 | May 14 2009 |
VAGATOR So simple and yet absolutely BRILLIANT!!! No bells or whistles - so straight forward.
(Version 2.4.5) | |
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 | Feb 5 2009 |
IMAGE_CTRL I have been using Alarm Clock for years and it wakes me every time without issue. The default alarm sound is gentle and sounds exactly like an old (actual) alarm clock radio i use to own years ago. Thank you very much for this application.
(Version 2.4.5) | |
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| Aug 20 2008 |
SEENEW Awesome app! I used this for two years as my alarm clock at school, worked so much better than my old noisy clock radio. However, since my upgrade to Leopard, Alarm Clock will no longer read my iTunes library! :( When I go to set the Easy Wake song, the "source" drop down menu is blank, as well as the list below it! Please fix it, I miss waking up to my music! Thanks, and keep up the great work!
(Version 2.4.5) | |
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| Jan 13 2008 |
KEDOS Wish it would play music through iTunes in the morning, so I can play it on my wireless airport speakers. Also, since Leopard I have had trouble with making Alarm Clock wake my computer from sleep. Besides that, it's a great app.
(Version 2.4.5) | |
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| Dec 9 2007 |
MUDFLAPPER I just love this li'l app. The timer window is designed well--I like the use of transparency. The menu item icon is nice and simple. Great job.
(Version 2.4.5) | |
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| Oct 31 2007 |
BOBBY.BOBBYTAN perfect. but i would like to add some description at every single preset. thanks for developer.
(Version 2.4.5) | |
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| Sep 3 2007 |
RORO01 THE BEST ALARM CLOCK! Very efficient, effective & reliable. You can use Audio Recorder to record yourself singing. Your singing will definitely wake you up! ;-)
(Version 2.4.5) | |
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| Jul 10 2007 |
COPILOTO I will join the group of very satisfied users of this app and throw in my 2 cents. This is an awesome app: it is simple, reliable, and unobtrusive. I use it all the time, not only the alarm, but the timer. Previous to that, I was using Minuteur as a timer, but Minuteur is a whopping 24MG program for such a simple function. Thank you for the app and for the time you dedicate to it.
(Version 2.4.5) | |
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 | May 30 2007 |
ZAZZLE unfortunately it cannot play sound if you don't have an active session. i have my screensaver activate the fast-user-switch login window for added security and when i log back in the morning, i see alarm clock is open, but it never made a peep, because it apparently cannot grab the speaker.
(Version 2.4.3) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
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 | Jun 27 2007 |
SEMAJA2.NET If you want to lock the screen for security, you should try my Utility Lock which was intended for this purpose. It is very customisable *dont mix it with the Apple Lock however* and quite secure. PS. This is not to advertise my program, but more of to help a fellow user of this great alarm program
(Version 2.4.4) | |
| May 9 2007 |
ZAZZLE i use it on my laptop and the only thing i don't like is that when the alarm goes off it wakes up the display. i'd rather wake it myself by moving the mouse or pressing a key, just in case i'm away from the computer. i like to minimize the unnecessary use of the backlight to extend its life.
(Version 2.4.3) | |
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| May 3 2007 |
NAMAN This app is absolutely wonderful! No more raucous squeal waking me up in the morning. No more worrying about whether or not I remembered to set the alarm for the right time. Waking up to good music at the right time on the right days is how an alarm clock should be. I can't think of any ways to improve the intuitiveness of this app, and I can't think of any features it could use that would be useful outside of extremely specific circumstances. It's also never crashed or otherwise had any bugs, from my experience of using it for several months.
(Version 2.4.2) | |
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| Apr 24 2007 |
NAMAN Firstly, thanks for this app, it's been of real use to me. Secondly, I had been using version 2.3.8 on my Mac Pro (not sure how, when I think of it, I must've copied it from my G5) until today, when I missed class because it played through my headphones instead of my speakers. I updated, ran some tests, and the problem seems to have gone away. Was something fixed between 2.3.8 and 2.4.2 that rectified this problem, or is it a glitch of Apple's Sound or SoundMenu?
(Version 2.4.2) | |
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| May 3 2007 |
NAMAN It's a glitch on Apple's end, from the looks of things. Since I don't expect them to fix it any time soon, I humbly request, if you (the developer) can easily do so, that you add the ability to choose what sound output device Alarm Clock uses. I think if I were able to set it to Line Out at all times, it would always play through my speakers.
