Alarm Clock Pro

From Support Wiki

For a complete product description, download links, and feature outline, visit the product page. This page is for product support only.

Contents 1 Alarms & Configuration 1.1 Creating an Alarm 1.2 Defining alarm presets 1.3 Ensure the computer is on for alarms (Power Manager) 1.4 Increase time before an alarm rings (Time Extender) 1.5 Launch Alarm Clock Pro so alarms can always ring (Alarm Clock Pro Helper) 1.6 Private Alarms 1.7 Sending a text message 1.8 Sending an e-mail message 1.9 Snooze with different time intervals 1.10 Terminating programs as an alarm action 1.11 Text Variables 2 Apple Remote Actions 3 Calculate the amount of time between two dates (Chronoindex) 4 Calculate the current time in another time zone (Time Zone Tools) 5 Calendar 6 Core Actions 7 Creating Clocks 8 Global Keyboard Shortcuts 9 Internal Sound Files 10 Managing Task List Items 11 Onscreen Clocks 12 Putting Task List Items to work (Task Randomizer) 13 Running Automator Actions as an alarm action 14 Stop all ringing alarms when any key is pressed (Key Smasher) 15 Stopwatch 16 Using 24-Hour Time Format 17 Troubleshooting 17.1 Alarms are not ringing 17.2 Computer is not waking from sleep 17.3 OLE Error for iTunes Alarms on Windows 17.4 Alarms have gone missing when upgrading 17.5 Known Issues 18 Feature Requests

Alarms & Configuration

Creating an Alarm

Step 1: Begin by choosing "New" from the "Alarm menu," and then entering an alarm name, then choose one of the alarm types.

• The "Date" alarm type will specify a determinate date, such as July 8, 2009 using Month, Day, and Year menus. Each of these menus has the option for "All." In the case of setting the month to "All", it instead would mean the alarm would ring the 8th day of EVERY month in 2009. Or, setting each menu to "All" would mean every day of every month of every year.
• The "Weekly" alarm type creates an alarm which rings based on the current day of the week in all, or in a specific month. For instance, every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Simply depress the desired weekday(s).
• The "Weekly (Relative)" alarm type will ring on a specific occurrence of a weekday in a month. For instance, the 2nd Sunday of June.
• The "Hourly Chime" alarm type will ring at the specified minute past the hour.
• The "Timer" will ring at the interval. The interval begins every time the alarm is saved, or Alarm Clock Pro is opened.

Step 2: Click "Continue" to go to the Actions step. Drag actions to perform when the alarm rings from the list on the left, to the list on the right. If applicable, an actions configuration window may be shown. The actions in the list on the right can be dragged to be reordered. To remove an action, select it and press the delete key on the keyboard.

Step 3: Click "Continue" once finished adding actions for this alarm to proceed to the "Exclusions" step. In this area, click the + or - buttons to add or remove exclusions. Exclusions are dates when this alarm should skip if it would have otherwise been scheduled to ring.

Step 4: Click "Continue" and specify any additional settings desired, then click "Continue" again.

Step 5: In the "Summary" step, confirm the alarm schedule at the top, the actions which are to ring, and enable the alarm. Click "Create" when ready.

If an action is listed with an error message like "[missing sender]" (in the case of a "Send an e-mail" action), then the action will not execute when the alarm rings, as required details were not configured in the Action "setup" window. Go back and ensure everything required is filled in.

Defining alarm presets

Let's pose a problem. You continually add daily reminders into Alarm Clock Pro and have it display a message box and speak the text to you. However, each time a new alarm is created, the actions have to be configured again.

Presets act as a template for a new alarm, copying over the settings to the new alarm. Presets alarms appear in the "Alarm List Viewer" under the "Presets" collection.

Creating a Preset

1. Create a new alarm with the desired configuraiton.
2. Drag the alarm from the "All Alarms" list in the "Alarm List Viewer" into the "Presets" collection.
3. To turn the preset back into a regular alarm, drag them out of the "Presets" collection.

Creating an Alarm Using a Preset

1. Choose "New From Preset..." from the "Alarm" menu and select the desired preset.

Ensure the computer is on for alarms (Power Manager)

NOTE: This feature is not available in the App Store version due to Apple's restrictions.

As Alarm Clock Pro cannot be running while the computer is off, the "Power Manager" can schedule power events to wake (and/or turn on) the computer 5 minutes before alarms will ring. Additionally, different types of power events can also be scheduled. This feature is only compatible with Mac OS X, and if being run on a laptop, the laptop lid must remain open for the system to be able to activate itself.

When automatically scheduling power events, events are only configured for date-based alarm types such as "Date", "Weekly", and "Weekly (Relative)." Events will not be configured for Timers or Hourly Chimes. Additionally alarms which are not enabled, or are presets, will not have power events scheduled.

Before automatically configuring the system power manager to wake for alarms, first ensure all desired alarms have Power Manager Integration enabled.

Ensuring Power Manager Integration is Enabled for Alarms

1. Open each alarm, and proceed to the "Additional" step.
2. Check the "Power Manager Integration" checkbox.
3. Proceed to the "Summary" step.
4. Ensure the alarm is enabled.
5. Save the alarm.

Automatically Configuring the Power Manager

1. Open the "Power Manager" from the "Alarm" menu.
2. Select all previously created power events.
3. Click the minus (-) button to remove them, and enter the administrator password when required.
4. Click the "Automatically Configure..." button.
5. Specify the action to perform 5 minutes prior to alarms ringing (ie. Wake up the computer).
6. Specify the number of days from today onward to schedule power events for.
7. Click "Auto Configure" and enter the administrator password if required.

Increase time before an alarm rings (Time Extender)

The Time Extender increases the minutes, hours, days, months and years of an alarm before it is to ring. It is also able to increase the amount of time in multiples. This is useful for setting an alarm for a certain number of sleep cycles. In the event of increasing a "wake me up" alarm by one sleep cycle (assuming the sleep cycles are 1.5 hours each), use the steps below and specify 1 hour, 30 minutes on the alarm in question. This will change it, say, from a ring time of 6:30am to 8:00am.

1. Selected the desired alarm in the main list.
2. Choose "Extend Time..." from the "Alarm menu."
3. Enter the amount of time, and a multiplier to extend it by. The value of each of the fields above the divider are multiplied by the multiple and then added together.
4. Click OK.

Launch Alarm Clock Pro so alarms can always ring (Alarm Clock Pro Helper)

The Alarm Clock Pro Helper is a background application (for Mac OS X only) that will automatically launch Alarm Clock Pro when an enabled alarm is about to ring. This applies to all alarm types except for Timers. To verify the helper application is running, open "Activity Viewer.app" (that comes with Mac OS X) from the Utilities folder, and ensure "acphelper" is running.

Installing the Alarm Clock Pro Helper

1. Select "Preferences" from the "Alarm Clock Pro menu," and click the "General" tab on the toolbar.
2. Under the "Launch Alarm Clock Pro when alarms are to ring (Mac OS X)" header, press the "Install" button. If this button says "Upgrade", an older copy of the helper is installed, and it should be upgraded. If the button says "Uninstall" instead, the latest copy of the helper is already installed.

If installed, the helper is automatically launched when Alarm Clock Pro is closed. However, it is quit during logout. To have the helper automatically restart, follow the steps below.

Adding the Alarm Clock Pro Helper to the Login Items

1. Select "Preferences" from the "Alarm Clock Pro menu," and click the "General" tab on the toolbar.
2. Under the "Add the Alarm Clock Pro Helper to Login Items (Mac OS X)" header, press the "Register" button. If this button says "Unregister", then the helper has already been configured to launch at login.

If the helper is not automatically launching Alarm Clock Pro, check "Console.app" (which comes with Mac OS X) for error messages regarding Alarm Clock Pro or "acphelper".

Private Alarms

"Private Alarms" are alarms which do not appear in the alarm menu (Mac OS X), the alarm list, or on the Calendar. However, they can still ring and display an alert if they did not ring when due.

Marking an Alarm as Private

1. Open the "Alarm Setup Assistant" for any alarm.
2. Proceed to the "Additional" step.
3. Check the "Private alarm" checkbox, and save the alarm.

Hiding private alarms

1. Choose "Hide Private Alarms" from the "View" menu.

Sending a text message

Alarm Clock Pro can send a text message to a cell phone. This may require contacting the cell phone provider and ensure they allow the phone to receive text messages (SMS) from the web. Standard text messaging rates will apply. All of the fields may contain Text Variables.

