Danny Recommends: Alarmed
Every so often we dip our toes into a series called Danny Recommends:, posts that tip you off to the stuff that I…you know. These might be products for use in your ministry, resources that will help you develop leaders around you, or just fun stuff that you need. Want. Whatever. For other posts in the series, check out the link at the bottom.
In our super-busy world, we need to remind ourselves to get things done or things may not get done. Task lists are great for reminders that have a date attached, but for those items that need a down-to-the-minute approach, there’s nothing like a good old-fashioned alarm. And by old-fashioned, I mean an alarm tethered to the atomic clock via the mini computer and global internet portal in your pocket.
The iPhone’s native alarm app is fine for some things, but limited in its features. I use it for my wake up call, but for everything else I’ve shifted over to Alarmed.
Alarmed is what the kids call “robust.” (Do the kids actually call things “robust”? I’ll do some research and get back to you.) It has a lot of features packed in to a small package. Here are a few of my favorites:
Schedule alarms as far out as necessary. Where the iPhone forces you to hack around and pick “every Saturday” if you want to be reminded of something later that week, Alarmed lets you pick a day and time way on out into the future.
“Nag me” feature. I’ll be honest: sometimes I’ll smash that alarm button and then forget to do what I was supposed to do. But the “nag me” means I can set additional failsafes to make sure I actually do what I should. And those additional reminders can come a minute later, a day later, etc. Plus, notification badges remind me that something is amiss and needs to be rectified.
Customized alarm tones. Again, iPhone has some of these. But Alarmed has so many, y’all. For example: whenever I book a plane ticket, I set a “check in for flight” alarm. And that alarm is set for 24 hours and one minute before takeoff, so I can get my boarding group (hey-o, Southwest). And that alarm tone is an airplane chime. So soothing. So charming. So nerdy.
Repeatable alarms. Using the “check in for flight” example above, I can save that alarm and “recycle” it at a later date, using all the same settings but editing the actual date and time. Again, iPhone can kind of do this, but Alarmed saves those in a “done” tab, so it’s not cluttering up my “active” screen.
Get notified without being distractified. One of my favorite – if not specific – uses for alarmed is for lunch meetings where I need to be aware of the time but also don’t want to constantly check my phone. I’ve set up a recurring alarm that will give me two rapid vibrations 15 minutes before I need to be wrapping up, and that will repeat every five minutes until I leave. I can keep my phone in my pocket, my attention on my lunch guest, yet still know how we’re doing on time. (And now any of you I’ve ever had lunch with know my hateful little secret.)
As is my normal case, I’m happy to tell you that Alarmed is free. There’s an Extras Package that’ll cost you a whopping $5 as a one-time fee. And while I’ve been really happy with the free version, I might just upgrade as a thank you to the developer, because the app is just that delightful.
Download Alarmed!
See all posts in the Danny Recommends: series.
Disclaimer: FTC watchdogs will probably want to know that the vendors listed / linked above did not ask for this endorsement, nor am I receiving compensation or kickbacks for doing so.
photo credit