(Version 2.4.2) | |
 | May 4 2007 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 That's a great idea, but I'm not sure if it's possible. I'll have to dive into Core Audio to find out for sure. But I've never seen another application that could force audio to the normal speakers if headphones were plugged in...
(Version 2.4.2) | |
| Jan 29 2007 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 FILMDAN - I appreciate your honesty. One of the distinguishing factors of this alarm clock is that it doesn't depend on iTunes to play its music. You don't have to worry about the problems that depending on iTunes presents. Such as: If an info panel or the preferences window is left open, iTunes applescripting doesn't work, and thus an alarm won't sound. If iTunes is set to play to remote speakers that you can't hear (maybe they're downstairs), iTunes will play just fine, but you won't wake up. The problem you mentioned, (attempting to play unauthorized protected songs) was a known problem. I've worked hard to fix it, and I'm proud to let you know that this is no longer a problem as of version 2.4.1. By the way, the application that you switched to: have you tried setting an alarm in it and telling it to play a playlist that contains unauthorized music? Does it work? I know that many of the competitors fail under this particular situation. I'm happy to let you know that alarm clock now handles this situation perfectly.
(Version 2.4.1) | |
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| Jan 29 2007 |
FILMDAN Great!!!! Alarm Clock has found its way back into my menubar. The bug I was experiencing in iTunes turned out to be a huge Apple problem. I had to archive and reinstall to fix it (and that was with their tech support people on the phone!)
(Version 2.4.1) | |
| Jan 22 2007 |
FILMDAN My only problem with this program (and I do mean, only problem), is that if something is wrong in itunes... if a song is not authorized on my computer, for instance... the alarm will not wake you. I have switched to another program that will play a default alarm sound if itunes doesn't play. This is a feature I need.
(Version 2.4) | |
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| Nov 2 2006 |
MISCHIVO There is a fatal error in this program that has screwed me twice! Last night I installed the most recent build. I turned it, and it tells me that reauthentication is required to wake my computer from sleep. Okay. I reauthenticate. It's done. Then I happened to leave the program running while I ran some cleanup procedures such as repairing permissions, which restarted my computer. Low and behold, when my computer restarted, as I was already in bed, the thing lost it's reauthentication, and didn't wake me up. Now I'm awake 3 hours after I should've been. What's up with this?
(Version 2.3.8) | |
| [ 3 Replies - Reply ] | |
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| Nov 2 2006 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 First of all, stop repairing your permissions all the time. You don't need to. Read this for more information: http://daringfireball.net/2006/04/repair_permissions_voodoo When you "repair" permissions, you are screwing up the alarm clock program. You see, when you authenticate, you are giving the alarm clock permission to wake your computer from sleep. Then you go and "repair" your permissions, which resets the permissions of the alarm clock. Thus, it doesn't have permission to wake your computer from sleep anymore. You see, it shouldn't be called "repair" permissions, it should be called "reset" permissions. And the program runs blindly, just guessing at what the permissions of everything should be. It certainly doesn't know that you want to allow your alarm clock special permission to wake your computer from sleep. So it just resets everything to default permissions. If you're going to be repairing your permissions all the time for no reason, you will also have to reauthenticate the alarm clock everytime.
(Version 2.3.8) | |
| Nov 2 2006 |
MISCHIVO Alright. Thank you for explaining that too me! Now I'll know exactly what to do after I do repair (reset) my permissions. What had struck as odd before you explained it was that I thought the program somehow did not save the preferences before a shutdown (whereas others do). Anyway, thank you for pointing this out.
(Version 2.3.8) | |
| Nov 2 2006 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 No problem. Glad I could help.
(Version 2.3.8) | |
| Sep 26 2006 |
FLUSHINGMEMOS Seems really nice, but it doesn't actually start iTunes. No iTunes, no AirTunes. No AirTunes, inaudible laptop speaker music, no wakey. Guess I'm sticking with aurora for now.
