iClockRadio – Review

Since getting my phone almost a year and a half ago it has become, among other things, my alarm clock. On most mornings I set three different alarms separated by 5-10 minutes– each with its own sound. If I ignore the first,  and "snooze" the second, inevitably the third one is the charm and gets me up and going. It works quite well and I love the fact that I can either use the sounds that are built into the iPhone, any additional ring tones that I’ve added, or even my music.

As a result, while I don’t really find the need for it, I did download the new iclockradio application. I figured that since it was free, I had nothing to lose.

It is a rather nice application if you want to use your iPhone as a clock radio. It has the familiar scroll for choosing time, an easy button for turning the alarm on or off, and the ability to choose from a nice selection of Internet radio stations. Since the iPhone is now an international device, the application allows you to choose from radio stations broadcasting from seven different nations. These include France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The stations in United States, while not overwhelming in number, are a nice cross-section which means that everyone will be able to find something they like. If you want news you can listen to 1010WINS. If you want pop radio you can listen to 95.5 WPLJ in New York. And if you’re a sports fan you can listen to TheFAN. Not bad — especially since the application is free.

Once the clock is set and the station is picked a new screen appears. It tells you that the alarm is set for a specific time, and that, when the alarm goes off, it will play the station that you’ve chosen. It gives you a countdown timer to let you know when the alarm will go off and has an easy-to-use volume slider to adjust the volume of the radio station when the music starts to play far earlier than you would like.

It also has something else… and that’s where the problem comes in. It’s not a problem with the application. No, that’s written very well. But rather, as we have encountered over and over again, it’s a problem with the iPhone’s design. What’s the problem? This is —

"The alarm will not work if you exit the application or turn off your iPhone. Note that switching off the screen will also switch off WiFi. You can manually lock your iPhone when using 3G. or Edge."

Translation — if for some reason you open any other application during the night… the alarm will not go off. If for some reason your iPhone went into sleep mode (and thereby turning off the WiFi)… your alarm won’t go off (unless you have previously set it to use this cellular data connection).

NONE OF THIS WOULD BE AN ISSUE IF THE IPHONE RAN BACKGROUND APPS!!!!!!

I knew it sounded too good to be true.

Here’s my problem — there are spots in my house, and my bedroom is one of them, in which the cell reception can go in and out. The WiFi is always on, however, so I tend to rely on that when I’m at home. Because the WiFi goes off when the screen goes off my only option is to keep the eye phone on all the time no matter what. And I don’t want that kind of wear and tear on my screen, nor do I want to have the light coming off of my phone all night. Too bad, since it was quite a nice application.

Quick Take

Value: great app for free

Would I Buy Again: Because of the issues noted in the review, no

Learning Curve: Very simple app to use

Who Is It For: People who want an iPhone ClockRadio

What I Like: Well-conceived 

What I Don’t: The whole "sleep screen" thing ruins it

Final Statement: An impressive, free app that falls short because of the lack of background apps on the iPhone!!!!!