Develop Bugs

[Q] Alarm clock randomness?? and alarm apps that don't work!!

I use the alarm clock every day and it randomly won't go off. I've tried minimising the clock, leaving it open, setting a new alarm, using a pre set one..... I can't seem to figure out why its doing it?!
Has anyone else had this sort of issue and any ideas for a fix. Failing that tips for the best ( ie one that will wake me each day ) alarm app?
Cheers......

I just made a thread about this in the general section. But this morning my alarm did not go off. I then hit the power button and it shows the time and all of a sudden it sounds. Its like the time is not updating until I hit the power button.

I use Alarm Clock Plus from the Play Store. I paid for the app, but they offer a free version too.
On my Droid Incredible I had this issue, and Advanced Task Killer was to blame. Once I uninstalled that, it worked fine. I like Alarm Clock Plus as you can select various tones and your music (if you have any on your sdcard).

meber said:
I just made a thread about this in the general section. But this morning my alarm did not go off. I then hit the power button and it shows the time and all of a sudden it sounds. Its like the time is not updating until I hit the power button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah sorry did a search and found nothing!
I've got no task killer just ICS doing its thang.... maybe its cos I've set it to go off Monday to Friday. I'll try individual alarms and see what happens?

I've tried alarm clock + and android alarm and both of these don't work properly for me. Two nights running I've had to rely on my 7 month old son to be my alarm clock (his timing is a bit random but he always goes off !)
Both these alarms seemed to function fine in a test with the screen locked but when I set it over night they both failed ? Is this due to the inbuilt android process of terminating apps when they've not been used for a while?
I've got no task killers installed.....
Can it really be that hard to get a friggin alarm clock that works reliably !!

I'm on SGS2 with ICS and SiyahKernel, but I also downloaded Alarm Clock Plus, I love the functions, interface, great nap feature but... it drives me crazy when it DOESN'T WORK!
Usually disabling alarm and reenabling it again helps, but it's a pain. I'm trying different settings etc, but so far nothing proved to be making Alarm Clock Plus work 100%-stable.
Alarm Clock Xtreme Free on the other hand is rock solid and it's never failed me with regular alarm. However I don't like its nap feature, which is important for me. I'll probably just use both of them - Alarm Clock Xtreme for general alarm and Alarm Clock Plus for naps.
I use no task killers that I'd know about - stock Samsung SGS2 ICS ROM (4.0.3, I9100XXLPQ) + SiyahKernel + GoLauncher Ex.
I'd be really interested in learning a way to make Alarm Clock Plus work in 100% reliable fashion.

Alarm Clock Plus (No Ads) on Samsung Infuse
I purchased Alarm Clock Plus (No Ads) and have yet to be able to use it. Every time I tried to set it up and select the alarm I want it locked up the phone. Sometimes it would come out of lock up and back to the home screen, other times it had to be rebooted.
I had to reflash the ROM to get it to finally get it to work for me.
Try out the free version before you buy the no ads version.
I am running [ROM][2.3.6]SGH-I997 UCLB3[Rooted, Deodexed, Busybox, Zipaligned..

Stock Alarm Clock Default Settings Not Saving?

I set alarms a lot on the fly by using voice commands like "remind me to check food in 7 minutes" or "set alarm for 10 minutes". The problem I'm having is each time I create an alarm, I have to go into the alarm settings and change things like alarm tone, smart alarm >> off, etc. I can't change the defaults, I can only change one time single alarm settings, the defaults are always the same, "Walk in the forest alarm" alarm tone, and smart alarm >> on.
With my Nexus S 4G, I use to be able to press the menu button in the clock app and click a "settings" option which allowed me to change defaults but not on my Galaxy S III, the only options here are "sort by time" and "delete".
The section of the phone where the alarms are listed is in the Clock app. If there's simply no way to change the defaults I'm ok with installing a 3rd party app so long as I can create alarms via voice commands since I use it often as a timer for little things like 10 minutes to check laundry or 7 minutes till food is done cooking. So far I have not found an app that can replace the clock for settings alarms by voice command.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