Create a Text Message Alarm

1. Create a new alarm.
2. Drag the "Send a text message" action from the list on the left, to the list on the right, in the "Actions" step.
3. Configure the Sender e-mail address. This is likely your e-mail address.
4. Specify the cell carrier of the recipient's phone number. You may need to ask the recipient for this information.
5. Enter the recipient's phone number. Only include numbers — no periods, dashes, spaces, brackets, or letters.
6. Ensure the used character count does not exceed Total Message Maximum displayed at the bottom of the window. If it does, the message may be rejected, or cropped.
7. Click the "Server" category, and specify the SMTP server settings associated with your sender e-mail.
8. Click OK, and then continue setting up the alarm.

At a bare minimum specify the sender, recipient, SMTP/Mail server address and port to send the mail. If this information is not known, it can usually be obtained from a users ISP.

Sending an e-mail message

Alarm Clock Pro can send an e-mail message, with attachments if desired, to a specific address. All of the fields may contain Text Variables.

Create an E-Mail Alarm

1. Create a new alarm.
2. Drag the "Send an e-mail" action from the list on the left, to the list on the right, in the "Actions" step.
3. Configure the Sender e-mail address, recipient address, e-mail subject, and message body.
4. Click the "Attachments" category, and click the plus ( ) button to attach files to this e-mail when it is sent. Additionally, if a web cam picture or screenshot was taken in an action before this one, it can be included here via the two checkboxes as well.
5. Click the "Server" category, and specify the SMTP server settings.
6. Click OK, and then continue setting up the alarm.

At a bare minimum specify the sender, recipient, SMTP/Mail server address and port to send the mail. If this information is not known, it can usually be obtained from a users ISP.

Snooze with different time intervals

The "Snooze" feature will put the alarm back to sleep for a specified number of minutes. To get the "Snooze button," an alarm action to "Show an alarm notice" or "Play a multimedia file" must be created.

"Snooze Intervals" are specified in the Preferences window under "Ringing." If Snooze Intervals are not specified, alarms will always snooze for 5 minutes. Alternatively, a list of minute intervals can be defined. For example: 20,10,3 would snooze the alarm for 20 minutes the first time Snooze is pressed, then 10 minutes the next time, and then every subsequent time 3 minutes. This snooze interval list is comma delimited, without spaces.

Terminating programs as an alarm action

Alarm Clock Pro has the native ability to launch documents and applications, but not close them. However, it is possible through the system command line.

Create an Alarm to Close a Program on Mac OS X

1. Create a new alarm by choosing "New" from the "Alarm" menu.
2. Setup the alarm as desired, and continue to the "Actions" step.
3. Drag the "Perform a shell command" action to the actions list on the right.
4. A configuration window will automatically be shown asking for the command to execute. If not, click the "Setup" button next to the action in the list.
5. Enter the command: killall "MyApplication"
   The value in quotes above should be the executable name of the program to close. If the executable name is not known, open the "Activity Monitor" application that comes with Mac OS X while the application is running, and use the name that is shown under the "Process Name" column.
6. Press "Done" and continue to setup and activate the alarm as desired.

Text Variables

When composing an e-mail, sending a text message, saving a screenshot, saving a web cam shot, displaying an alert, or performing various other tasks in Alarm Clock Pro which involve text, variables can be used to insert dynamic information. See the chart below.

[alarm-name]	The name of the alarm.
[short-time]	The time, without seconds (ie. 11:50 AM) based on the system date settings.
[long-time]	The time, with seconds (ie. 11:50:23 AM) based on the system date settings.
[short-date]	The short date (ie. 11/28/2011) based on the system date settings.
[long-date]	The long worded date (ie. Thursday, May 15, 2011) based on the system date settings.
[YYYY]	The four digital representation of the year.
[MM]	The two digit (with leading zeros if necessary) number of the current month.
[M]	The number of the current month. May be one or two digits.
[DD]	The two digit (with leading zeros if necessary) current day of the month.
[D]	The current day of the month. May be one or two digits.
[HH]	The two digit (with leading zeros if necessary) current hour. Represented in 24-Hour Format.
[H]	The current hour. May be one or two digits. Represented in 24-Hour Format.
[XX]	The two digit (with leading zeros if necessary) current hour. Represented in 12-Hour Format.
[X]	The current hour. May be one or two digits. Represented in 12-Hour Format.
[AMPM]	Displays AM if the time on or before 11:59am, or PM if the time is afterward.
[ii]	The two digit (with leading zeros if necessary) current minute.
[i]	The current minute. May be one or two digits.
[SS]	The two digit (with leading zeros if necessary) current second.
[S]	The current second. May be one or two digits.
[username]	The full username of the currently logged in user (not the short username).
[localip]	The local IPv4 address of this machine (ie. 192.168.1.100).
[macaddress]	The MAC (ethernet) address of the first network card in this machine (ie. 00:FF:00:FF:FF:FF).

