Show Time may be the mother of all alarm clock apps

There's no shortage of apps to wake you up in the morning. Show Time may be the most extensive, and it has a wicked sense of humor as well.

The app handles multiple alarms and has 25 ambient noise selections to put you to sleep, or you can choose something from your iTunes collection. There are 58 versions of clock faces, all in horizontal or vertical layouts. The alarm clock goes off even if your phone is set to silent, and you can shake the clock to change the color of the display or to snooze the alarm.

Some of the sound choices are a bit weird, like a dishwasher, a hair dryer, or a prison(!). One weak point is that you can't easily preview the sounds before you choose them. Other than that, I like Show Time. It's US$0.99 on the App Store. If you want to give it a test drive, there is a lite version, but the selection of sounds is limited, and there aren't nearly as many clock styles.There isn't an iPad version, but there should be. Check out the gallery for a peek under the hood.

Show Time screen grabs

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Source: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/show-time-alarm-clock-ambient…

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There's no shortage of apps to wake you up in the morning. Show Time may be the most extensive, and it has a wicked sense of humor as...

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A little pissed-off at this review, very misleading. I find it hard to believe the reviewer even used the app. There are a total of 8 clocks, not 58. Each clock has a small number of colors that can be changed, which I'm sure is where that inflated number comes from. Additionally, only 5 of those faces can be used in the landscape orientation. Since I only use the phone for a clock when in landscape mode, that makes this app pretty useless to me. It's only 99Â¢, but still, weak sauce.

August 31 2010 at 1:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to S's comment

Mel Martin

I don't think the review is misleading in the slightest. I did take a look at all the clocks, and the different color options and styles add up to the 58 clocks cited in the review.

Your landscape requirement is pretty unique, so if the app didn't work for you, I guess that is understandable from your point of view. It hardly invalidates the review. The app has more variations and clocks than any other similar app I could find. At $0.99 it's hardly a rip-off.

Thanks for writing, but there was no attempt to mislead anyone, and in fact I didn't.

Mel
TUAW

August 31 2010 at 1:59 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

I'm finding it hard to understand how you could be this dense. It is misleading to say "There are 58 versions of clock faces, all in horizontal or vertical layouts," when there are 8 versions of clock faces, only 5 of them in horizontal and vertical. YOU are the one who made the claim I could use all these clocks in a horizontal orientation, which is false. Anyone with a kickstand iPhone case or Kensington nightstand charger would be having the same problem right now, so this is hardly unique to me. If no one wants the landscape orientation, why did the developers make some of the clocks available that way in the first place?

In short, due to your inaccurate review, you misled me into thinking I was buying a program that doesn't meet my needs. No bald assertion to the contrary can change that, and it's frankly stupendous to see you try when the inaccuracies are demonstrable.

August 31 2010 at 9:05 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

ChicTJ

So glad this app got picked up! The clocks are very chic! ;)

August 30 2010 at 10:29 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

johnburnett1

Surely these things should be able to work while running in the background a la io4? Just tried it and it doesnt - makes it a little hit and miss at best that it'll wake you up.

August 30 2010 at 10:23 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Brian

I have an iPhone 4 and an iHome iP11 clock radio (with dock). I've tried another app called Alarm Clock Pro, but I'm finding that the alarms don't sound while the phone is docked. It vibrates, but doesn't actually ring. Is this because of the app? Incompatibility between iPhone 4 and the dock? If anyone can offer advice, I'll be in your debt!

August 30 2010 at 10:20 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Brian's comment

jonathan

dock has to be turned on so that the screen says Dock 1 or 2 under the time. otherwise sound doesnt pass through

August 30 2010 at 11:56 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Grant Buell

Looks like you have to remember to leave the app running before you go to bed in order for the alarms to go off, which renders it kinda lame. If they get local notifications going, I'll take another look.

August 30 2010 at 10:18 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply