Today was Super Bowl Sunday here in the US. This is the day when all Americans crowd around the TV and watch the championship game of "football." But for me it represents the beginning of the Alarm Clock application.
Last year I was watching the Super Bowl (and browsing the web) when I noticed that my Alarm Clock application was featured on MacBytes.com. At the time I was hosting the application on an old Linux box I had sitting in my apartment. Our Internet connection came to a screeching halt as thousands of people starting downloading the application. I had to scramble to find a web host, and that night robbiehanson.com was born.
It's been around a year since then, and the Alarm Clock application has grown and matured. It has been downloaded around 300,000 times. It's available in 16 different languages. And today it's on the front page of Apple Downloads (#5 in the iPod + iTunes category).
I'd like to thank everyone who has sent me donations, and those who have contributed by providing localizations or sending feedback.
By no means am I done developing this software. I continue to have new ideas on how to improve it, and I continually get feedback and suggestions via email and this blog which helps me improve the application.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
Wow, I love your app! I appreciate all the thought you've put into creating Alarm Clock 2. My 2 favorite aspects of AC2 are that it doesn't use iTunes to place the mp3s and that app doesn't show up in the dock. Two thoughts on AC2:
1. I'd like a feature where AC2 will turn on the computer if it's off and then activate the alarm. Sometimes we have short-term power-outages at my place, so a feature like this would possibly help insure my timely arrival at work. (Would something like this even be reliable and/or is it already built into AC2?)
2. I greatly wish that the AC2 would work with the laptop shut. (I read your FAQ on this and was quite bummed.)
Thanks again for HQ alarm clock.
Rusty
Hi Rusty,
It is theoretically possible for AC2 to turn your computer on. But as far as being reliable, it falls a little short of the mark. In order for it to work, you'd have to make sure that your computer was set to automatically log in the correct user, and then you'd also have to make sure that AC2 is set to launch at login.
Also, waking a computer from sleep is one thing. But turning a computer on seems to be something completly different.
And I think one of the other main reasons I haven't implemented such a feature is simply because nobody has asked for it. It may sound surprising, but of the hundreds of emails I get with suggestions and feedback for AC2, you're probably only the second or third person who has made this suggestion. I'm guessing that people:
-prefer to leave their Macs on because it's so quick and easy to wake it from sleep.
-prefer to have a computer stay off when they turn it off.
I once had a user suggest that I allow users to quit the alarm clock application, and then the app would automatically relaunch when it was time for an alarm to go off. So I did a poll with a random sample of my user base and asked them what they thought of the idea. The consensus was thumbs down. Users felt that if they quit an application it should stay quit. And they feel MUCH better if they can see at a glance whether or not the alarm clock is running, and whether or not it's going to wake them up.
Perhaps these sentiments are also involved with turning a computer on. First of all, they want it to stay off. And second of all, they have no way of checking to see if their alarm is going to wake them up if the computer is completely off.
These are however, just my current thoughts on the matter. I'm certainly not always right. So if you (or anyone else reading this) has a different opinion on the matter, I'd love to hear it! I have had my mind changed in the past by thoughtful users.
PS - I also wish AC2 would work with the laptop shut. But alas, Apple doesn't allow it!
Hi Robbie, Thank you for this great app. However I have a little bit problems with it. My machine is macmini(ppc) with a Samsung lcd monitor. It can wake up my machine from sleep but if the screen still black out, alarm cannot play any sound out. Until I hit some key to make screen display first. I don’t think it happens to genuine apple machine. but do you have any users with similar issues? Or do you have any suggestions that I could fix that, cause I really like to use it.
Hi Leo,
I'll do my best to fix your problem.
So are you saying that the alarm plays fine unless your monitor turns off?
Hiya Robbie,
thanks a lot for the app. it has been my wake up call for some months now and is wáy better than talking jockeys or nagging buzz sounds.
since upgrading to snow leopard i have a problem though.
when I snooze using my remote, my itunes library starts playing, resulting in two songs being played simultaneously. there's texas chainsaw massacre and there's this-the experience borders on a nightmare.
any thoughts on how this van be resolved?
best,
Sidney
sidney at vollmer dot nl
note:
with "snooze" i mean pressing the play button on my remote.
i didn't have this problem in osx 10.4, I think.
later!
An Leaked Lady GaGa Hit was Unsealed this afternoon with no traces of where it originated from.
Some say that it was found in GaGa's Record Label's headquarters.
More info at http://ladygagaunreleased.blogspot.com
Free Download of the single at http://tinyurl.com/gagaunreleased
WoW I am really interested to hear more about your software development. Thanks for the blog. :)
WakingNews Alarm Clock app
WakingNews Alarm Clock is yet another beta app release with some potential. It functions primarily as an alarm clock. You set an alarm as usual and it goes off on time as usual. However, this one reads you the news from a variety of sources when it goes off. So it functions a little bit like old school radio alarm clocks. It has several good news sources, including Yahoo Finances, Yahoo Sports, Engadget, etc. However, there are some lesser sources of words there as well. Thankfully, you can choose the sources that play when the alarm goes off. It's in beta so there are definitely bugs. It is also free and has potential.
WakingNews Alarm Clock app
WakingNews Alarm Clock is yet another beta app release with some potential. It functions primarily as an alarm clock. You set an alarm as usual and it goes off on time as usual. However, this one reads you the news from a variety of sources when it goes off. So it functions a little bit like old school radio alarm clocks. It has several good news sources, including Yahoo Finances, Yahoo Sports, Engadget, etc. However, there are some lesser sources of words there as well. Thankfully, you can choose the sources that play when the alarm goes off. It's in beta so there are definitely bugs. It is also free and has potential.
WakingNews Alarm Clock app
WakingNews Alarm Clock is yet another beta app release with some potential. It functions primarily as an alarm clock. You set an alarm as usual and it goes off on time as usual. However, this one reads you the news from a variety of sources when it goes off. So it functions a little bit like old school radio alarm clocks. It has several good news sources, including Yahoo Finances, Yahoo Sports, Engadget, etc. However, there are some lesser sources of words there as well. Thankfully, you can choose the sources that play when the alarm goes off. It's in beta so there are definitely bugs. It is also free and has potential.
Post a Comment