(Version 2.3.7) | |
| [ 3 Replies - Reply ] | |
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| Sep 28 2006 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 Alarm Clock doesn't start iTunes because it doesn't need to start iTunes. It plays all the songs internally without depending on iTunes. This is done on purpose. iTunes is an excellent program, but wasn't made with the requirements of an alarm clock in mind. There are serveral situations where relying on iTunes for your alarm wouldn't work correctly. What if you recenlty updated iTunes, and when your alarm clock launched it in the morning, iTunes prompted you to reagree to the licensee agreement? Or what if you set your alarm clock to play a playlist in iTunes, but the playlist no longer exists. It's exactly because of all these little "gottchas" that I decided to write my own alarm clock in the first place. I wanted mine to be reliable 100% of the time. It would seem that you haven't given Alarm Clock a chance. You said it didn't start iTunes. It doesn't need to, it will play the music internally. And if you didn't immediately hear the music playing, that's because your test alarm had "Easy Wake" enabled. This is a setting that gradually increases the alarm volume over time, enabling you to wake up gently in the morning. Easy Wake is fully customizable in the app's preferences. It's default settings, I believe, start the volume out at 0% and increase it to 100% over the course of 2 minutes. It sounds like you made a test alarm, enabled easy wake, and when the alarm went off, you immediately noticed iTunes wasn't running, stopped the alarm, and ran to MacUpdate to post a comment. I encourage you to try the application again. I think you'll find it to be the most stable alarm clock software on the market.
(Version 2.3.7) | |
| Sep 28 2006 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 I believe I read your original comment wrong. I thought you were saying that it doesn't launch iTunes, but I see that what you were really trying to say is that because it doesn't use iTunes, it doesn't play to your remote speakers. You are correct on this. Alarm Clock does not have AirPort express support, because I feel this is a BAD idea. Sure it sounds cool to be able to wake up via your wireless connection to some remote speakers. But you should be asking yourself: Is this a good idea? This is an alarm clock, and stability is #1. Think about what happens if your iTunes library is set to play to remote speakers, but the speakers are unavailable. What happens? iTunes pops up an error message and nothing happens. If this was your alarm trying to go off in the morning, you wouldn't wake up! Or what if iTunes was set to play to the wrong remote speaker system? I have 2 airport expresses in my house, and one happens to be connected to my speakers outside on the patio. If this was set, iTunes would play fine, but I certainly wouldn't hear it, and certainly wouldn't wake up! This is yet another reason I decided not to rely on iTunes to play your alarms in the morning. I take the stability of this application very seriously, and refuse to implement features that sound cool, but actually damage the stability of the Alarm Clock. Besides, if you're using a software program on your computer to wake up in the morning, it's a safe bet that the computer is in the bedroom. If the computer isn't in the bedroom, I wouldn't suggest trying to use it as an alarm clock in the first place.
(Version 2.3.7) | |
| Nov 2 2006 |
MEEFEERU Couldn't you have used Airfoil? http://rogueamoeba.com/airfoil/mac/ It costs $25, but it also works with many other applications. I'd recommend it to anybody using AirTunes.
(Version 2.3.8) | |
| Sep 12 2006 |
IANWEIR This is an awesome little program - I've been using it for months now and it has never failed me, not once! Simple, intuitive interface, and the price can't be beat! The only thing I could possibly think of would be automatic updates - it can check for updates, yes, but it doesn't self-update. I do believe there is a library for that, in fact. (http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/20366) Keep up the good work, this is by far the best alarm clock program I have ever had the pleasure of using.
(Version 2.3.7) | |
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| Sep 11 2006 |
SANHOLO I've been using it for several months now, I even relied on it for my final university exams, and it has never failed on me. Great support, too, highly recommended!
(Version 2.3.7) | |
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| Aug 29 2006 |
KBALLARD I just started using this to wake me up in time for class, and it hasn't failed yet. It works very well and always wakes me up. Thank you!
(Version 2.3.6) | |
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| Aug 28 2006 |
VEGGIEDUDE I have Alarm Clock Pro, but I use this one too, and I tend to use this one more often - it is just very simple and easy to use and always a click away being up in the menubar.
(Version 2.3.6) | |
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| Aug 28 2006 |
KATABIOS it's strange: after the first setting, moving the app to a different folder, the menubar item don't work anymore....
(Version 2.3.6) | |
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| Aug 28 2006 |
MACUPDATE ADMIN It may help to delete Alarm Clock's preferences file.
(Version 2.3.6) | |
| Aug 28 2006 |
HENDO Very cool. Useful, easy to use and customizable. Best of all it's free! Great job developer!
