Section 80. Stay on Schedule with an Alarm

80. Stay on Schedule with an Alarm

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

3 Set the Date and Time

SEE ALSO

5 Lock and Unlock Your Device

16 Automatically Turn Your Device On and Off

I don't travel a great deal, but when I do I've noticed that it's a pain to have to pack and carry an alarm clock that usually gets used only once or twice on the trip. Of course, when I do travel, I'm often staying in hotels, so I can rely on a wake-up call from the front desk to replace an alarm clock of my own. However, I'm one of those people who likes to get several chances at waking up, and it's tough to negotiate snooze calls from a hotel. So, I'm back to needing an alarm clock because I want a snooze feature. Thankfully, my BlackBerry device includes a handy little alarm clock that does a great job filling in for a traditional, portable alarm clock. And most importantly, it includes a snooze feature!

80. Stay on Schedule with an Alarm

1.	Open the Applications Screen Scroll to the Applications icon on the Home screen and click the trackwheel. The Applications screen appears, showing a list of applications you can launch.
2.	Launch the Alarm Application Scroll to the Alarm icon and click the trackwheel. The Alarm application launches and appears.
3.	Set the Alarm Time and Frequency The main screen of the Alarm application shows the options for setting the alarm; you can set only one alarm using the Alarm application (although you can reset the alarm as often as necessary). The first option on the screen, Daily Alarm , enables and disables the alarm. The alarm is designed to be a daily alarm, so by enabling this option, you are effectively setting the alarm for every day of the week, or at least every weekday (if the Active on Weekends option is set to Off ). The Time setting is where you specify the time of the alarmbe very careful about correctly setting the AM or PM part of the time. The Snooze setting indicates how long you want the alarm to wait between snoozes. In other words, if the alarm goes off and you indicate that you want it to snooze, it will wait a specified amount of time and go off again. You can set the Snooze option to Off if you want only a one-shot alarm with no snooze feature. TIP While setting the alarm time, you might need to set the current date and time. Fortunately, you can do this from within the Alarm applicationjust click the trackwheel, select Change Date/Time from the menu that appears, and click again. When traveling, you might find it helpful to change the time zone, even if it's just a temporary change. See 3 Set the Date and Time for more detailed information about how to set the date and time, as well as how to change the time zone. Finally, the Active on Weekends setting is where you specify whether the alarm is enabled for every day of the week (including weekends) or just weekdays. Set the Active on Weekends option to No if you only want a weekday alarm or to Yes if you want the alarm enabled all week long. The remaining settings in the Alarm application enable you to specify the tune that is played for the alarm as well as how loud it sounds.
4.	Set the Alarm Tune and Volume In the second batch of options in the Alarm application, the Alert Type option determines the type of the alarm, which can be one of the following settings: Tone, Vibrate , or Vibrate+Tone . Although most people opt for the traditional Tone setting, in some circumstances you might want to be more subtle and use the Vibrate settingjust be sure you place your device on a surface where the vibration will get your attention (under your pillow maybe). To maximize the attention given out by the alarm, set the alert type to Vibrate+Tone . Your BlackBerry device comes equipped with several ring tones, also known as tunes , which are also used to drive the alarm. The Tune option is where you select the tune that is played as the alarm sounds. Double-click the Tune option and scroll the list; listen to each sound until you find a good one for the alarm. TIP Because the Alarm application relies on ring tones (tunes) as the basis for the alarm sound, you can download custom tunes to use for the alarm sound. I once set my traditional alarm clock to a radio station I liked and I found that I sometimes slept through the music because it was music I liked . No problemI simply changed the radio station to music I hated, and getting up got much easier! So, seek out an annoying tune that drives you crazy, and it will make a perfect alarm sound. See 52 Download New Ring Tones to find out how to download new ring tones. The alarm volume is just as important as the tune you select for the alarm. The Volume option is where you establish the volume of the alarm. This option can be set to one of the following values: Low, Medium, High , or Escalating . The Escalating setting results in an alarm that starts out low and gradually grows in volume to get louder. Use Escalating if you want an alarm that arouses you gently, or select Medium or High for a more direct approach; I can't imagine the Low setting being loud enough to wake anyone . TIP Be sure to test the alarm volume in a setting similar to that in which you will be using it. You might need to set the volume a little louder than you initially thought to overcome other ambient noises. The Number of Beeps setting determines how many times the tune is played for the alarm sound. This setting has a lot to do with the kind of tune you select. A short-and-sweet tune might require several beeps, while a full-length song will likely require only a single beep. Your options for this setting are limited to 1, 2 , or 3 , so there isn't much flexibility with the number of beeps. After configuring the alarm settings, click the trackwheel and select Save from the menu that appears. Click once more to save the settings. Now you can press the Escape button to exit the application and go about your business knowing that the alarm is now set and ready to go.
5.	Dismiss the Alarm When the alarm time rolls around, the alarm sounds and your device's screen turns on. If the Snooze option is enabled, you are given two options: snooze or dismiss the alarm. Snoozing causes the alarm to stop and reactivate soon thereafter based on the snooze time you set. Dismissing the alarm causes it to stop indefinitelyor at least until it is scheduled to go off again on the following day.

NOTE

Your device must be powered off, locked, or in its holster for the alarm to sound. The idea is that you don't need the alarm to go off if the device is in use.