[APP][16/11] Clockr - Text-based clock widget [UPDATED][v1.5]

Search This thread

zehro

Retired Recognized Developer
Apr 22, 2008
154
32
Me!burn
Clockr v1.5.1 is now available from the Android Market.

NOW UPDATED TO VERSION 1.5.1!!

nexusOneclockrfinal15.jpg


What is Clockr?

Clockr is a simple home-screen widget that displays the current time in a readable text format.

While it is simple in design, it is packed full of customisation options to make it look just the way you want it to.

Why did I make Clockr?

I have always been a fan of minimalism. I like to have a clean home-screen. Since there was no other widgets available that presented the current time in a way that I wanted it, I decided to make my own widget.

Will it work on my device?

At the moment, Clockr is supported on all current devices running 2.1+. Soon I will have support for earlier versions of Android, but I haven't been able to test this yet. It was designed with a 480x800 screen in mind, but this isn't to say it wont work on other sizes (again, it is something I haven't tested).

Where can I get Clockr?

Clockr is again available as a free download from the Android Market. You can find it by searching for "clockr".

QR code, its click-able if you are on your phone (thanks to Wallla and excedio for helping me out):



I hope you enjoy my widget!

Thanks

- xaffron (One More Clock) for his help with services and his nifty notification trick.
- zappatilias (BattStatt) for the initial inspiration and for the Color picker suggestion!
- ralfoide (24 Clock) learnt a lot by studying his code.
 
Last edited:

zehro

Retired Recognized Developer
Apr 22, 2008
154
32
Me!burn
Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: How do I use this widget? Every time I click the icon it just brings up a stupid information screen.
A: Scroll down to the next post, I have provided a simple guide to installing Clockr/Clockr Evolution on your Home screen.

Q: Why does a clock need permission to read phone state?
A: Apparently it doesn't, this has been removed in the latest versions available on the Android Market. If you are being asked for this permission by my app, you are using an older version, please update. - Thanks zappatilias

Q: Some other clocks don't use a service, why does yours?
A: Clockr will only use a service if you enable "Force Update". If you are having problems with the clock going out of sync, you might need to enable "Force Update" as most people suggest this is the best method. In fact I have tested Clockr against other similar clocks using Watchdog real-time profiling and I have found Clockr (With Force Update enable) to be one of the most efficient of all of them in regard to actual CPU usage. I encourage you to test this yourself, you will be surprised at how little this app uses.

Q: Why does it put an item in my notification bar if I select "Force Update"?
A: Since Android 2.0, there have been changes to how services are handled. To keep a service from not being killed by the Android OS, you need to set it to run in the foreground. Since a clock widget needs to be constantly updating itself every new minute that passes, we don't want the OS to kill it off at the wrong time. Now, by setting itself in the foreground, it doesn't mean it's actually working any harder, it just means that when the OS decides to kill off services, it will leave it alone.

In the old days (pre-2.0), it was possible to start a service and flag it as "foreground" and that was it. To do the same thing now, Android requires that a notification is shown to the user at all times. I've hidden it as much as possible (thanks to xaffron for his suggestions), but if you don't like the idea of a notification sitting there, you can switch "Force Update" off.

Q: When will you add this feature...
A: At the moment, I am working on including many features. If you have any suggestions, feel free to post them in this thread but I can only work on so many things at once, I am only human!

Q: Why don't you respond to my complaint in the market.
A: While I do read every comment on the market, if you have a bug/issue, it is best to write about it here or even email me via the email address on the Clockr Market page (which is: clockr@phasethree.net). Please try to provide as much information as possible, I'm not psychic. If you can include what phone you have, which rom (official/custom) you are using, how did the bug occur, what were you doing, etc... it will help me greatly to find the problem.

Q: Will you be adding support for App2SD
A: No. Please stop asking, you're making yourself look silly. App2SD does not and never will work for widgets.

