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iPod touch iPod Touch Alarms

W

wiweeyum

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 22, 2009
12
0
I try to do relevant research on a product before I buy it, and especially one as expensive as the touch, I don't want to to get it expecting features that don't exist.

I'm not going to buy the touch as a music player, I'm going to buy it as a planner... so please don't start slamming my motives... after reading a lot of threads here, this seems to be a common thing to do. Having the ability to listen to music is important though. I've done a lot of research on different apps for this and that (FCTasks, Gas Cubby, Syncing to GCal, etc), and I've decided that buying a touch is well worth it.

Is there an app that exists (either jailbroken or not) that will alarm at intervals whether or not the app is open? I read that the best way to stay on task and productive is to look at your to-do list every twenty minutes. So specifically I want the program to beep once every twenty minutes as a little nudge reminder until I get in the habit of glancing at it without it. Originally, I was hoping that the touch had vibrate to do the same thing silently, but since it doesn't it's not a big deal.

If there's not a specific app that does this (which I expect), could it be faked with the stock Clock app? Could I create a twenty minute timer, then every time it goes off, just make it start going again? Would that still beep if the program were closed and I was doing something else?

Thanks guys! I'd be doing the research myself if I had one, so I appreciate any help you give.
 
There are a few threads you might want to read - search on this forum for "palm" and i think they will all come up. I think the alarm info is in the one on going back to teh 5 yo palm.

There are a few "problems" in this area for iPt users when you aren't near a wi-fi connection (the times i personally *need* the alarms).

This should be a link to the threads: https://forums.macrumors.com/search/?searchid=16057100
 
What specifically am I looking for? I searched for palm, but didn't see any threads that had much to do with alarms. I read a few, got some good info about other stuff, but really not anything I was looking for.

As for the wi-fi, would that be a web based app you'd be talking about?
 
Ah, thanks guys. Good thread. Brought up a couple of good points about limitations that I only knew a little about.

So third party apps wouldn't be able to create alarms. What about the stock 'clock' app functionality? Like I said, I don't have one, so I don't know how it would work. Could I use it the way I mentioned in the first post?
 
wiweeyum said:
Ah, thanks guys. Good thread. Brought up a couple of good points about limitations that I only knew a little about.

So third party apps wouldn't be able to create alarms. What about the stock 'clock' app functionality? Like I said, I don't have one, so I don't know how it would work. Could I use it the way I mentioned in the first post?
Click to expand...

I can't help with that answer - because I too don't own one yet. I don't have a place to go to sit and TRY some things either right now either.... my Dad has one, i wonder if he'd let me borrow it for a few days?

I know i read more on this topic though - i'll try to remember what the thread topics might be. I just recall the main issue is the reliance on the "network" connection for triggers. BUT, have no clue how that works on the stock apps either.
 
TraceyS/FL said:
I don't have a place to go to sit and TRY some things either right now either....
Click to expand...

I hadn't thought of that. I guess I could run down to best buy and play around for a while.

I'll let you know what I find out. Is there anything you'd like me to check out while I'm there Tracy?
 
Alright, I finally made the time to run into best buy to do some quick tests with the touch.

I opened the stock 'clock' app and set the countdown timer to 1 minute for speeds sake. As soon as it started going, I closed the clock app and let it sit on the home screen until the time was up. The timer went off just fine. I had set the alarm noise to sonar so it wasn't like a ring tone.
Next, I set it again, then closed the app and put the touch to sleep with the button on the top. After a minute, it woke up and the alarm sounded off just great.

The app remembers your last alarm setting, so restarting it was as simple as opening up the clock app and hitting start again. When the touch woke up, I needed to unlock it before I could turn off the alarm. Also the clock app doesn't open when the alarm goes off, a little dialog box opens up... which I really liked. That was it wouldn't close down whatever I was doing accidentally.

So in my case, I could set the app to count down 20 minutes with a less abrasive alarm tone like sonar, then when it goes off I'd unlock it, turn off the alarm, open up the to-do list and check it out to see if I'm being as efficient as I should be, open up the clock app again, hit start on the timer, and put it to sleep.

This process takes about as long as opening up my bulky franklin day and checking the to-do list. Except the touch is small and can fit in my pocket.
 
wiweeyum said:
So in my case, I could set the app to count down 20 minutes with a less abrasive alarm tone like sonar, then when it goes off I'd unlock it, turn off the alarm, open up the to-do list and check it out to see if I'm being as efficient as I should be, open up the clock app again, hit start on the timer, and put it to sleep.

This process takes about as long as opening up my bulky franklin day and checking the to-do list. Except the touch is small and can fit in my pocket.
Click to expand...

Too many steps for my liking :p

What about just creating a repeating meeting in the calendar? You can enter your to-do list right as part of the notes. It won't give you 20 minute alarms, but you could set it to notify you twice a day. (first and second alarm)
 
If I wanted an alarm that reminded me twice a day, I'd do that, but I don't, I want it every twenty minutes... and cluttering up the calendar to do that just seems silly.

Honestly, it's not an issue for me to set it every time. I'm good at methods, and the repetition will make it easier and easier. I also don't plan on doing it forever, I plan on training myself to look at it every twenty minutes automatically out of habit. It doesn't take that long to form the habit of checking, so eventually I wouldn't need to set the alarm any more.

The pros outweigh the cons.
 
If you got MobileMe you can make more than one calendar to change between. So you could made a bunch of reminders on the calendar to go off when you wanted them to and them just switch back to another calendar so it wouldn't be cluttered.
 
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