
Fix the double click to choose weather on HTCHome
Fixed Reported Bugs:
Change the "Browser Choice" to only the Wing keyboard shortcut and not the the Opera shortcut. Remove it and the Mortscipts from the Herald builds (as it is no longer needed without that Browser Choice
Removed proxy hack that was causing problems with HTCHome's weather.
Cabs won't delete now.
Fixed the VGA screens. Now they're QVGA again.
Suggestions:
Use older version of ArcSoft.
Update version of Jbed.
Remove ICS Control
Go back to the old task icons. Or at least change the Edge icon.
Add notepad with open with.
Add HTC Audio Manager
Yes Ivan your Back. Looking Forward to this rom.
Ivan if we ever get android running on our wings, you should be the one who makes JustEMPTY...lol a super duper clean rom made for running android
P.S. You should join the chatroom hotnsteamy once in a while.
I've thought about it... I can easily make a SUPER crippled ROM with nothing but just what you need to boot android and I can easily make it hook and autorun android.
Nice Rom Ivan
Hey Ivan -- downloaded and using your JustHacked14v3_-_LZX_Wing_Edition.7z and I love it! Very fast, Very Stable.
4/5/09
Yay nice to see something new from you =]] Cant wait =]]
Awesome! I would switch. Running Just2Clean right now, and love it (other than randomly losing 2mb of memory every hour) lolz.
Can't wait!
I'd probably use it. Much like you, I too have noticed that just about every newer ROM has some sort of quirk with it. Sometimes big, sometimes almost unnoticeable. Most are tolerable, but other times you'll run into a ROM where MMS doesn't work at all, or where threaded messaging doesn't work, or the State Menu has an intrusive white block in it, or where the volume control bugs out, or where the preinstalled version of Jbed is unstable, etcetera. It would be nice to have a ROM that is wholly bug free, but I would imagine that it would be hard since I assume that's a goal of just about all chefs.
I'm interested ivan, will be waiting! Thanks!
dumpydooby said:
I'd probably use it. Much like you, I too have noticed that just about every newer ROM has some sort of quirk with it. Sometimes big, sometimes almost unnoticeable. Most are tolerable, but other times you'll run into a ROM where MMS doesn't work at all, or where threaded messaging doesn't work, or the State Menu has an intrusive white block in it, or where the volume control bugs out, or where the preinstalled version of Jbed is unstable, etcetera. It would be nice to have a ROM that is wholly bug free, but I would imagine that it would be hard since I assume that's a goal of just about all chefs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, the good thing is that my ROMs are smaller and therefore, there is less stuff to go wrong, and I can focus all my attention on making the smaller set of features work properly. ^_^
ivanmmj said:
I've thought about it... I can easily make a SUPER crippled ROM with nothing but just what you need to boot android and I can easily make it hook and autorun android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes this is in the near future...even though i have a G1 I would love to run android on my wing. Auto run android!!
But I also want to beta test JustStable so ivan I officially made myself your beta tester.
Very Interested
Have been running your other ROMs for a while would love to try out the JustStable
ivanmmj said:
There are a few bugs here and there that just bug me so I have decided to build a new ROM. Something more updated than my older ROMs but stable and with the apps that I use. If and when I finish it, I might release it here if anyone is interested.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm interested. Here's the flexibility I've been looking for. Fairly minimal, clean ROM, but with optimization that could allow me to add/install and run beautifully the following:
(what I'd call my "Personal Configuration")
(a) TouchFlo 2D interface
(b) M2DC customizer for TouchFlo
or
(c) iFonz -- since there will be a completely new release in March, and possibly widgets, so it may become again my favorite navigation tool.
Also, for me must-haves, or I can add these and still get optimal performance:
(d) Large Windows Start Menu, as well as all other menus (this was done in Microlab's (PDAViet's) latest Herald ROM), and I shouted "finally! Hallelujah"
(e) WkTask (in English) -- or some other simple, single-action "close this, switch to this" Task Manager ...vs all the multi-columned default stuff that takes 3 steps to do anything.
(f) the latest Total Commander (ideally, I would want this to replace the limited-value "File Explorer" as the defult
(g) S2U2
(h) a way more decent default dialer -- ideally like supbro's iDialer -- (and even more ideally with every single trace of Windows miniature default interface revised for finger-touch control)
*** Of all the annoyances of a Windows Mobile phone, from my first T-Mobile MDA, thru my current T-Mobile WING, it has been the terrible user experience of simply calling people, and answering the phone when people call me. Between the lack of detection for when phone is to ear to lock all functions and prevent accidental touch-screen activations); to the pathetically byzantine way of simply ADDING A CONTACT, and providing the MOST USED FIELDS *first*, like Name, work phone, home phone, mobile, without having to use a microscope or scroll way down to find a field; to the totally inconsistent methods of EDITING a contact depending on which screen you're on in the interface; the inexplicable confusion of an incoming caller "Save to Contacts" function that then makes you press "new contact" or "blank contact" whatever it is -- instead of "just frikkin add it as it came across with caller ID, and I can edit it later"... when you add all of this together, it's a stoneage experience of using a phone. If Microsft fixed nothing else, except the phone/contacts/history entire interface, they'd eat into iPhone sales.
(i) Something I would really really love: The ability to get WIndows "Pictures and Video" Folder to go to a designated folder I choose for where I store photos, vs every time taking me to Device > My Documents > My Photos, making me then select "Storage Card", then Storage Card again because Windows assume you want to use their multi-layered file-pathing... That would make me 2nd most happy, after having "phone that just works".
(j) Single-tap WIFI ON- WIFI OFF "program link"-- i have to always add a cab file that does this
(k) OperaMini, with that script that opens the javabed and the app built in as the DEFAULT browser. Honestly, I wish I never ever ever had to use IE, but alas I am forced to for various functions even after setting a default browser.
THINGS I WOULD PREFER BE REMOVED WITHIN ROM:
(a) Games. I can add them if I want
(b) Windows Media Player. Seems almost everyone uses HTC's Audio Manager..... (Me, I am liking much more the newer "Nitrogen" player) ... But I would much prefer Audio Manager as default, and WMP availa as a cab file if someone really wants it.
FURTHER THINGS I THINK OF AS REQUIRED, but others have different preferences:
(a) PCM keyboard, with decent selection of skins built in... I think one of the best ever is from "2many" or "2manyphones", but there are several that are large enough for finger-tapping.
======================
Everyone has their fav's, but I am answering with this detail because I have no idea right now which ROMS can best support and provide me this configuration that I deem, for me, to be Minimally Required. Right now I am using thanhy25's new herald 6.1 ROM touchflo 2D... which has most of what I want, and a bunch of stuff I don't want.
I hope this is useful, ivan. Can you tell me re: your CURRENT ROM LINEUP, is this more or less accurate as to the OBJECTIVES of your Roms?
(1) Just2Clean -- for people who have very particular needs or want to having nothing other than what they put on their phones
(2) Just For Me (Just Me?") -- not really a ROM, but a ROM Kitchen that helps people build onto a base ROM, their own catalog of favorite apps etc.
so, "Just Stable" would be WHAT, relative to the 2 above?
Thank you ---
Go go Ivan, eveyone would love to use your rom.
quicksite said:
(a) TouchFlo 2D interface
(b) M2DC customizer for TouchFlo
or
(c) iFonz -- since there will be a completely new release in March, and possibly widgets, so it may become again my favorite navigation tool.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't particularly like M2D because of its bugs when relating to landscape support. iFonz, I never really used.
quicksite said:
(d) Large Windows Start Menu, as well as all other menus (this was done in Microlab's (PDAViet's) latest Herald ROM), and I shouted "finally! Hallelujah"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Definitively, a must have.
quicksite said:
(e) WkTask (in English) -- or some other simple, single-action "close this, switch to this" Task Manager ...vs all the multi-columned default stuff that takes 3 steps to do anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't used it, how's the memory usage on it? Looks pretty useful.
quicksite said:
(f) the latest Total Commander (ideally, I would want this to replace the limited-value "File Explorer" as the defult
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MUST have, but replacing the built-in one isn't always an option, we will see.
quicksite said:
(g) S2U2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How's the ram usage these days? S2U2 has always been a memory hungry app.
quicksite said:
(h) a way more decent default dialer -- ideally like supbro's iDialer -- (and even more ideally with every single trace of Windows miniature default interface revised for finger-touch control)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The dialer is the main reason why I decided to cook again, so I'm open to ideas. I had a modified dialer that looked great but had more bugs that I could count and it was driving me insane. I'm going to try subbro's iDialer and see how I like it.
quicksite said:
*** Of all the annoyances of a Windows Mobile phone, from my first T-Mobile MDA, thru my current T-Mobile WING, it has been the terrible user experience of simply calling people, and answering the phone when people call me. Between the lack of detection for when phone is to ear to lock all functions and prevent accidental touch-screen activations); to the pathetically byzantine way of simply ADDING A CONTACT, and providing the MOST USED FIELDS *first*, like Name, work phone, home phone, mobile, without having to use a microscope or scroll way down to find a field; to the totally inconsistent methods of EDITING a contact depending on which screen you're on in the interface; the inexplicable confusion of an incoming caller "Save to Contacts" function that then makes you press "new contact" or "blank contact" whatever it is -- instead of "just frikkin add it as it came across with caller ID, and I can edit it later"... when you add all of this together, it's a stoneage experience of using a phone. If Microsft fixed nothing else, except the phone/contacts/history entire interface, they'd eat into iPhone sales.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, this is all built-in code, so unless you know of a contact app replaacement that can do this well, I would to write an app from scratch to do so.
quicksite said:
(i) Something I would really really love: The ability to get WIndows "Pictures and Video" Folder to go to a designated folder I choose for where I store photos, vs every time taking me to Device > My Documents > My Photos, making me then select "Storage Card", then Storage Card again because Windows assume you want to use their multi-layered file-pathing... That would make me 2nd most happy, after having "phone that just works".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good idea, I'll have to do some research on this one.
quicksite said:
(j) Single-tap WIFI ON- WIFI OFF "program link"-- i have to always add a cab file that does this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean like a shortcut in the program menu instead of the comm manager? Or do you mean instead of a double click the first time to initiate the driver? (Which I can fix at the cost of some RAM.)
quicksite said:
(k) OperaMini, with that script that opens the javabed and the app built in as the DEFAULT browser. Honestly, I wish I never ever ever had to use IE, but alas I am forced to for various functions even after setting a default browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's one of my unreleased ROM's features. When you press the "IE" shortcut on the keyboard of the Wing and the HTC Atlas, it opens up OperaMini. The only thing is that it doesn't take in links to sites, it errors out on them. This might still be doable.
quicksite said:
THINGS I WOULD PREFER BE REMOVED WITHIN ROM:
(a) Games. I can add them if I want
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All my ROMs lack games built in. They're a waste of space for a lot of people.
quicksite said:
(b) Windows Media Player. Seems almost everyone uses HTC's Audio Manager..... (Me, I am liking much more the newer "Nitrogen" player) ... But I would much prefer Audio Manager as default, and WMP availa as a cab file if someone really wants it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WMP is required for the ring tones to work properly. If I can figure out where the dependencies come from, this might be doable.