Apple Remote Actions

Alarm Clock Pro can interact with the Apple Remote that comes with most Macintosh computers, and perform a unique Core Action for each button. This feature only works on Mac OS X.

Specify a Core Action for a Button

1. Open the "Preferences" window via the "Alarm Clock Pro" menu.
2. Click the "Remote" tab on the toolbar.
3. Choose a Core Action for each button as desired.

Calculate the amount of time between two dates (Chronoindex)

The "Chronoindex" determines the number of days, hours, minutes and seconds between two dates.

Showing the Chronoindex

1. Choose "Chronoindex" from the "Window" menu, or click the "Chronoindex" button on the toolbar for the main window.

Adding a Time Index

1. Click the "Add Index" button on the toolbar of the "Chronoindex" window.
2. Specify both dates to calculate the time difference between, or choose the relative setting.
3. Enable a label color and select it if desired.
4. Click "Create".

Calculate the current time in another time zone (Time Zone Tools)

Use the "Time Zone Tools" to calculate the time in a different time zone. This feature works based off of the two selected time zone's GMT offsets. Daylight Savings Time is not automatically accounted for, and the presented DST checkboxes must be manually enabled if necessary.

Showing the Time Zone Tools Choose "Time Zone Tools" from the "Window menu," or cick the "Time Zones" button on the toolbar for the main window.

Calculating Time Zone Differences Simply enter the date and time of one time zone and select it in the popup menu in the first section, and enter the second one below to have the other time zone's current time calculated.

Calendar

This feature, found under the "Window menu," provides a monthly overview of when alarms will execute. Only date-based alarm types like "Date", "Weekly", and "Weekly (Relative)" will be visible (unlike Timers and Hourly Chimes). Alarms are automatically assigned a random color to help differentiate between other entries.

Edit or Create an Alarm Double click any entry on the calendar to open up the Alarm Setup Assistant for that alarm. To create a new alarm entry for a specific date, click the day once to select it, then right-click the calendar and choose the "New Alarm" option.

Change the Viewed Month Right-click anywhere on the calendar and choose an option like "Next Year", "Next Month", or select a new year value.

Core Actions

Certain features in Alarm Clock Pro, such as the "Key Smasher" or Apple Remote integration make use of "Core Actions." These are described in more detail below.

No Action	Do not do anything.
Stop Ringing (All)	Stops the Dock icon from bouncing, stops any playing media, stops the menubar icon from flashing, stops iTunes, and stops speaking.
Stop Bouncing	Stop the Dock icon from bouncing.
Stop Flashing	Stop the menubar icon from flashing.
Stop iTunes	Stop iTunes from playing.
Stop Playing Media	Stop playing any multimedia within Alarm Clock Pro.
Stop Speaking	Stop speaking any text being read.
Snooze	Snooze any alarms with an "alarm notice" or media window open.
Stopwatch Action	Starts or stops the "Stopwatch."
Stopwatch Lap	Presses the Lap button in the "Stopwatch".
Stopwatch Reset	Presses the Reset button in the "Stopwatch".
System Volume Up	Turns the system volume up 10%.
System Volume Down	Turns the system volume down 10%.
iTunes Volume Up	Turns up the iTunes volume by 10%.
iTunes Volume Down	Turns down the iTunes volume by 10%.
Randomize Task	Shows, if necessary, the "Task Randomizer" and chooses a new task at random.
Quit Alarm Clock Pro	Attempts to quit Alarm Clock Pro. May fail if the "Prevent Quit" option is enabled.

