Developer: Crop Duster Media
Price: $2.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4S, iPad 2
With Apple’s Siri taking the world by storm of late, many existing iPhone 4 or even iPad owners are finding themselves feeling more than a little “Siri envy.”
While it is true that setting an alarm clock using speech does tend to lose its shine after the first 42 times, there is something to be said for voice-controlled computers and their ability to just make us smile.
A new app going by the name of WakeSmarter is hoping to capitalise on that feel-good feeling by bringing voice-controlled, customisable alarms to people who do not own an iPhone 4S. In fact, anyone with an iPhone from the 3GS onwards and any iPad can get in on the action. The iPod touch 4th generation and beyond is also supported, so long as all these devices are using iOS 5. Everyong is using iOS 5, right?
By now everyone is probably wondering what WakeSmarter actually does. It just so happens we have a handy description coming up, which is a happy coincidence isn’t it?
WakeSmarter is a customisable alarm clock which responds to the sound of the user’s voice. Tell the app to set an alarm for “half past ten tomorrow morning” and that is what happens. For anyone that has used Siri this may not seem anything new, but for everyone else it is definitely a swell party trick.
Users can also ask WakeSmarter to read Facebook or Twitter updates, as well as a selection of RSS feeds should they so wish. But the really interesting part is how the app can be told to wake us up at a specific time and then read these pieces of content to us as we wake. It is an interesting take on the boring alarms we have been using for years, and may just appeal to enough to make WakeSmarter a success.
While the added alarm features are undoubtedly a real plus for WakeSmarter, its somewhat confusing user interface is not. Setting alarms manually can be more confusing than it needs to be, and setting just how WakeSmarter gets you up in the morning can be just as convoluted. The version of the app tested is still very much a 1.0 release, and here’s hoping subsequent updates address such issues.
For $2.99 WakeSmarter could do a job for anyone that wants an alarm clock that goes a little further than what Apple’s stock app offers. The attractive background images assignable to the alarms as well as a handy way to adjust the in-app brightness are also welcome.
Anyone who likes their alarm apps should probably give WakeSmarter a whirl and we have our fingers crossed that Crop Duster Media works on that user interface.