quicksite said:
(a) PCM keyboard, with decent selection of skins built in... I think one of the best ever is from "2many" or "2manyphones", but there are several that are large enough for finger-tapping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, the author of all the PCM software does not like cooks using his software in ROMs that are released to the wild...
quicksite said:
Everyone has their fav's, but I am answering with this detail because I have no idea right now which ROMS can best support and provide me this configuration that I deem, for me, to be Minimally Required. Right now I am using thanhy25's new herald 6.1 ROM touchflo 2D... which has most of what I want, and a bunch of stuff I don't want.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was good info, though.
quicksite said:
I hope this is useful, ivan. Can you tell me re: your CURRENT ROM LINEUP, is this more or less accurate as to the OBJECTIVES of your Roms?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure thing.
quicksite said:
(1) Just2Clean -- for people who have very particular needs or want to having nothing other than what they put on their phones
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stripped down to only install what you want and need.
quicksite said:
(2) Just For Me (Just Me?") -- not really a ROM, but a ROM Kitchen that helps people build onto a base ROM, their own catalog of favorite apps etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even more stripped down but instead of providing various versions, I provided a whole kitchen for people to make their own versions.
quicksite said:
so, "Just Stable" would be WHAT, relative to the 2 above?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just as the name says, stability is the key. I want something usable, stable, lacking of bugs and that I won't be annoyed with. One major example is the contact issue you mentioned, I also find it annoying.
Wow - something I rarely see at XDA! Thorough replies; thank you. Since this is just a wish list, there's one other annoyance: I'd like to have a shortcut link to "Remove Programs", so I don't have to dig into Settings > System > to get it. And a cherry on top would be a layperson's access to any setting control to make it a shortcut link, like Backlight for example. If I'm not mistaken, this capability is partially there in Quick Menu -- another app I love, but it wouldn't make the cut for a minimal ROM.
ivanmmj said:
I don't particularly like M2D because of its bugs when relating to landscape support. iFonz, I never really used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Understood. Besides, people are all picky about their fav app launcher.
WkTask (in English) -- or some other simple, single-action "close this, switch to this" Task Manager ...vs all the multi-columned default stuff that takes 3 steps to do anything. Haven't used it, how's the memory usage on it? Looks pretty useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not technical enough to know. I can only go by how efficient it is to have 5 icons to the right of the Windows Start icon, indicating 5 apps open, and maybe they are Total Commander, OperaMini, iContact, Notes, and my music player -- and to switch apps i tap on the icon; instant change. If I tap and hold, a context menu comes up (like a normal right-click), and i can close that app, or set prefs for that app -- such as "always hide this app" etc. It's also got a slidable adjuster of the total width of the open-apps icons showing, with a "continued" right-arrow appearing when you move to the left cutting off any icon (very Windows task-bar-like). Sorry I don't have a tangible answer, but I'll shoot a video clip of my using it so you can see its responsiveness.
(f) the latest Total Commander (ideally, I would want this to replace the limited-value "File Explorer" as the defult
MUST have, but replacing the built-in one isn't always an option, we will see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that was just another cherry on top dream. I just remove it from my start-menu shortcuts so i don't have to even see it.
(g) S2U2 . How's the ram usage these days? S2U2 has always been a memory hungry app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's an indicator, PDAviet (Microlab's) latest ROM chose S2U2 v. 1_18 which you can see on A_C's change log it's pretty far down the list of recent versions.
(h) a way more decent default dialer -- ideally like supbro's iDialer -- The dialer is the main reason why I decided to cook again, so I'm open to ideas. I had a modified dialer that looked great but had more bugs that I could count and it was driving me insane. I'm going to try supbro's iDialer and see how I like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worth noting is that Supbro's got some pretty tight integration now with iContact + iDialer, they both call each other, and he's also added now "Green Button", which, like hard-button remapping apps, assigns iDialer to the Green Call button, which makes for some pretty seamlessintegration. And his iDialer works perfectly with the other strain of iContact, Burt's Edition. What I've had to do, as my best workaround solution for the Windows built in dialer, to handle all the in-call functions, is use this: Snachez's "iPhydle" skin atop Paul De Groot's Minimal Dialer -- which seems to me to be a replacement dialer. But when I asked Supbro a month or so ago, he said "Paul's Minimal Dialer is not a true replacement dialer, but rather just a skin. That's not the read Paul's post, but again, I'm not a coder so .... ??
(and even more ideally with every single trace of Windows miniature default interface revised for finger-touch control)
Unfortunately, this is all built-in code, so unless you know of a contact app replacement that can do this well, I would (have) to write an app from scratch to do so.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never seen any replacement app that handles "add new contact" and all those pieces. Why hasn't HTC written one? They're slowly but surely replacing usage of many Windows Mobile apps, but that's beyond my pay-grade to understand.
the ability to get Windows "Pictures and Video" Folder to go to a designated folder I choose for where I store photos, vs every time taking me to Device > My Documents > My Photos, making me then select "Storage Card", then Storage Card again because Windows assumes you want to use their multi-layered file-pathing... Good idea, I'll have to do some research on this one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does HTC's "Album" solve that in their implementation? A_C has been steadily improving "S2V" (slide to view), but it doesn't alleviate that Windows problem, and i'm guessing it's too bloated for your lean standards. ... A related note: in "Microlab's" (PDAviet's) latest ROM, he's added a control setting that lets users assign which folder S2U2 should go to for Wallpapers, so he's somehow broken apart one of the setting controls A_C uses within both S2U2 and S2V... and the photo folder selector functionality is some subset of A_C's S2V app, but as far as I know, Microlab has not cooked in the whole S2V app. All of which is just my speculations that those 2 people would be good sources for code solution ideas. I don't know how freely people share code, but i know that's a core value of XDA, and I know for fact that A_C and Supbro collaborate and share solutions. Not sure this is helpful, but just trying to compile all I know of "what's out there right now".
