Review: BBSmart Alarms Pro
[rating:9] 9/10
Link: www.blackberrysmart.com
Cost: $15 @ BerryReview Store
This software was mentioned when it was released in May, but I thought that it definitely deserved a full blown review, seeing as it has earned a permanent spot on my 8830!
Alarms Pro is another piece of software that should have been part of the operating system on all BlackBerrys. BBSmarts Alarms Pro is a great replacement for your original alarm. Not only does this software enable you to have multiple alarms, it also allows you to customize a multitude of settings for each alarm. No longer are we tied to the; weekdays, on and off, options. For those who work a different schedule every week, or may work a non-traditional schedule this program is an absolute necessity. Best of all each alarm can be disabled if you don’t need it at the time.
When its time for your alarm to go off, a clean looking screen appears along with your selected alarm sound. Everything is in large easy to read font sizes, perfect for those of us who don’t have perfect eyesight. From the “Alarm List” screen you can quickly see which alarms are enabled: Enabled=Green and Disabled=Red
Alarms Pro allows you to set two different kinds of alarms; “Regular Alarm” and “Quick Alarm”
Regular Alarm-
The regular alarm is similar to the kind of alarm you can set with the “Alarm” program that comes standard with all BlackBerrys, except on steroids. You can set an unlimited number of regular alarms, all customized to fit your personality and schedule. You start by naming your alarm, setting the desired alarm time, whether or not it is a recurring alarm and if it is, the days which you would like the alarm to go off. I often work four ten hour days so this has been a blessing; no more worrying about turning the alarm off Thursday night before I go to bed. If you are happy with the rest of the default settings, hit the back button and relax. Your alarm will go off without a hitch.
If you like to customize everything to its fullest extent, there are more options you can set. You can change the alarm sound, choose the number of occurrences of this alarm you wish to have, ranging from “1” to “forever” and adjust the desired volume from 0-100. There is a nice little button that plays for you exactly what your alarm will sound like. Finally there are a couple of general alarm settings; whether or not you want your Berry to vibrate with the alarm, silence the alarm when it is unholstered, and set the snooze length.
Quick Alarm-
The Quick Alarm is more like a timer than an alarm. When adding a Quick Alarm, you are only prompted to enter the amount of time until you would like your alarm to go off; all the other settings revert to the default. This has really come in handy when cooking; I can set a quick alarm for my desired time, and never have to worry about not hearing the stove beeping if I’m across the house. Other uses I have found include: reminding me to move my sprinklers, call people back, I’ve even used it as a power-nap alarm! If you need to customize the alarm you can edit your quick alarm from the “Alarm List” screen.
Want More?-Of course you do! The last bit of customization Alarms Pro allows you to do is to edit the default alarm settings. If you always want your quick alarm to play your favorite song or set every regular alarm to have a 5 minute snooze time, this is the place to do it. Simply hit the “options” button of your BlackBerry while in the Alarms Pro application, scroll down to the options button, and choose whether you want to edit the “regular” or “quick” alarm defaults.
Pros
- Unlimited Alarms
- Tons of Options
- Very Affordable
- All Around Wonderful Application
Cons
- Only comes with 3 Alarms
- No Escalating Volume
- Doesnt come with BlackBerry! (although this is absolutly no fault of BBSmart)
wu-wei Not Registered
Posted: July 3, 2008 at 8:52 AM EST
One thing I’ve noticed with this app is that it does not set itself as a power-on alarm. When you set an alarm with the stock app, it will bring the handheld out of a powered off mode and the alarm will sound. This is not the case with alarms set though Alarms Pro.
For example, I have my Berry’s Auto On/Off set to turn off at 11 pm and back on at 5 am. I also had my stock alarm set for 4:45 am. When the phone powers off at 11, the pop-up dialog lets me know the next power on time will be at 4:45 am – the time of my stock alarm.
If I disable my stock alarm, the pop-up dialog at my Auto Off time will list the next Auto On time – and it is not the same time as any alarm set with Alarms Pro.
Thankfully I learned this over the weekend, so I didn’t miss any critical meetings. I have simply modified my Auto On/Off times so that the Berry is on one minute before my standard weekday alarm. However, that significantly reduces the functionality of this app, since I can’t just set-and-forget – now I have to remember to make sure the phone will be powered on before my alarms are set.
Not a huge deal, since I really only have 2 different alarms, but for those who need more flexibility, you should be aware of this little hiccup.
trinybwoy Not Registered
Posted: July 3, 2008 at 9:15 AM EST
yes i completely agree with the 1st post.
that is the MAJOR gripe for me. i no longer use the program simply because it doesnt wake my berry from slumber.
it is very promising, but i really hope they are able to resolve this issue.
Nathan Not Registered
Posted: July 3, 2008 at 1:25 PM EST
Wow thanks guys for pointing that out. I havnt turned off my blackberry (other than plane flights) ever. So I was completely unaware of this issue! Hopefully they will fix this soon, if RIM gives developers the ability to manage that high of a level of security issues! Imagine how much havoc an app(virus?) that shut your phone off every 5 minutes could wreak.
Mike Not Registered
Posted: July 3, 2008 at 9:53 PM EST
Just to add to the issue identified above – when the BB is locked up (Keyped lock or password security lock), the Alarms Pro will ring off but to shot it up I need to unlock the device by entering my password, which at 5:00am is not the easiest….
This is a major issue for me because I set my BB to lock up automatically after 10 min and by the morning it is always locked up and it is a painful exercise to type the password just to shot the app up. I hope the developer fixes this asap.