Chapter 3
Alarms
Suntimes Alarms is a sunlight aware alarm clock with support for daily repeating alarms and notifications.
Subsections of Alarms
Set Alarm
Alarm Types
Suntimes supports multiple alarm types. Tap to choose the type.
- Alarms will sound until they are dismissed or snoozed.
- Notifications remain in the tray until they are dismissed.
- Quick Notifications are shown for a brief moment.
Tip
Quick Notifications are automatically dismissed after 30s (changed from Suntimes -> Settings -> Alarms -> Auto-dismiss after). Regular notifications will remain the tray until they are dismissed.
Schedule by Time
Tap the Time tab to schedule alarms by time.
Use the picker to select a time, then tap to accept and edit the alarm.
Suntimes can also schedule alarms using solar time. Tap to change the time standard:
- System Time Zone (default)
- Apparent Solar Time
- Local Mean Time
Suntimes can schedule an alarm on a specific date. Tap to open the date picker. Choose a date, then tap to accept.
Schedule by Event
Tap the Event tab to schedule alarms by event.
Select an event from the drop-down list, then tap to accept and edit the alarm.
Tap to select a custom event (or an event provided by an add-on).
Tap to change the alarm’s location.
Show Alarm Time
The alarm time is displayed at the bottom of the dialog.
The
icon is displayed if the time will be adjusted by a before/after offset. Tap the icon to momentarily display the combined alarm + offset. The alarm offset can be configured when editing the alarm.
Edit Alarm
- Type
- Label
- Note
- Event (or time)
- Repeat
- Offset (before/after)
- Location
- Reminder
- Sound
- Vibration
- On Alert Action
- On Dismiss Action
- On Dismiss Challenge
Tap to cancel without making changes.
Tap to save, or to save and enable.
Tap to save and disable.
Tap to cancel and delete.
Type
Tap to change the alarm type:
- Alarm
- Notification
- Quick Notification
Tip
Quick Notifications are automatically dismissed after 30s. Suntimes -> Settings -> Alarms -> Auto-dismiss after to change this setting.
Label
Tap Label to change the alarm label.
Note
Tap to change the alarm note.
Tip
The note is displayed with the label, and supports limited %substitutions.
Event (or time)
Tap to change the alarm’s event or time.
Repeat
Suntimes supports daily repeating alarms, and will automatically reschedule alarms as event times change throughout the year.
Tap to change repeat options.
Offset (before/after)
Suntimes can schedule alarms before or after an event or specified time.
Tap
at to change the offset options.
Tip
Tap the alarm time preview to see the combined event + offset alarm time.
Location
Suntimes can schedule alarms for events occurring in different locations.
Tap to change the location.
Reminder
Suntimes can show a reminder several hours before an alarm triggers, and perform an additional action at that time.
Tap to toggle the reminder.
Tip
The reminder notification allows alarms to be dismissed early. Dismissing a repeating alarm will automatically reschedule it for the next day.
Sound
Suntimes can play a ringtone or audio file when an alarm sounds.
Tap
to change the alert sound, or select No Sound
for a silent alarm.
Tip
Enable Suntimes -> Settings -> Alarms -> Show all ringtones to allow selection of all system sounds regardless of their intended use.
Vibration
Suntimes can cause the device to vibrate when an alarm triggers.
Tap to enable vibration.
On Alert Action
Suntimes can perform an action when an alarm triggers.
Tap On Alert
to change the alert action.
On Dismiss Action
Suntimes can perform an action when dismissing an alarm.
Tap On Dismiss
to change the dismiss action.
On Dismiss Challenge
Suntimes can require passing a challenge before dismissing a sounding alarm.
Tap On Dismiss
to change the dismiss challenge.
- None
- Easy Math (single digit math problems)
Tip
Add-ons can provide additional challenges; e.g. Suntimes NFC can be used to dismiss alarms using NFC tags.