You mean like a shortcut in the program menu instead of the comm manager? Or do you mean instead of a double click the first time to initiate the driver? (Which I can fix at the cost of some RAM.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Either in shortcut menu, or a dedicated icon/link for those who use app launchers (I would use it in TouchFLO or ifonz). There's a cab called AE Wifi Trigger which accomplishes this perfectly. It switches on WIFI, (some people complain "but it notifies you, I don't like notifications"...) and then promptly pops up the wireless networks found in range. Tap it again and it turns wifi off. Honestly, if I were information-designing Windows Mobile, I'd have ditched the Comm Manager long time ago, replacing it with the single function applets that just do what you want without drilling down, then having to select, then having to open settings. For joining a wifi network, that's 4-actions to accomplish what this particular trigger does in 1-tap. (Reminder to self: please refrain from bashing MS)
(k) OperaMini, with that script that opens the javabed and the app built in as the DEFAULT browser. Honestly, I wish I never ever ever had to use IE, but alas I am forced to for various functions even after setting a default browser.That's one of my unreleased ROM's features. When you press the "IE" shortcut on the keyboard of the Wing and the HTC Atlas, it opens up OperaMini.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds great!
The only thing is that it doesn't take in links to sites, it errors out on them. This might still be doable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not clear what you mean. Are you referring to OperaMini's inability to launch a "Favorite" at the Windows OS level, and have it go to that site?
WMP is required for the ring tones to work properly. If I can figure out where the dependencies come from, this might be doable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see. I didn't think of that
Unfortunately, the author of all the PCM software does not like cooks using his software in ROMs that are released to the wild...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I respect that. installing as a cab works fine anyway, for me. ... But speaking of PCM, I forgot who his "competitor" is for finger-controllable calendar -- the people who make "ThumbCal"... That app now has a fee, right? I do like it, and *some* kind of calendar is essential. Too bad once again MS hasn't done anything to improve theirs in years, if ever.
I so look forward to what you cook up. Thanks for being patient with verbose style. Most of the Herald people tell me to get to the point.
oh, one last thing: Not sure you consider Google Maps essential or not. But about a month ago Google released "My Maps" for their mobile app, replicating most functions of the desktop web version -- but only for Android so far. But this is cool -- The Developer Project Lead for the whole Google Maps line lives in my neighborhood, and she was telling me she was hopeful that people would use the API to port versions of the Android version of "My Maps" to Windows Mobile. I told her about XDA-dev and she was thrilled with the prospect of someone at XDA dev porting it to Windows Mobile. And as a footnote to a footnote, the designer of the G1 phone also is in my neighborhood; he was responsible for the Android user interface as well as aspects of the T-Mobile phone design as well. Just in case anyone reading here is part of the team at XDA seeking to port Android to Wing.
Can't wait!
Sounds great! I will try it! Shure!
P.S.: of course I would like to see a kitchen of this rom Just a Joke!
Status Update:
So far, I've got the following running FAST and Stable:
XIP: 20924
SYS: 19588.1.1.2 (I'm having some problems porting the 20924 SYS.)
Once I get the SYS properly ported and the OS 100% stable, I'll start working on the little details. So far, I did replace the dialer for something more stable. The new dialer has a easier "add to contants" on it, too.
That's excellent news! I was wondering where you'd gone, then it hit me. "He went to work on it". that's great re an improved way to "add new contact" from a phone call interface.
Good luck on the project!

Tick! A convenient timer!

Hi everybody !
After a year of lurking, i've published my first app !
It's called Tick! and it's a simple timer but i've worked hard on making it easy to launch.
Since there is no wheel selector on the sdk, I've developed one to set the number of minutes wanted. With three clicks, you can launch a timer to remaind you that your pastas or your eggs are ready !
Your comments are welcome !
Since I'm new on the forum, I'm currently not allowed to post external links, so if you want to try it, search for Tick! on the market or SlideMe. I will put images, links and QR-Code as soon as i will be allowed !
RabugenTom
Nice app. Any plans on releasing the source
Any chance for an APK for those of us without data?
Nice
Good Work Buddy works perfectly on Xperia X10i
Thanks for the replies ! I've added the apk posted on the market.
I'm working on an improved version !
Agreed, Great work RabugenTom. Love the custom wheel selection.
Have to admit, though, I'm dying to have multiple timers. I'm not sure off the top of my head how they would fit in with your snazzy countdown timeline, but I'm sure it could be done.
+1 for release of the source
Love the app... Mightve been nice if it worked with 30sec increments as well but that might just be me, and there are other more robust timer apps for when you need that i guess.
One thing I noticed though... If the app is open and showing on the screen (IE - not in the background while working on something else or on one of the home screens), Tapping the app notification (in the notifications pane) will "reopen" the apps interface, and this can be done multiple times.
Basically you end up with multiple instances of the same timer... So if youre looking to go back to whatever was open before - home screen or other - by pressing the back button, youll just close the last instance you "opened" via the notification, taking you back to the previous instance of that same timer, and so on until you reach the first one that was opened when you started the app.
It doesnt seem to affect the functionality of the app in any way that ive seen, but it is rather odd.
Sort of like tapping the notification calls on the wrong "show" function, opening a new window rather than un-hiding the original.
