Alarm Clocks – Which One Should You Use?
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The minute I first got a cell phone ages ago and noticed the large clock in the center of the screen, I abandoned the concept of ever wearing wristwatches ever again. Since I need to carry around a cell phone anyway which clearly displayed the time, it meant only one thing to forget rather than two (of course, that also means that if you lose one, you lose both). Taking that idea to the iPhone and/or the iPod Touch, there are a myriad of clock applications available that are either free or cheap (the most expensive I found was 99 cents).
Most of these applications have an alarm clock function, but if you only have a 1st generation iPod Touch (which doesn’t have a built-in speaker) you won’t hear the alarm unless you’re wearing your headphones to sleep (which may get a tad uncomfortable) or have it plugged in to an external speaker.
1. Alarm Clock Flashlight by Kirill Dergachev. It now costs 99 cents but was free for the first few days of its release. This application is marvelous in its simplicity. It displays the time in large characters in the center of the screen (the screen automatically displays in landscape format). When you tap the “I” symbol in the lower right corner it takes you to the control panel where you can set the alarm and change the colors of both the screen and the clock numbers. When you tap any other part of the screen, all the pixels turn white which could be used as a low-level flashlight (hopefully without burning out the screen). My sole complaint for the application is that the alarm isn’t very loud and can’t be set for any of the songs which one has stored on the iPhone/iTouch.
2. Analog Clock by DS Effects. Simply put, this is an analog clock on a screen and a button link to the creators’ website. No alarm clock. No ability to change clock faces or the like. Despite being free, there are better free clocks in the App Store.
3. Night Stand by Rohit Singal at SpoonJuice. Another simple free digital clock application with no alarm, but the beautiful graphics on it looks exactly like a standard digital clock. There are a few settings that can be changed (which is done via the Settings app on your iPhone/iTouch) such as changing the color of the digital display and showing the seconds. A nicely done app that could only be improved with the inclusion of an alarm (although somehow I suspect that if that feature is included, the price will go up).
4. The Time – Free Clock by Damian Woolley at Octodax. This is an attractive, free clock application. The same company has a 99 cent version that also displays your photos in the background. When you tap the gear icon on the screen, you are taken to the settings screen where you can change the number display mode between bright, sleep and dim. You can also change the colors of the numbers and set the clock between 12 and 24 hour mode. While this application does not have a built-in alarm, there are a set of instructions on using the alarm that comes with the iPhone/iTouch along with this application.
These applications are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the sheer volume of free or cheap clock applications available in the App Store (and let us not forget the one that’s built-in to the iPhone/iPod Touch). Are there any noteworthy ones that you have found? Please let us know in the comments.