Change Log:

2010.11.16 - version 1.5.1
- Removed Notification
- Added option to change case (lower, defAUlt, UPPER)
- Added option to change alignment (left | center | right)
- Added force 12hr (for 24hr system clock users that prefer 12hr style Clockr)
- Fixed some landscape view bugs

2010.11.11 - version 1.1
- Total re-design of the Options Menu!
- Added new slide-bar dialog for selecting colors! (Thanks for the tip zappatilias!)
- Font Colors are now 100% custom instead of pre-selected list
- The middle number can now be colored separately
- *Date now has a lot of new options similar to the Time (Clockr Evolution only)
- Uniform version numbers for Clockr and Clockr Evolution

2010.11.08 - version 0.9
- Added "Tap To Open.." feature
- Added Lowercase option if you prefer the middle word in lowercase
- Added Different clock styles to change the middle word to ZERO, OH, or O'
- Added Font customisation options
- Big code clean-up
- Reduced file size by 25%
- Improved performance

- Added Date feature to Clockr Evolution (donate version)

2010.11.05 - version 0.9
- Fixed FC issues
- Added configuration screen (tap on widget to open)
- Service method now updated to work with Android 2.0+ changes (thanks xaffron)
- Added handler to check if phone screen is on/off (borrowed from 24 Clock)

2010.10.28 - version 0.3.6
- Major overhaul
- Recoded 80% of the application
- Now starts a service which is a lot more efficient that previous versions.
- Fixed the "not updating after reboot" issue.
- Added 24 hour clock support.

2010.10.27 - version 0.3.5
- Minor patch to fix some reports of crashing.

2010.10.26 - version 0.3.4
- Clock now updates correctly at the same time as system clock

2010.10.25 - version 0.3.3
- Changes made to some of the words.

2010.10.25 - version 0.3.2
- First public beta release
- Support for devices 2.1+
 
Last edited:

zehro

Retired Recognized Developer
Apr 22, 2008
154
32
Me!burn
How to install the Clockr Widget on your homescreen

NOTE: This isn't the only way to add widgets to your Home screen, but it is one way that is easy to explain.

FIRST STEP

You need to start from your Home screen. This is what a basic Home screen looks like:

step01.jpg


It has widgets and other things that you can move around.

You need to make sure that you have room for Clockr to be installed (It does take up a whole row of space).

SECOND STEP

Press the "Menu" button on your phone so that this pops up:

step02.jpg


Now you need to select the "Add" option (the one I have highlighted).

THIRD STEP

Now this dialog box will pop up:

step03.jpg


Select the option to add "Widgets" (highlighted in the image).

FOURTH STEP

Now a list of available widgets will appear:

step04.jpg


Select the Clockr widget that you wish to install.

FIFTH STEP

If you followed these simple steps, Clockr will now be added to your Home screen:

step05.jpg


If you tap on the widget, you can then change any of the custom options to make it look how you want it to look.


Hope this has helped you, if you are still having trouble, let me know!


Reserved for screenshots!

Stripes by Hollywooder:
23sdliw.png


Smile by Hollywooder:
k3pyyq.png
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: BottledHate

yayramen

Senior Member
Jan 30, 2010
655
43
Minneapolis
12px.io
Clockr Mods

2rdc12f.png
33yggog.png
2ez229u.png
23sdliw.png
2q0n5s0.jpg




Taking requests, until he gets the color pickers worked out =P
ALL MODS POSTED ON MY BLOG, DOWNLOAD THEM THERE
Link in first post, and in located to the right of my signature.
 
Last edited:

zehro

Retired Recognized Developer
Apr 22, 2008
154
32
Me!burn
Took you long enough. I was very well tempted to steal that post from you, lol.

Yeah, it has a limit on how often you can post. Need to wait 30 seconds between each post.

God, I've been waiting for this for a while. I think a few mods are in order...let's
see, black text, most obviously...who knows what else I'll come up with =D

Future version releases will have basic options to change text color, size, background and other necessary things. I just wanted to get this released so people can stop asking me about it. ^_^

Can't wait to see what you can make out of it!
 

atanu89

Senior Member
Jun 4, 2010
349
38
Zehro and Hollywooder thanks for all your efforts!!

looks like an awesome app, just now added to my screen its much better than tjam in my opinion!
 

