Why 'Set Every Other Week' Is Not Available on Android Alarm Clocks?

[epic_user]

Setting an alarm to go off every other week, or every N <time units>, ought to be a standard feature on any alarm clock app, but it is completely absent on all Android Alarm Clock apps and the ones that once had it (like Smart Alarm Clock) have ripped it out.

I ought to be able to set an alarm to go off only every 3 days, or every 2 weeks, or whatever, but this functionality is simply not available on Android. Could this be a software patent issue? If so, who owns the patent?

Please do not tell me that this functionality is available in Calendar apps. I am not interested in Calendar notifications (or kludges derived from these). I want to set a ordinary alarm clock alarm with all of the features of an ordinary alarm (persistent loud alarm, snooze, etc.). Why isn't this available?

Or maybe it is and I have just stupidly missed it somehow. If so, please enlighten me.

 

[dpham00]

Try this

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ils?id=com.isjfk.android.racad&token=zCfZhNGy

 

[epic_user]

I tried Power Alarm Clock - Free, but unless it is some kind of hidden feature, there is no way to repeat for every other week that I could see. All of the alarm apps allow you to repeat the alarm, but repeating every other week, or every 3rd week, or whatever, is missing from all of them as far as I can see. Perhaps this is one of the apps that removed the feature. What I am looking for ought to be simple and intuitive. For example, if you chose to repeat an alarm daily, you could enter a number for every X days:

Repeat every _2_ Day(s)

Or if you chose to repeat weekly you could enter the day or days of the week and then enter a number for every X weeks:

Repeat every _2_ Week(s)

The aCalendar+ app simply has a pull down with a list of options (every week, every other week, every 3rd week, ...).

So this should not be complicated. But nobody seems to have it.

 

[schufford]

Hey, @Epic,

Did you ever find a solution to your alarm issue? I've found myself in a similar situation.

Thanks?
-Craig

 

[treetopsranch]

Probably not a feature many of us use so it's not worth the effort to program for it.

 

[srkmagnus]

How about creating a calendar event for every other week and set the reminder to the time you wish to be notified? It's a workaround. Maybe not the best, but something to consider if you really need an automatic solution to alert you at given time(s) every other week. It'll take some time to setup initially, but you can get a few months setup then not have to worry about it.

 

[Redoregon69]

I've had pretty good results with Alarm Droid https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...om.splunchy.android.alarmclock&token=C-UiCrrf , and I'm about to try Not Oversleep https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...id=com.snow.black.notoversleep&token=nzYvZaEg

 

[Hayeley]

I have this issue too.
I just want my S7 Edge to go off every three months to remind me to book for an injection at my doctor's. I don't want to use a calendar, I just want my regular alarm to do it.
I did use to use todoist or something like that but never downloaded when I got this phone and don't want to.
Its a pain not having the default clock be able to do it.

 

[BadRobot]

Sleep as Android has this feature. It's the main reason that I stick with the app. It also supports Samsung Gear and Android Wear or whatever they're called now.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.urbandroid.sleep

 

[RossSmalls]

the answer to the title of your question is: It is not Available for the Alarm feature of the Android clock because the developers of the app are not smart enough to do it.

 

[hallux]

Not smart enough, or have they just determined it's not a feature worth the effort to add because it's not in high demand? Take this thread for example - it was started over 4 years ago and only has 9 people interested in the topic, including the poster that revived it almost 2 years after the last post.

 

[B. Diddy]

Ok, so should an alarm clock also give you an option for every 3rd week? Every 7th week? Every 38th hour? How often does that really come up, and does it really make sense to account for every conceivable possibility if it hardly ever or never comes up?

This has nothing to do with the developers "not being smart enough." If you see a demand for it, then I suggest you learn coding and create an app to fill this void.

 

[larrytate1]

Yes, despite naysayers, every alarm/calander app should allow selection of a period (seconds, minutes, days, years, millennia, whatever) and a count (1,2,3,4,5, whatever). Simple, no-brainer.

 

[gomezz]

Curious as to why some people are dead set against using a calendar event reminder to achieve this? You can still snooze a reminder so that can't be it.

 

[n_slash_a]

Curious as to why some people are dead set against using a calendar event reminder to achieve this? You can still snooze a reminder so that can't be it.

For me, it is because the only options in the calendar for being notified are a notification or email. I have an early morning work meeting every other week, and don't hear the little notification beep. I want an actual alarm to go off.

 

[gomezz]

You can change the notification sound for calendar events to something more likely to get your attention.

 

[imw8ing]

Anyone who works a real job with a two week shift of 12 hour days or nights would love this with an alarm loud enough to wake the dead.

My schedule On week one M T F S week two S W H . All nights, so I just set it every morning and don't really care.

But I get the point for the people who also rotate days and nights, set it and forget it.
Or people with projects that cover the globe and call for meetings at all hours with regular nights for each geographic area. Grabbing a catnap before hooking up with colleagues or clients that are +/- 12 hours UT from any location that's +/- 6 hours UT has got to be a lifesaver, as long as you don't miss the call.

Using the alarm sound for notifications would go over great in meetings at work.

 

[liebezeit]

Also I want an option to set a one-time alarm.

 

[JT Viper]

Ok, so should an alarm clock also give you an option for every 3rd week? Every 7th week? Every 38th hour? How often does that really come up, and does it really make sense to account for every conceivable possibility if it hardly ever or never comes up?

This has nothing to do with the developers "not being smart enough." If you see a demand for it, then I suggest you learn coding and create an app to fill this void.

There are a fair few jobs where the schedule rotates every other week, especially factory work; when I need to wake up today, this week, is not when I'll need to wake up one week from now, but it will rotate back around.

 

[Dream Dolphin]

MaaAan YES! I have been craving this feature for so long. I use my alarms for my routine because I always ignore or forget or miss calender and other reminder apps. I've got some mental health issues but I'm high functioning so routine is super important for me I like the tactile feel of a real diary I'm a very visual person that woks, same as my giant board on the wall week to week, BUT I need my alarms to trigger me into various parts of my daily routine and some of these tasks only occur once a fortnight and I'm sick of turning the alarm off once week and on the next week I'm so worried I'll forget to turn it back on. Maybe I just leave them on and put up with them going off weekly and check against my diary it's just confusing. By the nature of receiving my pension once a fortnight and having certain support workers and groups I only attend once a fortnight or even monthly bills and subs god I would use this feature hard if they could incorporate it into clock I mean they got bard now and integration with Google assistant coming like surely you can handle fortnightly or monthly alarms come on Google we need you! Vote yes on prop recurring alarms fortnightly and monthly for a start!!