Why don't I hear the weather?
TalkingAlarm only announces the weather with the alarm, to limit the number of requests to the weather data provider. It requests updated weather data one minute before the alarm time, so if you want to test the weather feature you should set the alarm for at least two minutes in the future.
The weather was working, but I didn't hear it this morning.
The weather data provider limits the number of weather updates at any one time. With many people setting their alarms to exactly the same time in the morning the app is occasionally hitting that limit. An update release will be available shortly which fixes this by spreading weather requests in advance of the alarm time.
Why is TalkingAlarm asking to use my location?
The weather information announced with the alarm is based on your location. If you don't want TalkingAlarm to access your location you can enter a location manually in the app's Weather settings. If you have disallowed access the app will not be able to automatically find your location until you go to the device Settings / Privacy / Location Services and set TalkingAlarm to ON.
Why is TalkingAlarm asking to access my calendar?
"Your next appointment is at..." spoken with the alarm gets its data from your calendar. If you have disallowed access the app will not be able to announce your next appointment until you go to the device Settings / Privacy / Calendars and set TalkingAlarm to ON.
Which appointment gets announced with the alarm?
TalkingAlarm looks at your calendar and picks the next appointment within 24 hours which isn't already in progress. e.g. if the alarm is set for 7:00AM it will skip over an appointment that runs 6:30-7:30 (you're late for it already). It also ignores all-day and cancelled appointments. There is a setting to ignore appointments which don't have an alert (like a "hold this time slot" entry). If this announcement is annoying you can turn it off in the Speech Settings.
The ads are too bright at night. How can I make them go away?
You can use the app's Display / Brightness setting to fully dim the clock display (including the ads) at night, and they really aren't so bad when fully dimmed.
I tried the touch/hold brightness thing, but I still think the ads are too annoying.
In response to numerous requests you can now do an "In-App Purchase" of Ad-Free Forever. This option gets rid of the ads immediately and they stay gone when the app is updated. If you delete the app and later reinstall it or download it onto another device, you can restore Ad-Free Forever on those devices at no charge as long as you are using the same Apple ID as when you purchased Ad-Free Forever.
Why do I have to leave the device connected to a charger when using TalkingAlarm overnight?
You don't have to (see below). However, if you want the display active all night, or want to "tap for time" in the middle of the night, you'll have to connect the device to a charger. Depending on your iPhone model, running TalkingAlarm all night may take more power than you can reliably count on from the battery, plus you really want to start the day with your phone fully charged.
I want to use TalkingAlarm as my night time alarm clock, but I don't want to have to connect my phone to a charger all night.
You can turn the screen off using the Sleep/Wake button on the top edge of the device (while TalkingAlarm is running). This will greatly reduce the power consumption. The alarm will still sound with whatever combination of announcements and music you have selected. Sleep music will still play and the time will still announce. However, while the screen is "locked" tap for time announcement and tap for snooze will not work. When the alarm comes on you will have to unlock the device before you can snooze or cancel the alarm. This is due to the nature of iOS. It may still be useful, though (see next FAQ).
OK, but I'm in a motel room with no outlet on the bedside stand.
You can go to the app's Display settings and set the Brightness slider to minimum. Go back to the main clock screen and touch & hold to dim the display. A fully charged iPhone 5 will use about 50% of it's battery in 8 hours of fully-dimmed time display.
I want to use TalkingAlarm during the day to keep me from losing track of time, but without having to set a bunch of reminders.
TalkingAlarm can do this, but it needs to stay running which uses the battery and is a PITA when you use the phone for something else. We recommend another app, TalkingTime, which does this function in the background without using power, keeping your iPhone free for other uses.
How do I stop the annoying nags when I tap for Snooze?
There's a setting for that... and for other announcements on the Speech Settings page.
The info button in the lower right corner of the puzzles goes away when I turn the device on it's side for the larger clock view.
Yes, it does (so you don't accidentally tap it when you are trying to shut off the alarm). Turn the device upright (portrait mode) to get to the info button.
How do I get the volume set right for Alarm/Sleep/Speech?
Use the ringer volume buttons on the left side of the device to control their volume.
How do I dim the brightness of the display at night when I'm sleeping?
Touch and hold the touch (for more than 3/4 second) on the clock display. The display will dim to a level controlled by the brightness slider on the app's Display Settings screen. It will stay dimmed until the Alarm sounds, and will redim if you tap with Snooze enabled. Touch and hold again to toggle the brightness between the dimmed setting and full brightness. If you exit the app while the screen is dimmed, it will stay dimmed until you lock and unlock the screen (this is an iOS "feature").
How do I control all the functions without any buttons on the main clock display?
"Smart Tap". When you tap the screen, TalkingAlarm takes an action appropriate to what's going on:
- If the alarm is sounding and snooze is enabled, a tap is like hitting the snooze button.
- If Snooze is not enabled, or if the alarm is snoozing, a tap cancels the alarm.
- Each of those actions has an accompanying announcement so you know what action was taken.
- If the alarm is not sounding or snoozing, a tap triggers an announcement of the current time.
- A touch/hold toggles the brightness between full-on and the app's brightness slider setting.
- A double tap announces the time of the next calendar appointment.
That's great, but it's too easy for me to inadvertently cancel the alarm by tapping for the time while snoozing.
You can set the "Slide to cancel" switch in Other Alarm Settings and instead of a tap to cancel the alarm, a tap during snooze gives a time announcement and a "slide to cancel" control (like "slide to unlock" or "slide to power off"). Your choice.
I want to record my mother screaming at me to "get your lazy butt out of bed" to encourage me to get up in the morning.
Umm, why? But you can now do just that, or record any other voice, music or song (iPod Touch needs a mic). Your recording can be set to play at the start of the alarm and/or with each time reminder during alarming.
How do I set the app for 12 or 24 Hour mode?
TalkingAlarm respects the 12/24-hour setting of the device. If the device setting is changed, the app will change the next time it is started.
One tune is not long enough for my Sleep time, or for lazy listening to Alarm music in the morning.
You can select more than one song individually, or select an entire play list. Your selection is saved. If the Sleep or Alarm duration is longer than the songs(s) you have choosen, the play repeats. Sleep and Alarm have different selection settings in case you don't want your kick-starting Alarm selection as your soothing Sleep music.
What is your Privacy Policy?
TalkingAlarm will not save or share your personal information on the device or remotely except as follows: TalkingAlarm accesses your calendar only to announce your next appointment time. TalkingAlarm sends your location to World Weather Online to obtain weather data for that location, but sends no personal information with the request for weather data. TalkingAlarm does collect data on feature usage to improve future releases of the app, but no personal data is collected and the feature useage data that is collected is aggregated and not shared with anyone.