Thanks for the feedbacks !
I'm working on an improved version with pause mode, multiple timers and 30s increments. I will maybe release the source later, after a lot of cleaning !
For the notifications, it's the behavior of android which works by intents. Theses are sort of messages send to applications. Intents depends on something they call Context. This is very powerful since you can launch (or do whatever you want to) an application in different ways, and the behavior of the application can depend on the intent. For example, when you launch an application from the launcher on the home screen, you actually send an intent to the application.
In the Tick! case, when you click on the notification, you send an intent to bring back to foreground (if hidden) or relaunch (if closed) the application GUI (which is different from the counting "engine" which is a background process called Service). The intent sent from the notification is different from the one you used to launch it, thats why it relaunch the GUI because the system thinks it is a different context (which is the case).
You can try it : launch from the launcher, launch a timer, go back to the home screen. Now, the GUI is no more in foreground. If you open the notification bar an click on the notification it will relaunch the GUI as expected, and if you continue to click on it again, it will do nothing (as expected). That's because the second time you launched the app, you did it by sending an intent from the notificiation bar, which is different from the one from the launcher.
Now, i don't find this behavior very annoying, and I don't want to write 100 lines of code to handle differents cases! A trivial solution may exist, but I'm too novice with Android to look at it. If someone knows this easy solution, it will be a pleasure to implement it !
Very nice timer. However I have found two problems:
1. When selecting the notification tone, "Default" plays my ringtone when previewing, but when used for real it plays the default notification sound instead.
2. I used Tick for a five minute countdown several hours ago, and afterwards I exited the program and cleared the notification, but it still prevented my phone from sleeping all these hours, draining the battery severely. I had to use a process killer to get my phone to sleep.
Do you really need to keep the phone from sleeping, even during the countdown? A timer is just an alarm with a countdown, and alarms work even when the phone is sleeping. You just have to update the progress every time the phone wakes up. Right?
Hi,
1-I will look on the notification problem. It is quite strange since it always worked for me. Note that the parameter are set for the notification at the launch of the counter. Every change you make will affect only new countdowns. When you exit the app, it always save the last parameters, even made during a countdown, and restore them at a relaunch. So it is strange, and since i've improved again the counting engine, I hope this will be solved in the coming release.
2-You're right, I've found conditions when the wake-lock is not released at the end of the countdown. It's set now. However, the wake-lock requested is partial and does only concern the CPU, not the screen. I've tested again your version on my unplugged G2 and it behave just well.
The CPU is required to fire an alarm even in sleep mode. Thats because i don't use the alarm service of the device which only check every new minute if there is something to do.
And when it's in sleep mode, only a tiny service is counting. The GUI is stopped and it's memory given back.
May I ask what model of phone you use?
RabugenTom said:
May I ask what model of phone you use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using an HTC Desire.
I've just added here (and on the market) the version 1.3 which resolves a lot of issues (for exemple, the service exits as soon as it's no more used, thanks to bugmenever) and adds a pause mode (long click on the button)
RabugenTom said:
Now, i don't find this behavior very annoying, and I don't want to write 100 lines of code to handle differents cases! A trivial solution may exist, but I'm too novice with Android to look at it. If someone knows this easy solution, it will be a pleasure to implement it !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im fairly certain there is something simple out there to handle this, but as opposed to you being novice with android, i have 0 experience programming for it. and youre right, its not THAT annoying, and certainly not worth most your work time at this point.
Happy to hear about all those plans though! look forward to seeing them in action
keep up the good work!

Smarter Alarm - Wake up to info being read to you

Hi everyone,
This is Edward, developer of Car Locator. I just soft-launched my latest app and I wanted to tap this wonderful community to help me test it out and gather feedback before I start promoting it.
The app is called "Smarter Alarm". Basically, instead of waking up to a blaring sound in the morning, Smarter Alarm will read customizable information to you, like the morning's weather, stock prices, headline news, sports scores, your friends' birthdays and more. It's similar to Iron Man's "Jarvis" alarm clock.
I'll be adding more feeds in future updates, but I wanted to gauge interest before putting in the time =)
I'd really appreciate any bug reports, feature requests, and improvements you might have! If you can find any verifiable bugs, I'll happily reward you with a free copy of the full version of any of my other apps: "Car Locator", "Copy Paste It" and "Screenshot It".
Heres the market link: market://details?id=com.edwardkim.android.smarteralarm
Thanks!
p.s. The app is also entered in Verizon's VDC Power your app contest under the "information" category. Please vote for me! (poweryourappcontest.com/Protected/ApplicationListVote.aspx)
Sounds like a great idea! Ill keep an eye out
Sent from outerspace
I think its a great idea, but instead of voice, maybe an option to have music (or anything else playing) and instead have the text on your screen. Because currently the voice is a bit unpleasant to listen to
Hmm, interesting. I'll give it a try.
Pretty good once you install a decent voice. However, there is a big omission in features. It only supports one alarm time for every day.
Add the ability to configure a different alarm based on the day of the week. For example: Monday-5am alarm, Tuesday-6:30am alarm, Wednesday-7am alarm, etc.
Also, add the option to play user configurable music in the background while the voice is reading. Then it will be amazing. If the music volume is configurable independently of the voice, then it will be SUPERB. You only need to support a basic format like mp3 or something, no need for every format support....
A dream feature is to have the voice read like it is now BUT the app would also pick a RANDOM song from your music library and play it in the background. It will be different each time. But that's stretching it too far. Add music and different alarms for different days of the week and this thing will be irresistable.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
EDIT: Also, add in the description 1 or 2 suggestions as to what voices it sounds best with. I had to do trial and error with quite a few to get it to be decent and they were all paid apps that I had to then refund till I find one I like lol. Adding a suggested voice can help users a lot.