lordazoroth said:
I set alarms a lot on the fly by using voice commands like "remind me to check food in 7 minutes" or "set alarm for 10 minutes". The problem I'm having is each time I create an alarm, I have to go into the alarm settings and change things like alarm tone, smart alarm >> off, etc. I can't change the defaults, I can only change one time single alarm settings, the defaults are always the same, "Walk in the forest alarm" alarm tone, and smart alarm >> on.
With my Nexus S 4G, I use to be able to press the menu button in the clock app and click a "settings" option which allowed me to change defaults but not on my Galaxy S III, the only options here are "sort by time" and "delete".
The section of the phone where the alarms are listed is in the Clock app. If there's simply no way to change the defaults I'm ok with installing a 3rd party app so long as I can create alarms via voice commands since I use it often as a timer for little things like 10 minutes to check laundry or 7 minutes till food is done cooking. So far I have not found an app that can replace the clock for settings alarms by voice command.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same issues.

justice26 said:
I have the same issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did find this link which discusses this very topic, but it's old and appears to be abandoned. Unfortunately no solution was found: http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/584055-stock-alarm-clock-default-ring-tone.html
I'm not sure if linking to other sites is frowned upon so please don't eat me

Anyone have any 3rd party suggestions for a voice enabled alarm clock?

bump

Ok I think I finally found the information I've been looking for, will report back after testing: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/set-up-android-clock-work-voice-actions-31627.html
In case the site goes down, this is a quote taken from step 2. "Select an alarm clock app from the list that supports the "Set Alarm" voice action. Alarm Clock Xtreme, Gentle Alarm and Alarm Clock Plus all support Voice Action functions for Gingerbread, Android's 2.3 update."

Did you test these apps????
I was so glad to see smn mention this annoying problem with Samsung divises but you didnt come back to tell us if these apps work with the voice commands.
If you have any news, please inform.
lordazoroth said:
Ok I think I finally found the information I've been looking for, will report back after testing: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/set-up-android-clock-work-voice-actions-31627.html
In case the site goes down, this is a quote taken from step 2. "Select an alarm clock app from the list that supports the "Set Alarm" voice action. Alarm Clock Xtreme, Gentle Alarm and Alarm Clock Plus all support Voice Action functions for Gingerbread, Android's 2.3 update."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Gus Hayabusa said:
I was so glad to see smn mention this annoying problem with Samsung divises but you didnt come back to tell us if these apps work with the voice commands.
If you have any news, please inform.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh hey just saw this post. I haven't tested any of these programs I'm afraid. I started using custom ROM's shortly after this post and this hasn't been an issue with AOSP. However I have recently gone back to a Touchwiz ROM due to the fact that AOSP ROM's for the galaxy s3 are rife with bugs and lack any real benefit other than having the latest version of android and occasionally an exclusive feature or two (after half a year of flashing my ass off, AOSP is simply not worth it unless you're using a nexus device).
After looking for a solution again, I stumbled on this old thread and I'm surprised to see that this clear design flaw still hasn't been resolved without using a 3rd party program, fortunately these programs reportedly work with google now (google search) so I'll look around, test some out and report back when I find a winner.
I know the app Gentle Alarm is reported to work as stated here: http://androidforums.com/samsung-galaxy-s3/584055-stock-alarm-clock-default-ring-tone.html though I'm confident others like Alarm Clock Xtreme and Circle Alarm (which is free) should work as well.
-------------------
Update: Been using Gentle Alarm, all better now. It's a pay app, so I'd recommend trying out Circle Alarm first. I don't generally like having to install 3rd party apps to use instead of default ones but It's a small app and it seems to be fine. I'll report back if I notice any battery issues.

Best alarm app to replace stock Samsung clock app?

So, I'm looking to try out a CM10/AKOP based rom, but in the past on other devices I have strayed away because I use the stock Samsung alarm clock every day.
The features I like about the Samsung alarm clock are:
Adjustable snooze time and count
Smart Alarm which has a separate ring tone and is also time adjustable
Disables the lock screen to snooze and turn off the alarm
Doesn't ever get killed by anything (even though I don't run any app killers)
Doesn't have an ugly UI
I am looking for an alarm clock that can replace the stock one, I'd like to have all the features replaced, I also don't mind paying as long as it does what I need it to.
I hope you guys can give me some suggestions

Dude.. try the alarm clock extreme.. u wil get it in the play store.. I simply love the concept of solving maths probs of varying difficulty on it.. all the things u looking fa is also poz.. ma personal favorite since a long tym
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

Maybe you try CircleAlarm. Got no problem with it, works fine.

