Is it OK to use your Mac as an alarm clock?

We ask plenty from our Macs. They store everything and communicate with everyone and seem to work anywhere, thanks to wireless internet connections. How about a simple task? Is it too much to have our Macs become an alarm clock? If so, how many features should that alarm clock have?

Time Lord

Our lives are busy and we need constant reminders to do this or that. Our Macs have plenty of alarms and alerts and actions to tell us what’s going on, or what should, or what we need to do.

I have a handy stop-watch timer that I use daily. All it does is count down and beep. If I need to do something in 30-minutes, I set the timer. 30-minutes later it beeps. Then all I have to do is remember what I wanted to be reminded of 30-minutes earlier.

Oh, for the life of a Time Lord (will someone please wake me up when Dr. Who finally dumps Catherine Tate… she’s a one woman alarm clock of the shrill and shreak variety).

An Alarm Clock

For years I’ve had an issue with software from Koingo. All their Mac software seems so inelegant, clunky, and Windows-like. The lone exception is Alarm Clock Pro.

Waking up to headache-inducing buzzers and static-plagued radio stations can now be confined to your past. Alarm Clock Pro enables you to design your daily routine and perform various tasks automatically, such as starting your favorite iTunes playlist!

You’d think that some of us actually sleep with our MacBooks sitting on the lamp stand. Still, the geeky chic in me says give me features and things to click. Alarm Clock Pro obliges (click on any image for a close up view).

I want to say that Alarm Clock Pro is easy. That’s true for basic alarm functions and not much else. As you see above, the interface options are many. Click the alarm clock to add a new alarm. Edit edits, and delete deletes. The calendar is handy and pops up (see below) as does the Stopwatch.

Preferences are numerous though only a click away.

Preferences?

Alarm Clock Pro preferences give you more things to click. Resize the clock, change the primary alarm ring (not the one in your head), or add a sound of your own making (See? Garageband is good for something).

The alarm clock can be resized with controls for text color, background photo and color, and font. Somehow or another Alarm Clock Pro has become a task manager of sorts so you can list those as well.

Oh, the Complexity!

The name Alarm Clock Pro doesn’t do justice for the stack of features and functions available. They’re almost bewildering.

Speak or display favorite inspirational quotes randomly throughout the day, or even send them as text messages to your cell phone! Have important reminders, or even birthday cards, e-mailed to contacts. Record laps with the Stopwatch. Track time differences for your investment portfolio. Even use it to help cook dinner by using the timer!

Thankfully, the basic timer and alarm functions are straightforward so you get Alarm Clock Pro doing the basics rather quickly. But it goes well beyond basics.

Busy enough for you? Wait. There’s more. Much more.

Wait! There’s More!

Now you’re getting an idea why Alarm Clock Pro has a price tag. The more you want an alarm to do, the more it does for you.

Alarm Clock Pro can also initiate alarms based on a recurring monthly, weekly, daily, hourly, or even minutely schedule! Even start a countdown timer based on a specific time interval.

All of this is well and good, but what sets this Koingo utility apart from others is the Mac-like interface, floating palettes (all over the place; literally… when will that madness stop), and a soft learning curve that goes from 1) easy to set up and use the basic functions, to 2) add more complex functions as you learn, 3) my God I didn’t know it could do that… do I need a manual?

The screenshot above is where I spend most of my time. I need constant reminders for this or that and I’m not a big fan of iCal. Alarm Clock Pro is more than decent, it’s highly capable for those of us who get through the day with two days worth of reminders.

My biggest complaint about Alarm Clock Pro is the seemingly endless supply of floating palettes. Our Mac screens are large these days and little teeny tiny windows tend to get lost amid the clutter. Otherwise, it works.