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What is the value add for a wifi-enabled alarm clock? Truly, what do you get from supposedly being able to program it from your phone? You have to download yet
by kempbellt 7y ago
What is the value add for a wifi-enabled alarm clock? Truly, what do you get from supposedly being able to program it from your phone? You have to download yet another proprietary app, go through a tedious syncing process to connect with the device, learn another GUI (unusable in this case), and cross your fingers, hoping that it works.
Is clicking a couple physical buttons on an actual device such a strain?
If you're frequently setting multiple alarms, as many people do on their phones for various reasons, does it benefit you to use this rather than just using your phone?
- PhasmaFelis 7y agoIf someone wants to make a "smart" alarm clock, I'd really like to see one that actually has a ten-digit keyboard with dedicated function buttons, instead of trying to cram all time and alarm functions onto three buttons and a switch. It can't possibly be expensive. Pocket calculators cost $5.
- Johnny555 7y agoI saw an alarm clock like that in a hotel once -- it had a cheap 10 digit keyboard and poorly debounced keys, setting the time was harder than using the backward/forward button style, because typing "12:00" ended up as "11:11" more often than not, it took many tries and a firm press to get the time set correctly.
- cardiffspaceman 7y agoI have the most awesome alarm clock. It has an LED display, a radio, and it plugs into the wall for power. It has a knob for tuning the radio and a small slide switch for adjusting its band. It has assorted other affordances on its outside that I will skip over. The best features are the following: It has a battery-backed time-keeping chip which means it has never needed to have the time reset due to any loss of power to its main power supply. It has a piezo alarm that will sound if the main power is out and the alarm is on and triggered. It also has a slide switch labeled "DST -on DST -off" so in theory I would never have to +/- the time EVER once it was on the right time zone. I found it in a outlet-style store when I was looking for a WWV clock and this clock answers all my clock needs without needing WiFi, Bluetooth, any other antenna (for AM/FM radio it might be using the power cord, but I don't need that). It doesn't need to be told a password and I don't need to set up an account. I think it was marked down to $10 when I bought it.
- scohesc 7y agoBut you can connect to it via NFC to change what kind of tune the piezo buzzer makes on an alarm, right? /s
- cardiffspaceman 7y agoYou purchase the tunes in a store /s
- CharlesColeman 7y ago> I have the most awesome alarm clock. It's cruel to describe such a thing without providing a link or at least a brand name/model number.
- icebraining 7y ago> piezo alarm Yeah, that's why I don't own one. Since I'm not ready to invest in one with a bell/gong, at least my smartphone has a proper speaker. Piezos are good for smoke alarms and such, but waking up to one is awful.
- elaus 7y agoTo be fair that piezo alarm seems to be the fallback for an power outage only. I think it's acceptable to be waken by a piezo instead of having no alarm at all.
- icebraining 7y agoFair enough!
- Izkata 7y agoI have one from around 2005 that sounds basically the same, except with an additional feature that shows its age: It can play a music CD as an alarm. Also bought at a physical store, though I don't remember how much it cost. I think I last used it around 2011, though I do still have it. Wonder if it still works...
- freeone3000 7y agoI've got one that does WWVA/WWVB (useless, as they don't reach Montreal), a DST on/off slider, and a sequence of buttons to set the time, both with +/- buttons and a numpad. It cost me $20, I think.
- chapium 7y agoHow about a dst toggle switch too so you can just flip the hour with a binary switch.
- matt_the_bass 7y agoMy bedside table clock has that.
- RandallBrown 7y agoI'm not sure about the particular model from the article, but I could see wanting to use Pandora or Spotify as your alarm instead of a predefined sound. It could also get more features further down the road.
- mikestew 7y agoSo then it becomes a question of which is easier: 1. Set up a Siri Shortcut "when alarm goes off, play Spotify". Haven't done it, but having been knee-deep in Shortcuts this weekend, I'm confident that it is possible, and (on latest iOS) not difficult even for a Shortcuts n00b. (For Android, I know Tasker can do this.) 2. Fiddle with buggy and not-maintained-as-soon-as-it-shipped application to set alarm clock. Application must run on a computer that, coincidentally, can serve as a full-function WiFi-enabled alarm clock and can set its own damned time.
- RandallBrown 7y agoA wifi enabled alarm clock doesn't have to have a crappy app or even an app at all. Also, alarm clocks tell the time with a quick glance. I like to know what time it is in the middle of the night, just by looking at a clock. You might simply like the look of the alarm clock more than your phone, but still want to be able to use some of those smart features.
- skinnymuch 7y agoThe OP wasn’t defending this specific model. Just having an alarm device in genera. So #2 isn’t the only alternative. Even something like an Alexa device is an alternative. where app is optional.
- onlingyding 7y agoThe stock Android alarm clock app has Spotify support built into it. I honest can't see a use for this in the slightest.
- codedokode 7y agoMore probably you will be waking up to the ads.