AlarmClockX is the best.

circle alarm is my weapon of choice for that purpose

dawabz94 said:
circle alarm is my weapon of choice for that purpose
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Click to collapse
Not perfect, but close enough and the BEST one posted in this thread.
Thanks to you and the other poster who mentioned circle alarm.

Daemos said:
Not perfect, but close enough and the BEST one posted in this thread.
Thanks to you and the other poster who mentioned circle alarm.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad you like it !
Perfection is hard to find ... that one is my best option so far

I use a carry-over app from my Palm OS days -- PalmarySoft Alarms. The developer ported it over to Android. I believe it's in the Play store now, but you can also find it at the PalmarySoft website. Nice features. I'm pretty sure it satisfies all your requirements and had additional features. It's a very mature app since it's been around so long.

Surprised no one has mentioned Gentle Alarm. Been faultless for me for over 12 months.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

dawabz94 said:
circle alarm is my weapon of choice for that purpose
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I use currently, but it's missing a lot of features that I like, and the way the per day alarm works is kinda wack. But it looks the best that's for sure. And I like the fact that it puts your next alarm in the notification which gives me security that the alarm's on.

Daemos said:
So, I'm looking to try out a CM10/AKOP based rom, but in the past on other devices I have strayed away because I use the stock Samsung alarm clock every day.
The features I like about the Samsung alarm clock are:
Adjustable snooze time and count
Smart Alarm which has a separate ring tone and is also time adjustable
Disables the lock screen to snooze and turn off the alarm
Doesn't ever get killed by anything (even though I don't run any app killers)
Doesn't have an ugly UI
I am looking for an alarm clock that can replace the stock one, I'd like to have all the features replaced, I also don't mind paying as long as it does what I need it to.
I hope you guys can give me some suggestions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, take a look at Alarm Clock Millenium, it is highly customizable but not yet known (as it's new) maybe it will do more than what you expect cause it did it for me

I had an alarm clock on my Motofail Atrix where you had to stop it via slider. If you just tapped the screen, it went to snooze to annoy you again in 5 min. Missing that somehow as I tend to flip my phone accidentally while picking it up...

thepeoplesclub said:
Surprised no one has mentioned Gentle Alarm. Been faultless for me for over 12 months.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My 2cents ... bought that one long ago but circle alarm fits better the simplicity I expect from apps

Hi all,
I saw this article this morning and thouhg it might be helpfull for those landing here
=> The best alarm clock apps for Android

Circle Alarm is very good and never failed me so far
A.

Neon Alarm Clock
Try my app Neon Alarm Clock.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sykora.neonalarm.free

[Q] Next Alarm falsely reporting "Alarm Not Set"

On my Samsung Galaxy S3, #SALARM# outputs “Alarm Not Set” and #SASET# outputs 0. However, I do have alarms set using the app Alarm Clock Xtreme.
Why isn’t Zooper able to retrieve the next alarm time? Is this a bug with either Alarm Clock Xtreme or Zooper? Is there a workaround?

RiseUp said:
On my Samsung Galaxy S3, #SALARM# outputs “Alarm Not Set” and #SASET# outputs 0. However, I do have alarms set using the app Alarm Clock Xtreme.
Why isn’t Zooper able to retrieve the next alarm time? Is this a bug with either Alarm Clock Xtreme or Zooper? Is there a workaround?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed Alarm Clock Xtreme Free on my SG3 and it works for me. Are you rooted or using a custom ROM?

jimfbk said:
I installed Alarm Clock Xtreme Free on my SG3 and it works for me. Are you rooted or using a custom ROM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I am rooted, but I am not using a custom ROM. Would simply rooting the phone change something like this?
Also, could it be that you still have an alarm set on your stock alarm clock for the same time as the one in your Alarm Clock Xtreme Free, and that's what ZW is reading as the #SALARM#? Just trying to think of everything here...

RiseUp said:
Yes, I am rooted, but I am not using a custom ROM. Would simply rooting the phone change something like this?
Also, could it be that you still have an alarm set on your stock alarm clock for the same time as the one in your Alarm Clock Xtreme Free, and that's what ZW is reading as the #SALARM#? Just trying to think of everything here...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was just curious about which ROM you were using.
No, I don't have any alarms set using the stock Samsung Alarm program (which is pretty nice).
I did notice that when I set an alarm with ACXF, it doesn't show up in the Samsung Alarm program and vice versa, which is probably the source of your issue.