Creating Clocks

Creating a custom clock for use in Alarm Clock Pro with the "Clock Plugin Designer" is a relatively easy process, and will allow a user to create a digital or analog clock which is visible on the screen.

1. Choose "Clock Plugin Designer" from the "Clocks" menu.
2. Select either a Digital or Analog clock design.
3. Choose image files from the computer as required. For instance, for a digital clock, an image for the numbers zero through nine, as well as a few others will be needed.
4. Specify additional options if desired.
5. Click the "Generate" button and save the clock anywhere on the computer.
6. Choose "Install Clock Plugin..." from the "Clocks" menu and choose the file that was just saved.
7. The clock should now be successfully installed and available for viewing via the "Clocks" menu.

Clock Plugins can be installed in the following locations:

On Mac OS X:

1. Next to the Alarm Clock Pro program file in a folder called "Clock Plugins"
2. Inside Alarm Clock Pro.app/Contents/Resources/Clock Plugins/
3. Inside Home/Library/Application Support/Alarm Clock Pro 9/Clock Plugins/

On Windows Vista:

1. Next to the Alarm Clock Pro program file in a folder called "Clock Plugins"
2. Inside C:\Users\YourUserName\Application Data\Alarm Clock Pro 9\Clock Plugins

On Windows XP:

1. Next to the Alarm Clock Pro program file in a folder called "Clock Plugins"
2. Inside C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application Data\Alarm Clock Pro 9\Clock Plugins

Global Keyboard Shortcuts

Alarm Clock Pro has two Global Keyboard Shortcuts. These are two permanently enabled keyboard commands that will work from whichever application is open on the computer, as long as Alarm Clock Pro is open in the background. This feature is for Mac OS X only.

• Command (Apple)-Option-Control-Spacebar will perform the Core Action "Stop Playing Media"
• Command (Apple)-Option-Shift-Spacebar will perform the Core Action "Stop iTunes"

Internal Sound Files

Internal sound files can be used throughout Alarm Clock Pro. These include areas like the option in the "Preferences" window under "Tasks" to specify which audio file plays when a random task is chosen, or which files show up under the "cog" icon in the "Play a multimedia file" alarm action setup.

These sound file lists are populated from all audio files in the following locations:

• Mac OS X:
• /Applications/Alarm Clock Pro/Alarm Clock Pro.App/Contents/Resources/Sounds
• /User/Your_User_Name/Library/Sounds/
• /User/Your_User_Name/Library/Application Support/Alarm Clock Pro 9/Sounds/
• /Library/Sounds/
• /System/Library/Sounds/

Windows XP:

• C:\Program Files\Alarm Clock Pro\Resources\Sounds
• C:\Documents and Settings\Your_User_Name\Application Data\Alarm Clock Pro 9\Sounds

Windows Vista/7:

• C:\Program Files\Alarm Clock Pro\Resources\Sounds
• C:\Users\Your_User_Name\Application Data\Alarm Clock Pro 9\Sounds

Install a New Sound

1. Choose "Install New Sound..." from the "Alarm" menu.
2. Choose an audio file.
3. The sound will now be available wherever Internal Sound Files are referenced. The sound file will be installed to:
   Mac OS X: /User/Your_User_Name/Library/Application Support/Alarm Clock Pro 9/Sounds/
   Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\Your_User_Name\Application Data\Alarm Clock Pro 9\Sounds
   Windows Vista: C:\Users\Your_User_Name\Application Data\Alarm Clock Pro 9\Sounds

Managing Task List Items

Tasks can be added, edited, and removed from the "Task List Viewer" window. Task items are not alarms, and will never ring. This is a list manager only.

Choose "Task List Viewer from the "Window" menu, or click its icon on the toolbar of the main window.

• To create a new task, click the "New" button on the toolbar. Alternatively, "New" can be chosen from the "Task" menu.
• Delete a task by selecting it in the list and hitting delete on the keyboard, clicking the "Delete" button in the toolbar, or choosing "Delete" from the "Task" menu.
• Modifications to tasks are possible by choosing "Edit" from the "Task" menu, double clicking it in the list, or clicking the "Edit" button on the toolbar.

By default, the priority setting has no effect on the task item. However, the "Display tasks with higher priority more frequently" option in the "Preferences" window will increase the likelihood that a task is picked when using the "Task Randomizer."