}{Alienz}{ said:
Pretty good once you install a decent voice. However, there is a big omission in features. It only supports one alarm time for every day.
Add the ability to configure a different alarm based on the day of the week. For example: Monday-5am alarm, Tuesday-6:30am alarm, Wednesday-7am alarm, etc.
Also, add the option to play user configurable music in the background while the voice is reading. Then it will be amazing. If the music volume is configurable independently of the voice, then it will be SUPERB. You only need to support a basic format like mp3 or something, no need for every format support....
A dream feature is to have the voice read like it is now BUT the app would also pick a RANDOM song from your music library and play it in the background. It will be different each time. But that's stretching it too far. Add music and different alarms for different days of the week and this thing will be irresistable.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
EDIT: Also, add in the description 1 or 2 suggestions as to what voices it sounds best with. I had to do trial and error with quite a few to get it to be decent and they were all paid apps that I had to then refund till I find one I like lol. Adding a suggested voice can help users a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your suggestions! Multiple alarms is definitely a feature that I'll be adding soon. I'm just getting started =).
Can you recommend to me some voices that you think are good?
Thanks for this fantastic app!
So far i've found that it works great with SVOX Classic British English Voice.
A few suggestions that were not mentioned:
Statusbar icon when alarm is enabled.
Alarm track/tune play for a configurable time before reading starts.
User configurable RSS feeds.
Enable Wifi/Data before alarm start and disable after completion (may be reaching but would be cool still).
Device: Samsung Galaxy S
tried it on my htc desire. Although the app is quite nice, however the lock screen went missing once this application is install, and lock screen is restored once the app was uninstall.
Hey guys, have you ever heard something about WakeVoice ?
It's exactly the same things but with vocal recognition to ! (Jarvis....)
Here is the XDA thread : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=743915
RMonst3r said:
Thanks for this fantastic app!
So far i've found that it works great with SVOX Classic British English Voice.
A few suggestions that were not mentioned:
Statusbar icon when alarm is enabled.
Alarm track/tune play for a configurable time before reading starts.
User configurable RSS feeds.
Enable Wifi/Data before alarm start and disable after completion (may be reaching but would be cool still).
Device: Samsung Galaxy S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
User configurable RSS feeds is a DREAM feature for me as well. And the enable Wi-Fi Data would be important as I have things such as JuiceDefender which switch them off when not in use. Specifically...turning Wi-FI ON would be the most important one since where you need an alarm, you will likely be at your house and you will likely have wi-fi there that you use everyday.
So I suppose if I had to rate features it in order of important it would go like:
1. Configurable alarm time for different days of the week.
2. Turn Wi-Fi (or data) one minute prior to alarm going off. Make a trigger that checks if there is connectivity 1 min in advance and only enable the wifi if the trigger says there is no internet
3. Music in the background. Configurable in volume and content, meaning you can select what tune to play while the voice is reading stuff.
4. RSS feeds. YOU choose the feeds and news sites the alarm will read.
5. Randomize the background music so that it's different on different days or it randomly picks a song to play in the background-that way it will sound like you're listening to the radio only it's playing YOUR favorite music and telling you only stuff YOU care about.
Voices:
SVOX Classic British
SVOX Classic US Grace
Loquendo Susan
All 3 choices work pretty nice with the program. They are not like human voices but they are at least 5-10 times better than the default Android voice and WELL worth it. Hint: You can use them for navigation and reading your texts while you are driving as well.
To OP: If you manage to implement most of those features, I think you can easily set a $5-7 price tag and this thing will STILL sell like hot bread on the market lol. . .
nice.lets try
}{Alienz}{ said:
User configurable RSS feeds is a DREAM feature for me as well. And the enable Wi-Fi Data would be important as I have things such as JuiceDefender which switch them off when not in use. Specifically...turning Wi-FI ON would be the most important one since where you need an alarm, you will likely be at your house and you will likely have wi-fi there that you use everyday.
So I suppose if I had to rate features it in order of important it would go like:
1. Configurable alarm time for different days of the week.
2. Turn Wi-Fi (or data) one minute prior to alarm going off. Make a trigger that checks if there is connectivity 1 min in advance and only enable the wifi if the trigger says there is no internet
3. Music in the background. Configurable in volume and content, meaning you can select what tune to play while the voice is reading stuff.
4. RSS feeds. YOU choose the feeds and news sites the alarm will read.
5. Randomize the background music so that it's different on different days or it randomly picks a song to play in the background-that way it will sound like you're listening to the radio only it's playing YOUR favorite music and telling you only stuff YOU care about.
Voices:
SVOX Classic British
SVOX Classic US Grace
Loquendo Susan
All 3 choices work pretty nice with the program. They are not like human voices but they are at least 5-10 times better than the default Android voice and WELL worth it. Hint: You can use them for navigation and reading your texts while you are driving as well.
To OP: If you manage to implement most of those features, I think you can easily set a $5-7 price tag and this thing will STILL sell like hot bread on the market lol. . .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your feedback again, as well as the suggested voices
I really like your ideas and I'll definitely be adding configurable multiple alarm times, music in the background, and rss feeds (1, 3, and 4). As for turning on wifi (2), I'll have to look into whether or not 3rd party apps are even allowed to turn on/off wifi without user input. I'm sure its possible, and if so, I'll add feature 2 as well.
Look out for updates in the next week or 2!
Almost forgot, my email address (for you to send the log file) is eddie dot kim at [google's mail system] dot com
Hey Edward,
Wifi control should be possible because Juice Defender does it, it may require root though (not sure).