Wow thats baaaaad man thats bad it happens to me all the tme

jimfbk said:
I did notice that when I set an alarm with ACXF, it doesn't show up in the Samsung Alarm program and vice versa, which is probably the source of your issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that is the source of my issue, wouldn't you then experience the same problem of ZW's #SALARM# not retrieving the next alarm time from ACXF? Or am I misunderstanding something? (Which is entirely possible, because I'm quite tired at the moment. )

After much research (as I'm a beginner to the world of Android development/hackery), I have found that the culprit is:
Code:
com.sec.android.app.clockpackage
Within minutes of Alarm Clock Xtreme Free setting the alarm and properly storing the data in the system settings database, the above app (Samsung's built-in clock app) then erases that data, which is stored with the ID of NEXT_ALARM_FORMATTED.
Why? I have no idea, but it sure is frustrating! I wish I could simply remove this offending app so that my next alarm time is properly reported, but this particular one seems to be fairly integral to the phone.

How to change default app for Alarm clock

Hi there
I'm using "Timely" for setting up alarm rather then the default "Clock" app.
Now the thing is that alarms set via Timely do not show the alarm notification in the top left corner on the Notifications bar.
Note : All notifications are turned on.
Only alarm set via default clock app shows up on top left.
Also I tried to set Timely as default app but the option that says "Set as default" is greyed out and hence can't be used.
Would highly appreciate your help and thank you for your time.
Regards

Both of those things are working as designed. The system alarm notification is only generated by the system alarm app. Timely is responsible for it's own notifications. The Set As Default menu item is designed to show any intents the app is set to handle by default, and allow you to clear them, not to set the app as default for an intent. If you aren't pleased with the notifications Timely creates, you should address that to their support.

rcobourn said:
Both of those things are working as designed. The system alarm notification is only generated by the system alarm app. Timely is responsible for it's own notifications. The Set As Default menu item is designed to show any intents the app is set to handle by default, and allow you to clear them, not to set the app as default for an intent. If you aren't pleased with the notifications Timely creates, you should address that to their support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Noted, with thanks.
In this case Timely does not show any notification at all after the alarm is created, will contact it's developer.
Regards

It looks like Timely has some serious problems with recent versions of Android. Look at the reviews. You might look for an alternative. I use Alarmy. It works, although the notifications aren't reliable. At least the alarms are very reliable.

rcobourn said:
It looks like Timely has some serious problems with recent versions of Android. Look at the reviews. You might look for an alternative. I use Alarmy. It works, although the notifications aren't reliable. At least the alarms are very reliable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, received an automated response from developer saying they are too busy due to apps popularity and can't respond.
I will look to use the in built Clock app.
Atleast it will work for sure.

there shld be alarm icon in the status bar. ive seen this on s10
Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

I use Google's clock app instead of the Samsung clock app, and it shows the system alarm icon.

tested with my alarm app too. seems like a bug?
Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

Have you allowed the desired app notification access? If it isn't allowed to add icons to the notification bar then it won't even if the developer of the app tries to fix it...
These are the new security settings for Android which seem to get tighter with every new iteration...
Sorry if I don't seem to be making much sense, only had a few hours sleep in the last few days...

ultramag69 said:
Have you allowed the desired app notification access? If it isn't allowed to add icons to the notification bar then it won't even if the developer of the app tries to fix it...
These are the new security settings for Android which seem to get tighter with every new iteration...
Sorry if I don't seem to be making much sense, only had a few hours sleep in the last few days...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes Notifications were on. I switched to Samsung default clock. Guess the less apps the better.
And thank you for your feedback.

As far as this can help, I recently switched to an android 11 device (also rooted) and am experiencing the same trouble: on my previous phone (sony xperia XZP, android 9) my favourite app AlarmDroid took hold of everything doing the following:
starting automatically
showing the clock icon on the upper bar
correctly playing its alarms
NOT showing in the app in the running apps list
Now, on android 11 happens this:
app does not start automatically
clock icon is shown only if app is running
app correctly plays alarm only if manually started
app shows in running app list: if you close it there it will STOP working and you have to restart it manually
COnsidering that AlarmDroid is quite stable/seasoned code, it looks like woes are due to android 11, which, also, does not show an option to change the default alarm app.
Is there any way to solve this?
Thanks