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Get all alarms saved in the alarm application here I have read there is no common interface to get all alarms in the system, due to different implementations of diverse clock apps.

Is this REALLY true ?! I think it is not possible to have no standard for such a crucial things like alarms ?

Is there no possibility for creating a universal widget that displays 5 next alarms regardles of the clock aplication ?

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astropanic
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1 Answers1

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Is this REALLY true ?!

Yes.

I think it is not possible to have no standard for such a crucial things like alarms ?

If you are aware of any OS ever written that forced alarm clock developers to implement some common API, please point it out. AFAIK, this has never been a requirement since the dawn of the computer.

Is there no possibility for creating a universal widget that displays 5 next alarms regardles of the clock aplication ?

You could threaten all alarm clock application developers at gunpoint to implement your desired API. This may be illegal in some jurisdictions.

Or, you can offer some sort of reward to alarm clock application developers to get them to implement your desired API, such as in the form of cash (directly or indirectly, such as by helping them promote and monetize their apps).

I'm not saying that having such a common API is a bad thing, but developers have the freedom to write what they want. You either need to use carrots, sticks, or both to arrange for common standards, such as an API.

CommonsWare
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  • An O/S could be designed to report an all instances of alarm-like functionality it provides to applications - though there's nothing to prevent a clock app from setting multiple silent incremental alarms on the way to the real one. More importantly though, this would tend to violate the idea of applications' privacy from each other which the Android architects are hesitant to introduce any means for an end user to authorize exceptions to. – Chris Stratton May 29 '11 at 20:10
  • If there is no standard for alarms, how Android OS knows, when to put the clock on the right side of the notification area ? (Near the battery and signal level) – astropanic May 30 '11 at 11:48
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    @bashman: AFAIK, that is a feature of the `DeskClock` app that ships with some versions of Android. Other applications can teach the `DeskClock` of new alarms via [`ACTION_SET_ALARM`](http://developer.android.com/reference/android/provider/AlarmClock.html#ACTION_SET_ALARM) -- however, then those applications really aren't "alarm clock applications", but rather "new front-ends to the existing alarm clock application". There is no way to set that icon from the SDK. – CommonsWare May 30 '11 at 12:26