Onscreen Clocks

Alarm Clock Pro offers numerous onscreen clocks and the ability to add more, or create your own!

Display a Clock "The Swim Clock," "Resize Clock," and any custom clocks are all made available under the "Window" menu. Simply select it to have it shown.

Closing a Clock To close one of these clocks, control-click (or right-click) it and choose "Close" from the contextual menu.

Make the Resize Clock Full Screen To make the "Resize Clock" full screen, option-click anywhere inside the window, or right-click it and choose the "Full Screen option."

Customize the Resize Clock The "Resize Clock" has many customizable options for style, choose "Preferences" from the "Alarm Clock Pro menu" (Mac OS X) or "Edit" menu (Windows), then click the "Resize Clock" tab on the toolbar.

Putting Task List Items to work (Task Randomizer)

The "Task Randomizer" randomly displays one enabled task.

• Choose "Task Randomizer" from the "Window" menu.

By default, the "Random" button must be clicked to get the next random task item. However, an option configurable in the "Preferences" window can automatically continually click this button after a predefined number of seconds.

Additionally, the feature to force items with a higher priority to appear more frequently, or have the alarm text spoken can be enabled.

1. Choose "Preferences" from the "Alarm Clock Pro menu" (Mac OS X) or the Edit menu (Windows)
2. Click the "Tasks" tab on the toolbar.

Running Automator Actions as an alarm action

It is possible to run compiled Automator Actions within Alarm Clock Pro to handle tasks that Alarm Clock Pro does not have Action types for.

1. Save the Automator Action out as an "Application" by choosing "Save As..." from the "File" menu.
2. Create a new alarm in Alarm Clock Pro, and add the "Open a file" action, and choose the Automator Action application that was just saved out.

Stop all ringing alarms when any key is pressed (Key Smasher)

The "Key Smasher" can automatically perform a variety of actions when any key is pressed. This can be useful in the event Alarm Clock Pro is used for waking you from sleep. Instead of frantically looking for the right button to turn off the alarm, the "Key Smasher" can be told to stop all playing multimedia files when ANY key is hit.

The "Key Smasher" should not be used when the computer is in use. Fairly obvious is the reason — typing will cause the "Key Smasher" to perform its action and potentially allow you to miss alarms.

Configuring & Enabling the Key Smasher

1. Open the "Preferences" window from the "Alarm Clock Pro" menu (Mac OS X), or "Edit" menu (Windows).
2. Click the "Ringing" tab on the toolbar.
3. Check the "Key Smasher enabled" checkbox.
4. Specify additional conditions for the "Key Smasher" if desired.
5. Choose one of the many Core Actions the "Key Smasher" should perform when a key is pressed.

Stopwatch

The "Stopwatch" measures the precise amount of time that has elapsed, including the ability to measure multiple laps.

Create a New Stopwatch

• Choose "Stopwatch" from the "Window menu," or click the "Stopwatch" button on the toolbar for the main window.
• Repeat as necessary to create multiple Stopwatches.

Stopwatch Buttons

• Click the "Info" button to view the duration of all the passed laps and when they were initiated.
• Clicking "Reset" will erase the lap history.

Key Combinations

• Press the "Enter" or "Return" key to start or stop the "Stopwatch."
• Press the "R" key to Reset the "Stopwatch."
• Press the "L" key to Lap the Stopwatch."

Using 24-Hour Time Format

Alarm Clock Pro uses the system date and time to run alarms, as well as the setting for format. Choose the correct localization on the computer and relaunch Alarm Clock Pro to enable input in different date and time formats.

Enable 24-Hour Input on Mac OS X

1. Choose "System Preferences" from the Apple menu.
2. Click the "International" icon.
3. Click the "Formats" tab.
4. Choose a non-Unicode region from the "Region" menu that has the Date and Time format that is desired.
5. Restart Alarm Clock Pro.

Customizing Date and Time formats manually using the "Customize..." buttons will not affect how they appear in Alarm Clock Pro.

Troubleshooting

Alarms are not ringing

If an alarm is set up and it doesn't ring when the time comes, there are a few things to check.