- heeen2 7y agoI built a clock from a vfd display and an esp8266 WiFi module just for fun. Since the esp8266 does not have a rtc module and no battery backup it gets it's time from ntp at boot and then every couple hours.
- adamrmcd 7y agoI've done something similar with an esp8266 + 14segment alphanumeric display[1]. That being said, NTP only returns GMT. You still have to hardcode your timezone and whether DST is active or not, right? [1] https://github.com/adamm/esp8266-clockradio https://github.com/adamm/esp8266-clockradio
- heeen2 7y agoyes, just as I hardcoded my wifi credentials. DST can be hardcoded as the range of date that DST has been active historically at your location to automate that, baring discussions of abolishing DST or such. https://github.com/heeen/vfd-clock https://github.com/heeen/vfd-clock looking back at the code, doesn't seem like I handled DST though. I would probably use something like wifimanager now to allow dynamically configuring wifi and other things http://heeen.de/proj/vfd-clock.mp4 http://heeen.de/proj/vfd-clock.mp4
- saagarjha 7y agoIf it’s Wi-Fi enabled, why can’t it just set itself?
- sinni800 7y agoThe article states that it set itself at the first daylight savings change, but apparently the wifi chip broke so now it can't set itself at all anymore
- Bud 7y agoWiFi does not actually give out a reliable time signal, at all. You're thinking of GPS.
- jrockway 7y agoWiFi lets you get to the internet, from which time can be transferred accurately. You probably have a geoIP record too, which lets the clock determine the time zone.
- ryukafalz 7y agoAnd because we live in the year 2019, I bet the alarm clock app tracks you in the background too.
- heleninboodler 7y ago... and was definitely not written by anyone who put any thought into whether the code spins in a tight loop and kills your battery.
- outworlder 7y agoFor a non braindead implementation? You can run NTP and never adjust anything.
- rjsw 7y agoYou still need to be able to choose what time the alarm should go off, NTP won't help with that.
- kempbellt 7y agoHow would you setup access to NTP? Hardwire the alarm to your router? Wifi access? If wifi, how do you setup the wifi? Adhoc wifi with a proprietary app? Still leads to the same problem. Also, as @rjsw mentions, accessing NTP doesn't help with setting alarms. Just setting the clock time - assuming your timezone is set correctly by the device.
- shaftway 7y agoIf only we had some kind of National Institute of Standards and Technology that broadcast the time and daylight savings flags in a machine readable format.
- scintill76 7y agoIf only it were possible to receive such a broadcast without needing wifi.
- kempbellt 7y agoGPS clocks do just this - https://timetoolsltd.com/gps/what-is-the-gps-clock/ https://timetoolsltd.com/gps/what-is-the-gps-clock/
- felipelemos 7y agoGPS clocks works inside a bedroom without a clear view of the sky?
- npsimons 7y ago> What is the value add for a wifi-enabled alarm clock? My dumb alarm clock is the last and only thing I possess that requires I set the time manually. And it drifts. Even my wristwatch autosynchronizes every night to the time server signal sent over RF from Denver. I've seriously considered modding the alarm clock to autosync that way as well. My alarm clock is a sunrise alarm clock with a 100W bulb. Can't quite replace with a cell phone. But maybe with smart bulbs. Hmm, I might have to rethink this whole thing.
- criddell 7y ago> I've seriously considered modding the alarm clock to autosync that way as well. That might be a fun project, but I'd worry a bit about the future of RF time sync. The program was almost shut down this year but was funded after a small fight. I wouldn't be surprised if the funding doesn't come through the next round.
- paulmd 7y agoAnd the best part is - there is no excuse for an AC-powered device with a clock to drift at all, ever. Who needs radio sync signals, NTP servers, or a freaking GPS module (lol) when we have this great hardwired 60 Hz frequency reference which is measured and adjusted for long-term stability... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_frequency#Long-term_stability_and_clock_synchronization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility_frequency#Long-term_st... > Today, AC-power network operators regulate the daily average frequency so that clocks stay within a few seconds of correct time. In practice the nominal frequency is raised or lowered by a specific percentage to maintain synchronization. Over the course of a day, the average frequency is maintained at the nominal value within a few hundred parts per million.[19] In the synchronous grid of Continental Europe, the deviation between network phase time and UTC (based on International Atomic Time) is calculated at 08:00 each day in a control center in Switzerland. The target frequency is then adjusted by up to ±0.01 Hz (±0.02%) from 50 Hz as needed, to ensure a long-term frequency average of exactly 50 Hz × 60 s/min × 60 min/h × 24 h/d = 4320000 cycles per day.[20] In North America, whenever the error exceeds 10 seconds for the east, 3 seconds for Texas, or 2 seconds for the west, a correction of ±0.02 Hz (0.033%) is applied. Time error corrections start and end either on the hour or on the half-hour.[21][22] Efforts to remove the TEC in North America are described at electric clock.