We’ve been super busy working on Awaken 5 - yes, Awaken 4.1 has become Awaken 5.0 due to all of the under-the-hood changes, new features, updated UI and better performance. We’ll have more on that soon.
For now, we would like your feedback on a UI change related to how alarms are displayed in non-fullscreen mode. We made this change to be more streamlined and easier to use.
In the video below we are demonstrating the Egg Timer and as of now the countdown screen portion has yet to be updated but the key thing for feedback is the alarm view displayed.
You will notice that video is being played back. Right now with widescreen video there is an empty space above and below the video. We will be addressing that by animating the height of the window to match.
Also, if you’d like to see real-time updates (screenshots, video, notes) and the ability to reply on each as they happen - you can follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jerrybrace.
All feedback is welcomed on this early draft. We look forward to reading it.
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24 Responses to “New Awaken UI Feedback [updated]”
Thanks for the feedback Sam. I’ll be addressing the fullscreen button once we have the new fullscreen mode designed and ready to show. It is something we are including
But can you change the pushed button? They are not that nice… You can use the on from the finder… I can send you the resources : they are in the artfile.bin…
Apart from two minor complaints, great!
• The prev and next buttons look a little squashed horizontally. Or stretched vertically. Anyway.
• I’m not too keen on the customised pushed-down look. I still prefer the standard round textured button.
@Kaer - the video is scaled down to fit Flickr’s requirements - that is the reason for the squished appearance. It actually looks much better
Regarding the “customized pushed-down look” - I’m using a standard Leopard window and those buttons are standard from the Leopard toolbox as well. You can see these used in iTunes for example.
Thanks macpug! You’re awesome - I’m looking forward to getting Awaken 5 up to a releasable beta soon. The feedback has been great on the online forums, Twitter, and email - the more feedback the better
I have a small feature suggestion (dunno whether to post it here or e-mail it):
What I would really like to see in Awaken is a “shortening” snooze. Basically the amount of time given to “snooze” shortens every time the button is pressed (to a minimum, obviously). Say you set the snooze timer to 10 minutes, then, hit it again the next time the alarm goes off, then the next snooze timer is set for only 5 minutes, then 2.5 minutes, then say, 1 minute minimum.
Just a thought! Keep up the great work with this major update!
@Dylan - the green traffic light is only not shown when the window is not resizable. You can see it present at the beginning of the video before the alarm starts. Instead of hiding it though I’ll change it so that it is shown in a disabled state.
@JuLSwing - the option to increase/decrease snooze time during an alarm is a feature that will be coming in a future update. It may not make its way into 5.0 - but shortly thereafter.
I would like to make a feature request. Would it be possible to have Awaken return the system volume back to whatever level it was at before Awaken starts turning it up to maximum? This never fails to spook me. Alarm goes off, double-click iMac remote to turn it off, the later go to do something on the Mac to find the volume is cranked al the way up. Thanks for a great product, looking forward to version 5.
Hey Jerry,
the new UI looks really tasty, even more than version 4 did Can’t wait to let it awake me Love the new note-design as well! Is there already a date for a beta? And what about the different localizations…will be ship with v.5 / do you need some updates?
Best regards
Wow, this looks promising! I’m really looking forward to this release, awesome job!
Do you think it would be possible (maybe not in v5.0 but in the future) that Awaken displays the current events for the day? I often thought about this, I start up Mail every morning but I always have to launch iCal additionally and look up what’s going on today. I think this would be a really cool feature, you could just take a look at the screen and you’re done!
Thanks in advance and good look for the further development!
June 30th, 2008 at 6:15 am
great update, as i wrote on flickr
Can you add a full screen button ? (especially for video)
-I know about cmd+F of course.
June 30th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Thanks for the feedback Sam. I’ll be addressing the fullscreen button once we have the new fullscreen mode designed and ready to show. It is something we are including
June 30th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Nice! REALLY!
But can you change the pushed button? They are not that nice… You can use the on from the finder… I can send you the resources : they are in the artfile.bin…
June 30th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Apart from two minor complaints, great!
• The prev and next buttons look a little squashed horizontally. Or stretched vertically. Anyway.