Can't wait for the changes.
Bug report!
This is the second day it failed to "alarm" lol. Good thing I set another alarm 5 min after otherwise I woulda slept in late for work.
Ok bugs. Yesterday it gave me a Text to speech can't be initialized or similar (I was playing with voices night before so maybe thats why).
This morning it gave me some error as well. I was in a rush and sleepy so didn't remember it but from now on I'll write them down or do log cats. Point is though both times it failed to ring. Today's error was not connected with voices at all as far as I remember.
Also a different bug is: When you launch the app, it AUTOMATICALLY turns on screen rotation and then bugs itself out when it can't decide on a horizontal vs vertical layout. Interestingly enough, the rotation option remains DISABLED on my phone...the app goes crazy switching modes though and then errored out with something. It does this on being launched or running, regardless. Just flip the phone a bit and you'll see.
It's a bug report because if an alarm goes while it's doing this, the alarm errors out and does NOT ring.
}{Alienz}{ said:
Bug report!
This is the second day it failed to "alarm" lol. Good thing I set another alarm 5 min after otherwise I woulda slept in late for work.
Ok bugs. Yesterday it gave me a Text to speech can't be initialized or similar (I was playing with voices night before so maybe thats why).
This morning it gave me some error as well. I was in a rush and sleepy so didn't remember it but from now on I'll write them down or do log cats. Point is though both times it failed to ring. Today's error was not connected with voices at all as far as I remember.
Also a different bug is: When you launch the app, it AUTOMATICALLY turns on screen rotation and then bugs itself out when it can't decide on a horizontal vs vertical layout. Interestingly enough, the rotation option remains DISABLED on my phone...the app goes crazy switching modes though and then errored out with something. It does this on being launched or running, regardless. Just flip the phone a bit and you'll see.
It's a bug report because if an alarm goes while it's doing this, the alarm errors out and does NOT ring.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your bug report. Not alarming is obviously a huge bug, so I'll try to duplicate this and put out a fix asap. While the alarm is going off, screen orientation changes SHOULD be disabled so the alarm is not interrupted.
Sweet app. which voice engine is better? It gives me a choice of Pico and eSpeak
One suggestion: Add the current time. Ex: "Good <morning|afternoon|evening> name. It is <time>am|pm.
Not sure if this is a bug, or just something not fully implement yet, but when I'm setting the alarm time, the time is in am/pm format - even though my phone is set to 24h format. Other than that it looks promising and good luck with your project.
Sent from my Desire HD
This sounds really good. It reminds me of those futuristic moives where the computer tells the person everything about the day and stuff.
Sent from my X10i using Tapatalk
Awesome app! Here are some suggestions:
1) Please include an alarm clock icon in the status bar, so I know whether it's on or off.
2) Please add an option to configure what days you want the alarm to go off.
3) Bug report: current weather is given in Celsius, but the forecast is give in Fahrenheit.

Alarm Clock Anyone?

Another epic fail for Microsoft - seems the surface RT OS does not have any alarm clock functions (unless it's very well hidden). Seems to me that this is such a basic function in an OS that I find it surprising that Win RT does not have it - (both Android and IOS have a multiplicity of alarms available). Any solutions?
The store is full of different Alarm Clocks, many of them for Free.
Robin
robincop deel 2 said:
The store is full of different Alarm Clocks, many of them for Free.
Robin
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a single one works because they must be running in the foreground and active - so when the tablet sleeps they become "deactivated" - this is apparently a fault of the OS. You can see this by reading some of the reviews.
docfreed said:
Not a single one works because they must be running in the foreground and active - so when the tablet sleeps they become "deactivated" - this is apparently a fault of the OS. You can see this by reading some of the reviews.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sure it will get addressed. With App stores the need to bundle os apps is not needed anymore.
docfreed said:
Another epic fail for Microsoft - seems the surface RT OS does not have any alarm clock functions (unless it's very well hidden). Seems to me that this is such a basic function in an OS that I find it surprising that Win RT does not have it - (both Android and IOS have a multiplicity of alarms available). Any solutions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you use the calendar to set an alarm? That's kinda what I would have expected to use.
schettj said:
Could you use the calendar to set an alarm? That's kinda what I would have expected to use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unless the Calendar is running in the foreground (active) I do not think so. I am noticing that when the Surface sleeps, or when you switch from certain running apps to another, the first process shuts down - it's not 100% true but mostly so. Kind of defeats the purpose of having alarm or wake up functions of the app setting the alarm always has to be actively running.
I've tried 3 or 4 alarms in the store, they all work sporadically at best. To get the best results, I set the tablet not to sleep when the lid is closed or after X minutes while on power and left it plugged in and turned on all night.
The calendar seems to wait until the next time you turn the device on to update and show notifications.
I gave up having an alarm on the Surface, it seemed a bit too unreliable to me.
You could try using Windows scheduled tasks; that's what I did for an alarm on my PC the few times I needed one. No idea if Scheduled Tasks will do Connected Standby, though. In fact, I'd guess that they won't.
GoodDayToDie said:
You could try using Windows scheduled tasks; that's what I did for an alarm on my PC the few times I needed one. No idea if Scheduled Tasks will do Connected Standby, though. In fact, I'd guess that they won't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, connected tasks will not work - I cannot believe that Microsoft still can't come to grips with background apps - even Apple allows these to run. I mean you cannot even stream music with the screen off except with the poorly designed internal music app. Alarms (or the lack of thereof) have plagued MS since the early days of WinCE - it's no wonder that MS has failed big time in the mobile sector. Whoever at Microsoft thinks Win RT is a multitasking OS is nuts.
