Dock clock for (night) sleeping

[mystvearn]

Since I donated my desk alarm clock, I now rely solely on my SGS2 to wake me up in the morning. I have alarm clock plus app which is great. It has a dock clock that goes from bright white to dim green (default colours). I use both the clock that comes with the phone and alarm clock plus-just in case one of the apps freezes.

The only problem with alarm clock plus is that while the clock and dim feature work well, the clock is not that big. I have resorted to using dock clock (free version). The app is ok, but it is slightly slow at showing the clock. I have it to auto turn to clock mode whenever I charge the phone which is every night. My phone's screen timeout first (30 secs) before the app can launch properly resulting I have to manually unlock the phone just so that the app will be seen.

Is there a better clock than this? I have seen my friend's Lumia 920 with NFC Tags and NFC Launchit. The clock there is slick. Nothing I have found on the android app.

Problem with using:

stock touchwiz dock: the clock is blue, and too bright. Makes no sense when I want to sleep at night.

Alarm clock plus does most of the things I require it to but clock kind of small.

Desk clock: works well but slow to load after placing the phone charger and the weather app requires you to manually type in the location! The paid version has auto location.

I can cure the sluggishness of the app loading time by:
1. Using tasker to make a specifc task-app launcher when the app is connected.
2. Using the auto launch function in alarm clock pro to launch the app after I've connected it.

Does anyone know where to find the desk clock (paid version) review/walkthrough. The google app market tells you features, but does not show enough screenshots and I can't find a youtube video showing me the clock.

Also, is it worth it to get the paid version over the standard version? Is this the best android dock clock replacing my bedside alarm clock?

 

[Petrah]

When you adjust the clock font size to it's largest setting, under customize font and colors, is that not large enough?

I have extremely bad eyesight without my glasses, and here's my settings -

Screensaver Timeout: 1 minute
Animate Screensaver: ticked

Under Buttons/Auto Launch Settings
Show Alarm Button - ticked
Plugged In Action - Launch Screensaver

Under Customize Colors & Fonts
Clock Font Colors - Screensaver time color is bright sky blue
Clock Font Sizes - Screensaver Size Tall: 170, Screensaver Size Wide: 170

The "Plugged In Action" means that when I am at my home screen and I put my phone on the dock, the screensaver immediately starts.

The "Screensaver Timeout: 1 minute" means that if my phone screen is off (lockscreen), when I put my phone in the dock my phone goes immediately to the deskclock and after 1 minute the screensaver will come on.

One of the main reasons I love this app is for its "Save Settings" option. No matter how many alarms I have set it will keep them saved in the Save Settings file on my internal SD. That, and it's just so customizable. Worth every penny paid.

 

[mystvearn]

Thanks for the reply. You are talking about the Desk clock paid app right?

 

[El Presidente]

I use DoubleTwist Alarm, there's a paid version and a 7 day trial so you can see if it does what you want before paying. Here are screenshots of the night clocks:

Does that look like what you're after?

 

[Petrah]

Thanks for the reply. You are talking about the Desk clock paid app right?

No. The settings I shared are from Alarm Clock Plus. There's tons of settings in there to do what it is you're wanting to do. You can make the font size really huge on the screensaver. I think you're just missing (not finding) where all of the settings are located for it.

 

[mystvearn]

No. The settings I shared are from Alarm Clock Plus. There's tons of settings in there to do what it is you're wanting to do. You can make the font size really huge on the screensaver. I think you're just missing (not finding) where all of the settings are located for it.

I see. Thanks. Did some of the adjustments mentioned. Few things I cannot do is that:

1. Font size (tall): 170. Its too big with the default font, left at default settings.
2. Does not have a proximity/light sensor function. Dock clock has this function meaning it will always auto into clock mode and I can permanently use it as clock during the day. It knows when to dim the screen automatically. Make sense since the alarm clock pro app was meant to use at night.
3. Fonts. Anyway to add fonts/skins/theme? I've cycled through the included fonts but stayed with default. Another weird issue with fonts, different fonts have different sizes. A 170 default does not look the same as 170 dot matrix font.

I use DoubleTwist Alarm, there's a paid version and a 7 day trial so you can see if it does what you want before paying. Here are screenshots of the night clocks:

Does that look like what you're after?

No idea. Looks nice. Will give this a try.

Ok, here is what I've learned.

This app is good in its own ways. The best case scenario for this app is actually for an unused/old tablet hanging on the wall or desk becoming a permanent clock. The clocks are pretty. I did wait 1 full minute in digital clock widget just to see if the min will flip like HTC sense clock, but it didn't
The app has a bed time/sleep cycle app which is handy as I have a dedicated bed-time only app. Also it has a sunrise alarm and a nap alarm.

As a dock clock, you need to set it up manually, which is fine. However, without the moving display clock (to prevent screen burning), this app does not shift pixels like the other 2 apps, so there is a risk of burning pixels on the screen with prolong use.

As a dedicated desk clock, the desk clock app is the better app than both the double twist alarm and alarm clock pro. However, alarm clock pro has more features/tweaks built into the app, so I don't need to have tasker profiles to launch the app. As an alarm clock/desk clock, both twist alarm clock and alarm clock pro are almost the same minus one or two features which the other does not have. Double twist reminds me a lot of apple apps. It is polished app. What it does, it does it very well. Not much you can change in the settings.

Looks like I have to wait before someone decides to built an app that has the desk clock dock app for the desk clock, alarm clock pro and double twist alarm clock for the alarm function, and alarm clock pro's tweaking settings. Judging on the features I want in an app, this is definitely going to be a paid app.

 

[Petrah]

The only problem with alarm clock plus is that while the clock and dim feature work well, the clock is not that big.

You can set the fonts as large or as small as you like. If 170 is too big, decrease the number until you find a size that you like.

 

[mystvearn]

Yes. I did just that.