This article is not a review of the perfect alarm clock but rather a “wish list” if you will about what I wish I could fine in one single application.

Since first acquiring my iPhone about 2.5 years ago I have purchased numerous alarm clock or apps designed to soothe you to sleep with relaxing music or sounds.  While it would be ideal to have both kinds of apps combines into one (and some developers have tried with varying degrees of success), I would like to focus this article on what I think would be the ideal alarm clock application.

Before getting into those features, let me explain how I typically use my iPhone at night.

  • First of all, I have a hard time sleeping much of the time so I enjoy listening to soothing music or playlists full or babbling brooks or rain showers accompanied by binaural tones designed to help you sleep.
  • Next I have to dim the brightness of my iPhone so that the brightness of the clock don’t keep me awake.
  • I then have to make sure that my jail-broken phone has the correct profile running (I wouldn’t need to jail-break it if Apple would release apps like that…) to block all pop-ups by turning off WIFI and placing the phone into airplane mode. (It doesn’t do any good to have a clock running during the night if a pop-up blocks the display….)
  • If I need to get up at a specific time I then need to turn on an alarm in the default clock application so that, regardless of the volume level I have my soft music playing, the alarm will go off loud enough to wake me.
  • Finally I can start the night-stand type clock application I use and place my phone in a charging dock for the night.

So, what would an ideal alarm clock application need to have in order to make me happy?

1.       Provide me with sleep timer during which it will fade in and then fade out music of my choice or built in “go to sleep” music or sounds

2.       Access the camera for the first few minutes to adjust the brightness of the clock as you prepare for bed and get the lights turned out

3.       Provide the option to either block all pop-up notifications or, at least, remove them from the screen after a pre-determined time period

4.       Allow for separate volume levels for the music that is playing and the alarm that is set from within the app

SO… are those four things too much to ask for in a single application? You tell me. Better yet, if you know of an application that comes close to offering those features, leave a comment and let me know.  I would love to check it out.