Alarm List
- Alarm List
- Select, Deselect
- Add Alarm
- Edit Alarm
- Delete, Clear
- Snooze, Dismiss
- Sort Alarms
- Export, Import
Alarm List
The alarm list can be shown from
Suntimes -> Set Alarm, or by tapping Suntimes Alarms from the app launcher.
Tip
Suntimes -> Settings -> Alarms -> Launcher Icon to enable the Suntimes Alarms icon in the app launcher.
Select, Deselect
Tap an item in the list to select it. Selected items display the alarm note and additional controls.
Tap on the lower left of the screen, or press back to clear the selection.
Add Alarm
Tap to set an alarm. The alarm event dialog will be shown.
Edit Alarm
Tap an item in the list to select it. Tap the item again to edit the alarm.
Delete, Clear
Tap an item in the list to select it, then tap the button to remove the alarm.
Use
: -> Clear to remove all alarms.
Snooze, Dismiss
Tap an item in the list to select it. Sounding alarms will display additional buttons.
Tap
snooze
or
dismiss,
or tap the item again to display the fullscreen notification.
Sort Alarms
Use
: -> Sort to sort the alarm list by
- Alarm Time
- Creation Date
Use Enabled first to move enabled items to the top of the list.
Use Show Offsets to show before/after offsets separately from the alarm time.
Export, Import
Use
: -> Export to export the alarm list to file.
Use
: -> Import to import alarms from a previous export.
Tip
It is also possible to export or import alarms by creating or restoring a backup.
Alarm Settings
Suntimes -> Settings -> Alarms to reach
alarm settings.
Alarms
Dismiss Challenge
- None (default)
- Easy Math. Solve single digit math problems to dismiss alarms.
Reminder within
Show a reminder notification within 12 hours of each alarm.
Snooze for
Snooze alarms for up to 120 minutes.
Snooze limit
Change the snooze limit to limit the number of times snooze can be used.
Timeout after
Alarms will timeout after sounding for too long without user intervention.
Quick Notification
Quick Notifications are displayed for less than a minute and then automatically dismissed (defaults to 30s).
Sounds
Volumes
Tap to opens system volume settings.
Gradually increase volume
Gradually increase the alarm volume over time (defaults to 10s).
Show all ringtones
- Show all system sounds during selection (ignore ringtone type).
Miscellaneous
Launcher Icon
- Show alarm clock icon in the app tray.
Import Warning
Imported alarms might revert some settings to defaults.
- Do not show this warning again.
Boot Completed
Alarms are automatically rescheduled a few minutes after reboot. This setting displays the last time alarms were rescheduled and the total amount of time that was consumed.
Tap this setting to trigger the boot completed routine manually.
Experimental
Power Off Alarm
Wake the device from the power off state.
This feature is hardware dependent. Supported devices will display the name of the package responsible for implementing this feature. Unsupported devices will display null.
For supported devices, tapping this setting will request power off alarm permissions.
Note
This feature is incomplete and has been reported as non-functional. If you have supporting hardware, please considering testing and creating a detailed report.
Alarm Recommendations
Battery Optimization
Suntimes must be not optimized for alarms to work reliably.
Settings -> Apps -> Suntimes -> Battery -> Unrestricted
Note
On most devices the optimized setting may delay alarms up to 15 minutes. Other devices may restrict alarms without special configuration.
The following devices are affected: Asus, Blackview, Huawei, LENOVO, Meizu, OnePlus, OPPO, realme, Samsung, Sony, Unihertz, Vivo, WIKO, and Xiaomi. Check https://dontkillmyapp.com/ for solutions.
Notification Settings
Notifications must be enabled for alarms to display correctly.
Settings -> Apps -> Suntimes -> Notifications -> Show Notifications
Autostart Permission
Suntimes must be granted autostart permissions or alarms may fail to work after a reboot (Xiaomi devices only).
Security app > Permissions > Auto-start