(Version 2.3.5) | |
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| Aug 6 2006 |
GOLASHES Just started using the program and I love it, but in the next version, could you make an option to have the tray icon be black and white? I'd like it to fit in with the rest of my icons well.
(Version 2.3.4) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
Replies:
| Aug 28 2006 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 New feature in version 2.3.5: Using color or black & white icons is now in option in the app's preferences. Enjoy.
(Version 2.3.5) | |
| Aug 5 2006 |
ATTENTIONWANDERED this is a nice solid application for waking you up. has waken me up many times its now competing with aurora which i like too, but this definately has its advantages thanks for the free software
(Version 2.3.4) | |
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| Jul 31 2006 |
HIGAARA Amazing little application. It's very customizable, works well and reliably. It will even bring the computer out of sleep! If you're looking for an alarm app, this is the one. :)
(Version 2.3.3) | |
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| Jul 28 2006 |
PIXELICIOUS I've been using this application for several years now (tested it before it was released), and it has always been a great alarm clock for me. Adding apple remote functionality, timers and a stopwatch option have made it more than just my alarm clock, it's a cooking assistant, home exercise stopwatch, task manager (sort of--it makes sure I don't play Civ IV more than an hour), and all around quality app.
(Version 2.3.3) | |
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| Jun 15 2006 |
ACE11413 I absolutely love this program! But... I wish there was a way for it to play streaming radio from w.in iTunes. I have a playlist of radio stations that I listen to, and when I select that as my playlist, nothing happens whent he alarm goes off... Silence.
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| [ 3 Replies - Reply ] | |
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| Jun 15 2006 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 Actually, it's not quite silence. It plays the default alarm sound. But you are correct. Streaming radio stations aren't supported at this time. This is something that I've been working on but haven't perfected yet. As you know, Alarm Clock doesn't play it's music through iTunes using AppleScript like many other alarm clock applications. This is just asking for trouble. (Imagine you just updated iTunes, and the alarm clock launches it to play its music in the morning, but instead a dialog box pops up prompting the user to reaccept the license agreement...) I can get almost all radio stations to play at this point, but I still have to work out any problems that may occur while playing them. Like being disconnected, or the radio stream stalling, etc. Since stability is the most important aspect of my application, I haven't included this functionality into the app. I would like to, but first need to make sure it's absolutely safe and stable.
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Jun 16 2006 |
ACE11413 Hey. Thanks for replying so quickly. I have one more comment/question. Once I set an alarm to play a song or playlist, it seems like I lose the ability to switch it back to just playing the default alarm. The only fix I've found for this is to delete the alarm, remake it, and just not touch the alarm sound options. Is there a way to reset the alarm sound to default w.out deleting it?
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Jun 16 2006 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 Yes, there is a way to reset the alarm to the default sound without deleting it. Just select a song in any playlist, and then hold down command and click the song again. This will unselect the song, and you'll see "Default Alarm" appear in the lower right-hand corner.
(Version 2.3.2) | |
| Jun 1 2006 |
ROADTRIPDK Fantastic is the only word for this app. I like the idea of being able to play songs from iTunes, but it would be nice if the extra alarms for AC didn't have to be imported into iTunes to be used by the app. This is a bit irritating in my opinion.
(Version 2.3.1) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
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| Jun 2 2006 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 I understand what you're saying. It annoys some people to have to add the sample alarms to the iTunes library, and it doesn't bother other people at all. I've been struggling with what to do about this problem for a while. I could easily integrate the sample alarms into the application. The only problem is that if I do this I turn a little 1.5 Mb app into a 6 Mb app. It's not like it would take up any more space in RAM, but some people appreciate the faster download of a small app, and like that it doesn't take up much disc space. I've created a poll here on MacUpdate to try to get people's opinion on the matter. Thank you for your thoughts on the subject.
(Version 2.3.1) | |
| May 30 2006 |
ABALEM ^_^ Great app, developping is active and it's free ! :-) thumbs up for this one, the best alarm clock around !
(Version 2.3.1) | |
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| May 21 2006 |
BRUSETH This is so very cool. Easy and convenient to use. Maybe in the future we could pick a file to use as our default alarm rather than having to pick one every time? Thanks to the developer for this neat app. Very generous of the developer to supply this app for free. Thanks very much!