• Make sure Alarm Clock Pro is open or, on Mac OS X only, that have Alarm Clock Pro Helper is installed.
• Verify the Enabled box is checked next to the alarm in the main list. If this is a recurring alarm, and this box is continually becoming unchecked, the "Allow this alarm to ring multiple times" checkbox will need to enabled in the Additional step of the "Alarm Setup Assistant" window.
• If the computer was asleep or shutdown, the alarm will not have rung unless it was configured in the Power Manager. In conjunction with configuring the "Power Manager," the "Power Manager integration" checkbox in the Additional step of the "Alarm Setup Assistant" window for each applicable alarm must be checked.
• The computer may have screensaver password protection enabled. Wake events are scheduled 5 minutes prior to alarms ringing; however, when the system wakes up it may ask for an administrator password. If no password is entered within 60 seconds, it may go back to sleep. This means the system will no longer be awake for the alarm to ring.
• The alarm configuration may now be incomplete, and the alarm did ring, but some of the actions failed to execute. This may happen if, for instance, an "Open a file" action was specified, and the file that it was attempting to open has since been deleted. To check this, proceed to the Summary step of the "Alarm Setup Assistant" and check for errors in the actions list.
• Speaker volume may have been turned down or off so it appeared as nothing happened for audio alarms.

If problems persist, please Contact Support.

Computer is not waking from sleep

If the computer fails to wake from sleep, there are a few possible solutions.

• If on a laptop, ensure the lid is open.
• Maybe the computer did wake up, but went back to sleep prematurely because the operating system required authentication. Disabling the screensaver password is one workaround, as if there was no password entered within 60 seconds, the computer goes back to sleep.
• The system clock may have been set incorrectly when configuring the "Power Manager." Correct this, and reconfigure it.

The machine may be outdated and not support the wake from sleep feature. Virtually all computers from 2000 onward support the wake from sleep feature. If the program is on a newer machine and Mac OS X 10.4 or later and it still does not work, contact product support.

OLE Error for iTunes Alarms on Windows

Alarm Clock Pro can lose contact with iTunes if a misconfiguration is present on the system. This will result in an OLE Exception error message. Please re-download iTunes with QuickTime and install to correct this problem.

Alarms have gone missing when upgrading

The latest version of Alarm Clock Pro no longer imports version 8.x settings. To get your alarms into the latest version:

1. Download, install, and launch Alarm Clock Pro 9.2.6 from the Older Versions link on the product page.
2. Ensure all of your alarms automatically imported correctly from the 8.x preferences.
3. Quit and delete Alarm Clock Pro 9.2.6.
4. Download, install, and launch the latest version of Alarm Clock Pro.
5. Ensure the alarms were properly imported from version 9.2.6.

Known Issues

1. It is possible to delete the Presets collection.
2. iTunes playlists fail when remote speakers are not connected. Program should auto-switch to "Use Computer" speakers when speakers not available.
3. Does not re-open windows on the correct screen. For instance, if the window was placed on screen #2 and then closed, it will be re-opened on screen #1. (date produced: 2008-09-12, appeared in version: 8.5.4)
4. If a window is to be opened centered, it opens centered in the middle of the total of all screens forcing the window to be straddled across multiple screens, versus the centered across the first screen. (date produced: 2008-09-12, appeared in version: 8.5.4)
5. Reducing the width of a column in the Alarm List Viewer far enough will start replacing the blue/white background with solid white. (date produced: 2010-Sep-14 in version 9.3.2, appeared in version 9.1)
6. Alarm List Viewer sort direction/column does not save/restore.

