QuickAdvice: Turn Your iPad Into A Real Alarm Clock With Alarm Clock HD Pro
Alarm Clock HD Pro ($2.99) by iHandySoft Inc. will turn your iPad into an alarm clock that actually feels like a real alarm clock, minus the unattractive bulk.
Alarm Clock HD Pro is the ad-free, iPad version of the ever-popular iPhone original. Launch the app and you'll get a digital alarm clock complete with the LCD look and feel. The clock can be shown in various colors that can be chosen from the Settings. Also, there are options to use a 24-hour clock, show the seconds or day of the week, and auto lock options. The clock can be viewed in both portrait and landscape mode.
There is a unique method of sliding your finger up or down the screen to adjust the brightness of the clock. This is great to adjust it to your needs, since it currently needs to be running to have an alarm go off (where is the iOS 4 update for the iPad?). Having this option instead of going to the main device Settings for brightness is a really handy feature.
And what about those times when you need to get up in the middle of the night in complete darkness, and the light switch is all the way on the other side of the room? Alarm Clock HD Pro allows you to double tap the clock screen to toggle an ultra bright white screen that serves as a flashlight. Handy, huh? It combines the little things into one slick package.
Now, since you have an alarm clock app, you will most likely want to use this as an alarm clock, right? Well, Alarm Clock HD Pro has you covered! You can create new alarms and choose from either the in-app sound library or your tunes from the iPod app. Select individual songs, artists, albums, or whatever you'd like to play when you wake up. If you want variety, spice it up by having the music on shuffle. Maybe the mix will help you awaken faster with a random blaring guitar solo.
You can have multiple alarms at once, just like the default Clock app that is somehow absent on the iPad (really, Apple?). Once the alarm goes off, it will show the alarm time in the middle of the screen in a nice overlay over the regular time. There will be a button to end the alarm and another to snooze it. Since this is an iPad and you can't feel for physical buttons, this may help you wake up a bit since you'll have to take a peek at what you're tapping. But be careful, don't want to hit that End Alarm button and fall back to sleep only to be late for your important meeting!
The only current drawback is that this app will have to be running for the alarm to work. This is because iOS 4 is not out on the iPad yet. The iPhone counterpart is able to run in the background and still have alarms go off because of the multitasking APIs. But with the addition of slide-for-brightness feature, having to keep the app open isn't so bad. But once the iPad gets multitasking, this app will be perfect clock on the iPad.
For $2.99, this is cheaper than having to go out and buy a real alarm clock. Unless you're missing the iPad. Then I'd recommend you just get the alarm clock. Or maybe the iPhone app. Unless, you don't have that either (but you're on an iPhone app site, you probably do).