(Version 2.3) | |
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| Mar 18 2006 |
GARY W. I rather like this program....It's the first time I've found an alarm program that has the ability to wake the machine from sleep in order to do its thing. I like the menu bar placing of the control for the program. One function of other alarm programs I've tried was the ability to help put you to sleep as well as wake you up. This addition would make a cool progam even cooler. I did seem to have problems with the volume incrementation working propery, however. I figured the new release would possilbly fix the problem, but was disappointed to find that the current release no longer works on 10.3.9. (I hesitate to upgrade to Tiger, preferring to save the money for a new mac!) I have version 2.1.5. I noticed there was a release 2.1.6 that I missed, but now it looks to be unavailable for download. Is there a way to get this version that would perhaps fix the volume problem?
(Version 2.2.2) | |
| [ 2 Replies - Reply ] | |
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| Mar 19 2006 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 Version 2.1.X is compatible with 10.3. I had to break compatibility in version 2.2 to deliver several requested (and much needed) features. You can download version 2.1.6 here: http://www.robbiehanson.com/alarmclock/downloads/Alarm%20Clock%20(2.1.6).dmg
(Version 2.2.2) | |
| Mar 21 2006 |
GARY W. Thanks, Robbie! I'll give this version a whirl.
(Version 2.2.2) | |
| Mar 10 2006 |
RANMATURUSSA This is an absolutely great program--the cleanest, simplest alarm clock out there. My only request would be a Salling Clicker plugin with snooze functionality!
(Version 2.2.1) | |
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| Feb 15 2006 |
ANAME I have but some minor request left, that would lead to even greater perfection: 1.) I would be so happy if you could include the ability to set the alarm termination interval to infinite. I know it might appear as if that would defeat the whole purpose of having an alarm, but for us hard core morning slackers, it often takes more than half an hour to wake us up :) An infinite alarm would, eventually, help people to get their bones out of the damn bed. 2.) In the alarm section, where you can select an iTunes playlist and a specific track, I think it would be great if you were able to choose whether you want the playlist to optionally start at the selected track (if you choose one) and then continue with the next track in that same playlist, as opposed to only repeating one track only this playlist. Of course, I can select a playlist without selecting any particular track, and then it plays all the tracks in that playlist one after the other. I might be wrong, but I haven't found a way to start a playlist with a particular track, without having that one track repeated, skipping to the next one once the track is finished. 3.) This is really no biggie. The localization didn't seem to kick in properly for the YearYear-MonthMonth-DayDay format, as in my country (among others). I hope you take this as constructive response, as I really love what you're doing. This app is exactly what I've been looking for, and it's the best one of its kind, especially in its current price range ;) Right on target.
(Version 2.1.5) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
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| Mar 1 2006 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 Although I answered the original poster via email a long time ago, I'll post an overview of my response here for everyone else who may be interested. 1.) I'm a hard-core morning slacker too! And I think you're misinterpreting the alarm termination preference. This only kicks in when the music is playing. So feel free to hit snooze as many times as you want... I always do! The automatic termination is only there in case you're not there when the alarm goes off, or you get up and go take a shower without hitting stop, or similar situations. This way you don't annoy the neighbors all day long! 2.) While not exactly what you wanted, in version 2.2, I implemented a popular feature request: shuffle. So now you can play a plalist out of order. 3.) This is a biggie. I got a ton of feedback about this problem actually. So in version 2.2 I switched to native date/time formatters. Every localization should now automatically have the proper date/time format. I enjoyed and appreciated your constructive criticism. It's due to feedback such as yours that applications go from good to great!
(Version 2.2) | |
| Feb 8 2006 |
ANAME Splendid application. Many many thanks!! A request: Localize the date format. Some countries uses other formats, my country for instance, use YY-MM-DD, and so forth.
(Version 2.1.5) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
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| Feb 12 2006 |
ROBBIEHANSON15 The date format is now being localized for Y-M-D as per your request. I've had many such requests, and many other localizations will now be supported as well. The implementation is done, and testing is in progress. Thanks for the heads up, and look for this feature in 2.1.6 (coming in the next week or so).
(Version 2.1.5) | |
| Feb 4 2006 |
ENCRO Please, Please add the ability to trigger an audio sample from a file. I use a sample of an alarm sound (from a patented hardware alarm) that I would rather not include in the iTunes database. Cheers :)
(Version 2.1.4) | |
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