Feature Requests

1. The current timer doesn't offer the needed functionality for fitness training. The key to what would make Alarm Clock Pro useful as a fitness timer is that you can set 1 or 2 intervals and the number of repeats.
2. Warn x days, min, hours, sec before an alarm is to ring with a message box (like iCal).
3. CoreActions to enable/disable/pause/resume/preview other alarms.
4. Change screen brightness
5. Ability to specify 24-hour time format manually instead of using OS Region.
6. Set sound output device via AudioPlayThruMBS
7. When playing a playlist in iTunes, allow the setting of the 'Randomize' feature in iTunes as well.
8. Save/Restore system volume
9. Spotify support to begin playing a playlsit.
10. If iTunes alarm fails (15 attempts msg), perform a backup action.
11. Disable Apple Remote integration if desired
12. For Alerts/Notices, make sure to display on the current user "space" on Mac OS X
13. Save SMTP settings to default location
14. Calendar popup window when setting an alarm by date
15. Ability to make the Task Randomizer movable (not always on top).
16. Add GROWL notification for Task Randomizer.
17. Add a Bigger Menu Bar Icon.
18. Add a Search field for timezone calculator.
19. Ability to close a program by name immediately or on a timer.
20. Option to disable automatic ringing of alarms overdue by more than 5 minutes. Alarm Clock Pro presently checks alarms frequently to see if they should have rung, but didn't, while the program was open. This can happen if the computer was asleep while the app was open and the alarm was due, or the app stalled for the minute during the time it should've rung.
21. Ability to play video in fullscreen.
22. Ability to save the Timer window position.
23. Ability to select iTunes speakers.
24. Timers still fire when program is closed.
25. Ability for timer window to go in background.
26. Allow the application to be scripted using Automator or AppleScript to create new alarms or play existing ones.
27. Add a new Action to automatically resume playback in iTunes (useful in case a stream stalls).
28. Keyboard shortcuts for all the functions (start/stop, reset, etc.).
29. Option to save out lap times to a text file.
30. Full-screen visual timer to aid when timing speeches.
31. Project Timers in a count-up clock style (for services by the hour for example).
32. Alarm Clock Pro remembers folder view (without returning to all alarms folder).
33. Timer field to have a value limit of 60 min/sec.
34. Desktop-level clocks.
35. Additional cell phone networks for text message alarm - Centennial Wireless / http://www.centennialwireless.com/index2.php
36. iTunes fade out.
37. Support multiple iTunes libraries.
38. Only launch ACP when needed; let Daemon handle some events.
39. Speak/display weather & news — RSS based.
40. DVD-Alarm Type (Mac only).
41. Scroll Stopwatch if offscreen because of too many laps (main timer + listbox).
42. Bulk-edit alarms.
43. Ability to record own reminders, and playback.
44. Add CDs and shared music to iTunes playlist choices.
45. Visual time zones map.
46. Power Manager should auto configure when alarms save.
47. Use 8-bit window masks on Windows.
48. Auto-snooze when alarm media ends.
49. iTunes Smart playlist ring option.
50. Play random iTunes Song: new option for checked songs only.
51. Make clocks remain visible with full-screen applications.
52. Countdown-style reminders which remind the user of important events at preset intervals, with a final alarm on the date & time of the event.
53. Option for alarm categories in ACP menu bar item list.
54. Alerting dialog remains on screen until acknowledged (loop after acknowledgment).
55. New Chronoindex view options: days, hours, minutes, seconds.
56. Ability to hide the application icon in the Dock.
57. Allow specific weekdays/times to be excluded, and allow exceptions in Timer category.
58. Label stopwatch/timers.
59. Quicktime videos play in full screen.
60. Power Manager functionality in XP/Vista.
61. Add "days" box to timer mode.
62. Alarm checker feature: To list all alarms set to ring within a specific time period set by the user.
63. Ability to uninstall clocks.
64. Put an alarm log somewhere which lists all past alarm actions.
65. Podcast alarm type.
66. Wallpaper clocks (see link for examples) http://www.vladstudio.com/wallpaperclock/
67. Export stopwatch lap times.
68. Ability to import alarms from a text file to use the default alarm settings.
69. Option to open websites/applications in background.
70. Ability to set system output devices for audio alarms. See also: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/26433/audio-switcher
71. Multi-stage Timer alarms. Example: 25 minute alarm, 5 minute alarm, alternating until the user disables or removes the alarm.
72. Aggressive anti-snooze options (including typing a complex sentence or answering a complex math problem).
73. Power Manager improvements: Wake from sleep. Add ability to configure the amount of time the power manager event will trigger before an alarm. One-time authentication. Automatic removal of alarms from power manager when deactivated.
74. Visual Timer - Reskin/Resize options.
75. Special event reminders (birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, etc.). Other options could include calendar integration, time settings for the reminder, and reminder repeat settings.
76. Preferences setting for common exclusions presets (weekends, holidays, etc.).
77. Text transparency slider for the clock text. Potentially useful when used with a background image.
78. Restore pause/resume function to Visual Timer.