Cucoo

Senior Member
Sep 30, 2010
93
6
Looks cool, I'll try it out later.

Oh, how about localised versions? One thing that always bugged me about Tajm is that it is only English and am/pm, I'd very much love a widget like that that reads e.g. "ZwölfSiebenundZwanzig" ;)
 

zehro

Retired Recognized Developer
Apr 22, 2008
154
32
Me!burn
Looks cool, I'll try it out later.

Oh, how about localised versions? One thing that always bugged me about Tajm is that it is only English and am/pm, I'd very much love a widget like that that reads e.g. "ZwölfSiebenundZwanzig" ;)

I hope to be able to add this soon.

I'm still very new to Android Development, just learning my way around. At the moment, I am working to provide a configuration screen that allows you to change font size, font color and also add a background image (similar launcherpro dock). After this, I think localisation will be my next goal.
 

typeadam

Senior Member
Aug 20, 2008
365
15
10016
Freakin' awesome! I use it on my EVO and it looks nasty! I love it!

You know what would go good w/ this? "Dater" :D "tuesdayNOVEMBERtwenty-fifth"

..just sayin..
 

shokwaav

Senior Member
Aug 23, 2010
487
49
+1 on the date too... if you manage to get like a collection of time/date/percentage etc. it'll be perfect.
 

MrCDWJR

Senior Member
Feb 14, 2010
609
34
San Diego
Black Mod attached below:

2rdc12f.png


White w/ Black Shadow, attached below:

33yggog.png


Black w/ White Shadow, attached below:

2ez229u.png



Taking requests, until he gets the color pickers worked out =P
it would be cool if it were possible to install all three mods as separate widgets rather than having to replace one after the other when trying to switch between mods
 

zehro

Retired Recognized Developer
Apr 22, 2008
154
32
Me!burn
Thanks for the comments everyone! I'm glad people are liking it, hopefully you will like it even more once I improve it!

The reason it updates a bit slowly is because I didn't want it to be a big drain on battery life. I can always change it so it updates more frequently, but for my first android app release, I didn't want people screaming at me because my app is killing their device. =P

Tonight I have been trying to workout how to get this configuration page to work properly. As soon as that clicks in place, you'll be able to switch font colors and all the other things easily.

I do plan to make other widgets in a similar style (I like the idea of dater, but the name... sounds a bit like a dating service! LOL). Right now, I'm just trying to focus on getting this configuration screen working and then it will be easy for me to apply my application to other ideas.

For now, I gotta sleep. Its after 2am here and I have to work tomorrow! >.<
 

w.0.o.t

Senior Member
Jul 30, 2010
217
5
Newcastle upon Tyne
Thanks for the comments everyone! I'm glad people are liking it, hopefully you will like it even more once I improve it!

The reason it updates a bit slowly is because I didn't want it to be a big drain on battery life. I can always change it so it updates more frequently, but for my first android app release, I didn't want people screaming at me because my app is killing their device. =P

Tonight I have been trying to workout how to get this configuration page to work properly. As soon as that clicks in place, you'll be able to switch font colors and all the other things easily.

I do plan to make other widgets in a similar style (I like the idea of dater, but the name... sounds a bit like a dating service! LOL). Right now, I'm just trying to focus on getting this configuration screen working and then it will be easy for me to apply my application to other ideas.

For now, I gotta sleep. Its after 2am here and I have to work tomorrow! >.<
but would it drain the battery too fast if it updates every minute? been using tajm and batt stat for awhile and didn't notice any drain though. but anyway, thanks a lot for releasing this. :D

p/s: hey isn't it 3am in Melbourne now? :p
 

typeadam

Senior Member
Aug 20, 2008
365
15
10016
Thanks for the comments everyone! I'm glad people are liking it, hopefully you will like it even more once I improve it!

The reason it updates a bit slowly is because I didn't want it to be a big drain on battery life. I can always change it so it updates more frequently, but for my first android app release, I didn't want people screaming at me because my app is killing their device. =P

Tonight I have been trying to workout how to get this configuration page to work properly. As soon as that clicks in place, you'll be able to switch font colors and all the other things easily.