Well, end of rant - do you suppose there's a workaround on the horizon?
docfreed said:
Right, connected tasks will not work - I cannot believe that Microsoft still can't come to grips with background apps - even Apple allows these to run. I mean you cannot even stream music with the screen off except with the poorly designed internal music app. Alarms (or the lack of thereof) have plagued MS since the early days of WinCE - it's no wonder that MS has failed big time in the mobile sector. Whoever at Microsoft thinks Win RT is a multitasking OS is nuts.
Well, end of rant - do you suppose there's a workaround on the horizon?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
windows RT is multitasking just in the Microsoft way. The act of app suspension and app killing takes the burden of open apps away from the user into the OS managed space (even iOS does this), however you should be looking at the display being off as suspend, I can understand them not letting apps other than their own preventing the system from suspending, otherwise anyone could write an app that is going to give you horrible battery life on your surface that never sleeps.
lilstevie said:
windows RT is multitasking just in the Microsoft way. The act of app suspension and app killing takes the burden of open apps away from the user into the OS managed space (even iOS does this), however you should be looking at the display being off as suspend, I can understand them not letting apps other than their own preventing the system from suspending, otherwise anyone could write an app that is going to give you horrible battery life on your surface that never sleeps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure that i buy this - I can set an alarm on my Iphone 4S and then let the screen go off (sleep) - in the morning it will wake me up and of course, battery life is fantastic. Same goes for Android. On Win RT how bad would the battery life be if MS had a simple alarm clock running in the bkgnd - I mean I'm not asking to run Halo while it'as sleeping!
docfreed said:
Not sure that i buy this - I can set an alarm on my Iphone 4S and then let the screen go off (sleep) - in the morning it will wake me up and of course, battery life is fantastic. Same goes for Android. On Win RT how bad would the battery life be if MS had a simple alarm clock running in the bkgnd - I mean I'm not asking to run Halo while it'as sleeping!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was more in regards to third party music apps. With the alarm clock though if you take notice they will both be first party apps.
i assume that anyone needing or owning a tablet alreay own a smart phone, why the heck that ppl moan about things like alarms, and camera and etc. these features increase price. i wud happily purchase a cheaper surface with no camera, alarm, radio, gps, and so on, cos thats what my smartphone is for. the tablet is for proper work and entertainment. but hey opinions differ
spaco22 said:
i assume that anyone needing or owning a tablet alreay own a smart phone, why the heck that ppl moan about things like alarms, and camera and etc. these features increase price. i wud happily purchase a cheaper surface with no camera, alarm, radio, gps, and so on, cos thats what my smartphone is for. the tablet is for proper work and entertainment. but hey opinions differ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The alarm wouldn't increase price of the tablet at all, and it's such a basic feature that there's really no excuse for MS not having it.
spaco22 said:
i assume that anyone needing or owning a tablet alreay own a smart phone,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
netham45 said:
it's such a basic feature that there's really no excuse for MS not having it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but you don't use your pc as an alarm clock do you? and if it were an x86 tablet like the plenty that already existed you wouldn't complain about the lack of alarm clock would you?
docfreed said:
Unless the Calendar is running in the foreground (active) I do not think so. I am noticing that when the Surface sleeps, or when you switch from certain running apps to another, the first process shuts down - it's not 100% true but mostly so. Kind of defeats the purpose of having alarm or wake up functions of the app setting the alarm always has to be actively running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
calendar alerts go off even if the calendar is closed. I get alerts for all my meetings.
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
schettj said:
calendar alerts go off even if the calendar is closed. I get alerts for all my meetings.
Sent from my RM-820_nam_att_100 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK that's a start, do they also go off if the Surface is sleeping (screen off)?
lilstevie said:
but you don't use your pc as an alarm clock do you? and if it were an x86 tablet like the plenty that already existed you wouldn't complain about the lack of alarm clock would you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't understand these posts where people tell you how to use your device from a practical sense. I know people who use alarms on tablets so why should you tell us it shouldn't be a feature. Personally my daughter uses her android tablet all the time as an alarm clock next to her bed, while her phone is in the other room charging at night. I also would use the alarm on a Surface as I don't always keep every device I own at arms reach.
Saw the same argument about not having GPS on the Surface -I can see people wanting a GPS on a bigger screen like a tablet. So let's not judge everybody's use . : .
Calendar reminders/notifications for sure work when the device is in sleep mode.
I often hear my Surface at night in the room next door, or from my back-pack when traveling. It even allows you to "snooze". If it is very convenient as an alarm clock I do not know. It is kind of a hassle to set-up I guess.
MS in general does know how to do it of course, the native alarm app on the Windows Phones (7 and 8) works flawless and has been my best mate in the past years when traveling. It has only let me down once, but that was because the battery of the phone ran flat during the night.....
I was not aware of the "problem" of the Alarm Clock apps in the suspend state. It kinda defeats the purpose of the app if it does not run when the Surface and its owner are sleep mode...
Robin
guitar1969 said:
I don't understand these posts where people tell you how to use your device from a practical sense. I know people who use alarms on tablets so why should you tell us it shouldn't be a feature. Personally my daughter uses her android tablet all the time as an alarm clock next to her bed, while her phone is in the other room charging at night. I also would use the alarm on a Surface as I don't always keep every device I own at arms reach.
Saw the same argument about not having GPS on the Surface -I can see people wanting a GPS on a bigger screen like a tablet. So let's not judge everybody's use . : .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm more referring to the fact that it is a windows tablet, and this isn't a complaint that people have had with previous versions of windows, even on tablets. It is a use case that Microsoft have probably never even thought about.

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