alarm

Last fall, iPhone owners were hit by a daylight savings alarm bug, which allowed them to sleep in, even if they didn't want to. A work-around was put into place (by setting a new alarm each day — no reoccurring ones), but users were still skeptical about the effectiveness.

Be warned — daylight savings time is here again (we're all "springing forward" this weekend), and if you're not willing to pony up for a cute nightstand clock (you know, old school), you can always install one of these reliable iPhone alarm apps to use instead.

• Alarm Clock + (Free) — This simple app uses your music as your alarm, provides automatic weather reports with your internal GPS, and has a flashlight for those late-night bathroom trips.
• Clock Pro Free (Free) — This clock app has all your timing needs covered, coming with an alarm clock, music alarms, notifications, an analog clock, chess clock, stopwatch, world clock, nature times (for high tide, low tide, and sunrise/sunset), sleep timer, egg timer, countdown clock, and even a project clock that works when your iPhone is turned off. Phew!
• Alarmed (Free) — This alarm app is simple and easy to use, coming with reminder alerts, reoccurring alarms, reusable timers, sleep timers, and custom sounds.

See the rest after the break.

Perfect timing: a New York Times reporter has found a new use for her iPhone that I hadn't thought of: a white noise machine/sleep aid. While I use mine regularly as an alarm clock, I never thought of it as something that could help me sleep. But after a few recent nights of trouble sleeping and after reading about her success, I'm ready to give one a try.

The author tried two different apps: White Noise, a free app that produces soothing white noise in the form of wind, rain, the ocean and more. You can set an alarm or a timer so the sound gently lulls you to sleep or wakes you without the harshness of a loud alarm.

Next, she tried Pzizz Sleep, a slight investment at $5 that uses unique voice tracks to help you relax and lull you to sleep.

Have you ever tried one of these sorts of apps? Any suggestions of which to try?

My iPhone alarm went off without a hitch this morning (is that a good thing?), but plenty of you lamented about your buggy alarm when we asked you if your iPhone woke you up on Twitter. Apple said the alarm issue would be resolved by Jan. 3, but until there's an actual fix in place, you can always work around it (by setting a new alarm each day — no reoccurring ones), buy a cute nightstand clock (you know, old school), or just install one of these reliable iPhone alarm apps to use as a backup from here on out.

• Alarm Clock + (Free) — This simple app uses your music as your alarm, provides automatic weather reports with your internal GPS, and has a flashlight for those late-night bathroom trips.
• Clock Pro Free (Free) — This clock app has all your timing needs covered, coming with an alarm clock, music alarms, notifications, an analog clock, chess clock, stopwatch, world clock, nature times (for high tide, low tide, and sunrise/sunset), sleep timer, egg timer, countdown clock, and even a project clock that works when your iPhone is turned off. Phew!
• Alarmed (Free) — This alarm app is simple and easy to use, coming with reminder alerts, reoccurring alarms, reusable timers, sleep timers, and custom sounds.

See the rest after the break.

Daylight savings in the US isn't for another week, but an iPhone bug has already affected users in Australia and Europe . . . and may start affecting users here next week. Apparently, even though the phone's main clock does automatically reset to account for the daylight savings time change, the device's alarm does not adjust correctly. So instead of ringing at the proper time, users' phone alarms are sounding an hour late, potentially causing confusion (or panic, if you're late for work!).

Find out more about this problem and how you can test your iPhone's alarm after the break.

Most nights, I remember to turn my phone's ringer to silent before I go to bed, but there are nights that I forget and am inevitably jarred awake. Lucky for Android users, there's an app that will prevent that from happening, ensuring a restful night's sleep. SweetDreams allows you to apply certain settings on your phone to overnight hours — turn your ringer to silent, disable power-sucking WiFi and Bluetooth functions, and adjust any other settings that will be automatically restored at a set time each day.

The best part about this is that you can basically shut your phone down during the hours you know you'll be asleep, but don't have to worry about restoring the settings when you wake up. Even if you have an alarm set on your phone, just program SweetDreams to "wake" your phone before the alarm is set to wake you. A restful night's sleep and battery savings? Sign me up! The free app is available in the Android Market by searching for "SweetDreams."

If you have a Droid, you might be familiar with the rooster alarm tone. And if you're not familiar with it, imagine the most annoying high-pitched rooster sound imaginable playing loudly over and over and over. It's just the latest chapter in the saga of his Droid vs. my iPhone, but this particular battle literally jolts me out of bed in the morning.

At first look, the Droid has some great alarm features. For one, its stand/charger keeps the phone at a nice angle for an alarm clock. The actual numbers on the clock are big enough to see at a distance. And my favorite feature: when you set the alarm, it displays the amount of time remaining until it'll go off, making it easy to see when you've accidentally set it to ring at 7 p.m. instead of 7 a.m.

What I don't like? The selection of alarms, especially the one my guy has chosen to use at 7 a.m. each morning. Find out how we've come to an alarm compromise when you read more