I do plan to make other widgets in a similar style (I like the idea of dater, but the name... sounds a bit like a dating service! LOL). Right now, I'm just trying to focus on getting this configuration screen working and then it will be easy for me to apply my application to other ideas.

For now, I gotta sleep. Its after 2am here and I have to work tomorrow! >.<

Excellent program right out of the box right now! Makes my screen look pretty sexy.. :cool: Looking forward to updates and future widgets!
 

Julencijus

Member
Aug 10, 2010
22
0
Hi there. I can see, what you have made awesome thing. And i came with one question, can you make multilingual? Or you can post some files, where words of hours are saved, so i can manually translate them to my language. Lithuania.

Sweet job! :)
 

Baldyl0cks

Senior Member
Dec 1, 2009
386
118
Middle Earth
Great clock, this one is the one i've been looking for!!!

Just waiting for the tans background so i can have White on black background!
 

Top Liked Posts

  • There are no posts matching your filters.
  • 21
    Clockr v1.5.1 is now available from the Android Market.

    NOW UPDATED TO VERSION 1.5.1!!

    nexusOneclockrfinal15.jpg


    What is Clockr?

    Clockr is a simple home-screen widget that displays the current time in a readable text format.

    While it is simple in design, it is packed full of customisation options to make it look just the way you want it to.

    Why did I make Clockr?

    I have always been a fan of minimalism. I like to have a clean home-screen. Since there was no other widgets available that presented the current time in a way that I wanted it, I decided to make my own widget.

    Will it work on my device?

    At the moment, Clockr is supported on all current devices running 2.1+. Soon I will have support for earlier versions of Android, but I haven't been able to test this yet. It was designed with a 480x800 screen in mind, but this isn't to say it wont work on other sizes (again, it is something I haven't tested).

    Where can I get Clockr?

    Clockr is again available as a free download from the Android Market. You can find it by searching for "clockr".

    QR code, its click-able if you are on your phone (thanks to Wallla and excedio for helping me out):



    I hope you enjoy my widget!

    Thanks

    - xaffron (One More Clock) for his help with services and his nifty notification trick.
    - zappatilias (BattStatt) for the initial inspiration and for the Color picker suggestion!
    - ralfoide (24 Clock) learnt a lot by studying his code.
    4
    Frequently Asked Questions:

    Q: How do I use this widget? Every time I click the icon it just brings up a stupid information screen.
    A: Scroll down to the next post, I have provided a simple guide to installing Clockr/Clockr Evolution on your Home screen.

    Q: Why does a clock need permission to read phone state?
    A: Apparently it doesn't, this has been removed in the latest versions available on the Android Market. If you are being asked for this permission by my app, you are using an older version, please update. - Thanks zappatilias

    Q: Some other clocks don't use a service, why does yours?
    A: Clockr will only use a service if you enable "Force Update". If you are having problems with the clock going out of sync, you might need to enable "Force Update" as most people suggest this is the best method. In fact I have tested Clockr against other similar clocks using Watchdog real-time profiling and I have found Clockr (With Force Update enable) to be one of the most efficient of all of them in regard to actual CPU usage. I encourage you to test this yourself, you will be surprised at how little this app uses.

    Q: Why does it put an item in my notification bar if I select "Force Update"?
    A: Since Android 2.0, there have been changes to how services are handled. To keep a service from not being killed by the Android OS, you need to set it to run in the foreground. Since a clock widget needs to be constantly updating itself every new minute that passes, we don't want the OS to kill it off at the wrong time. Now, by setting itself in the foreground, it doesn't mean it's actually working any harder, it just means that when the OS decides to kill off services, it will leave it alone.

    In the old days (pre-2.0), it was possible to start a service and flag it as "foreground" and that was it. To do the same thing now, Android requires that a notification is shown to the user at all times. I've hidden it as much as possible (thanks to xaffron for his suggestions), but if you don't like the idea of a notification sitting there, you can switch "Force Update" off.

    Q: When will you add this feature...
    A: At the moment, I am working on including many features. If you have any suggestions, feel free to post them in this thread but I can only work on so many things at once, I am only human!