• I’m not too keen on the customised pushed-down look. I still prefer the standard round textured button.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
@Kaer - the video is scaled down to fit Flickr’s requirements - that is the reason for the squished appearance. It actually looks much better
Regarding the “customized pushed-down look” - I’m using a standard Leopard window and those buttons are standard from the Leopard toolbox as well. You can see these used in iTunes for example.
Here is a fullsize screenshot at 100%: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/2622925866_6a5b4b3049_o.jpg
Thanks for the feedback - it’s all very valuable!
July 1st, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I commented on Flickr as well (I think…well, I commented somewhere!)
Anyway, I like it!
Happy Canada Day, Jerry!
July 1st, 2008 at 3:44 pm
oooohhh…..gravatar support! just one more cool service that Embraceware offers
(I was tipped off by your Tweet!)
July 1st, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Thanks macpug! You’re awesome - I’m looking forward to getting Awaken 5 up to a releasable beta soon. The feedback has been great on the online forums, Twitter, and email - the more feedback the better
July 7th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Looks fantastic. I thought 4.0.x was pretty slick, but you guys have outdone yourself. Love the app, keep on innovating!
July 7th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Thanks Brent! We’re loving the feedback
July 9th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Please keep all the traffic lights, it looks really odd without the green one.
July 14th, 2008 at 12:09 am
I have a small feature suggestion (dunno whether to post it here or e-mail it):
What I would really like to see in Awaken is a “shortening” snooze. Basically the amount of time given to “snooze” shortens every time the button is pressed (to a minimum, obviously). Say you set the snooze timer to 10 minutes, then, hit it again the next time the alarm goes off, then the next snooze timer is set for only 5 minutes, then 2.5 minutes, then say, 1 minute minimum.
Just a thought! Keep up the great work with this major update!
July 15th, 2008 at 6:18 am
can you tell me where I can submit a bug/issue?
July 15th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
@Dylan - the green traffic light is only not shown when the window is not resizable. You can see it present at the beginning of the video before the alarm starts. Instead of hiding it though I’ll change it so that it is shown in a disabled state.
@bekabug - you can reach our support team at this address: support@embraceware.com. This and other information is outlined on our “Support” page: http://embraceware.com/support/ - thanks!
July 15th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
@JuLSwing - the option to increase/decrease snooze time during an alarm is a feature that will be coming in a future update. It may not make its way into 5.0 - but shortly thereafter.
July 16th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Jerry -
I love it! The speed of music change is great. Looks fine to me -I won’t niggle over how a button looks.
Are you going to have an iPhone version someday?
July 21st, 2008 at 6:50 am
The iphone is begging for Awaken as an app.
Any thoughts?
July 26th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Maybe I’m asking too early, but will Awaken 5 still be a free upgrade?
July 26th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
@FSFunky - yes, all updates to Awaken (both minor and major) are FREE
We’re busy working on getting a beta available soon.
August 12th, 2008 at 7:17 am
I would like to make a feature request. Would it be possible to have Awaken return the system volume back to whatever level it was at before Awaken starts turning it up to maximum? This never fails to spook me. Alarm goes off, double-click iMac remote to turn it off, the later go to do something on the Mac to find the volume is cranked al the way up. Thanks for a great product, looking forward to version 5.
August 14th, 2008 at 7:01 am
Great news. I’d love to see Airtunes support in version 5. You know so that I don’t have to set it manually to “bedroom” every evening.
August 15th, 2008 at 5:15 am
Loving Awaken!
I just happened to notice a small typo popping up during installation: http://h4xr.org/72ps. Should be “its” instead of “it’s”.
Keep up the great work!
August 20th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Hey Jerry,
Can’t wait to let it awake me 
Love the new note-design as well! Is there already a date for a beta? 
And what about the different localizations…will be ship with v.5 / do you need some updates?
the new UI looks really tasty, even more than version 4 did
Best regards
August 26th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Wow, this looks promising! I’m really looking forward to this release, awesome job!
Do you think it would be possible (maybe not in v5.0 but in the future) that Awaken displays the current events for the day? I often thought about this, I start up Mail every morning but I always have to launch iCal additionally and look up what’s going on today. I think this would be a really cool feature, you could just take a look at the screen and you’re done!
Thanks in advance and good look for the further development!
Daniel