    Q: Why don't you respond to my complaint in the market.
    A: While I do read every comment on the market, if you have a bug/issue, it is best to write about it here or even email me via the email address on the Clockr Market page (which is: clockr@phasethree.net). Please try to provide as much information as possible, I'm not psychic. If you can include what phone you have, which rom (official/custom) you are using, how did the bug occur, what were you doing, etc... it will help me greatly to find the problem.

    Q: Will you be adding support for App2SD
    A: No. Please stop asking, you're making yourself look silly. App2SD does not and never will work for widgets.

    Change Log:

    2010.11.16 - version 1.5.1
    - Removed Notification
    - Added option to change case (lower, defAUlt, UPPER)
    - Added option to change alignment (left | center | right)
    - Added force 12hr (for 24hr system clock users that prefer 12hr style Clockr)
    - Fixed some landscape view bugs

    2010.11.11 - version 1.1
    - Total re-design of the Options Menu!
    - Added new slide-bar dialog for selecting colors! (Thanks for the tip zappatilias!)
    - Font Colors are now 100% custom instead of pre-selected list
    - The middle number can now be colored separately
    - *Date now has a lot of new options similar to the Time (Clockr Evolution only)
    - Uniform version numbers for Clockr and Clockr Evolution

    2010.11.08 - version 0.9
    - Added "Tap To Open.." feature
    - Added Lowercase option if you prefer the middle word in lowercase
    - Added Different clock styles to change the middle word to ZERO, OH, or O'
    - Added Font customisation options
    - Big code clean-up
    - Reduced file size by 25%
    - Improved performance

    - Added Date feature to Clockr Evolution (donate version)

    2010.11.05 - version 0.9
    - Fixed FC issues
    - Added configuration screen (tap on widget to open)
    - Service method now updated to work with Android 2.0+ changes (thanks xaffron)
    - Added handler to check if phone screen is on/off (borrowed from 24 Clock)

    2010.10.28 - version 0.3.6
    - Major overhaul
    - Recoded 80% of the application
    - Now starts a service which is a lot more efficient that previous versions.
    - Fixed the "not updating after reboot" issue.
    - Added 24 hour clock support.

    2010.10.27 - version 0.3.5
    - Minor patch to fix some reports of crashing.

    2010.10.26 - version 0.3.4
    - Clock now updates correctly at the same time as system clock

    2010.10.25 - version 0.3.3
    - Changes made to some of the words.

    2010.10.25 - version 0.3.2
    - First public beta release
    - Support for devices 2.1+
    1
    How to install the Clockr Widget on your homescreen

    NOTE: This isn't the only way to add widgets to your Home screen, but it is one way that is easy to explain.

    FIRST STEP

    You need to start from your Home screen. This is what a basic Home screen looks like:

    step01.jpg


    It has widgets and other things that you can move around.

    You need to make sure that you have room for Clockr to be installed (It does take up a whole row of space).

    SECOND STEP

    Press the "Menu" button on your phone so that this pops up:

    step02.jpg


    Now you need to select the "Add" option (the one I have highlighted).

    THIRD STEP

    Now this dialog box will pop up:

    step03.jpg


    Select the option to add "Widgets" (highlighted in the image).

    FOURTH STEP

    Now a list of available widgets will appear:

    step04.jpg


    Select the Clockr widget that you wish to install.

    FIFTH STEP

    If you followed these simple steps, Clockr will now be added to your Home screen:

    step05.jpg


    If you tap on the widget, you can then change any of the custom options to make it look how you want it to look.


    Hope this has helped you, if you are still having trouble, let me know!


    Reserved for screenshots!

    Stripes by Hollywooder:
    23sdliw.png


    Smile by Hollywooder:
    k3pyyq.png
    1
    Thanks Colon!!!!!! You're the man!!
    1
    I'm sure it sucks to see negative comments about your app , try not to talk it to heart .
    Me and many other members on this forum and am sure elsewhere greatly appreciate all the time and effort to you have put into this .
    All those all those comments will eventually get flushed out

    Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App