Checking out the Windows 10 Alarms & Clock App

The Alarms and Clock Universal Windows Platform (UWP) App not only helps to tell time with a world clock but it is also an alarm clock, timer and stopwatch. As a UWP it is available on all of your Windows 10 devices but it does lack one key feature.

Richard Hay, Senior Content Producer

March 23, 2016

2 Min Read
Checking out the Windows 10 Alarms & Clock App

Time is a precious commodity and it is the one single thing we see refreshed for us everyday.

24 hours; 1,440 minutes; 86,400 seconds; 7 days a week and 365 days a year.

Keeping track of all of that is a big part of our daily existence and using it to the best of our abilities is important whether you spend your day working or relaxing.

We also live in a world that seems much smaller thanks to the Internet and social media services like Twitter. That makes tools which help us track time very instrumental to our day and Windows 10 has a first party app available to us at no cost for that purpose.

Currently Windows users can add two additional clocks based on different time zones to their system for easy reference with the Date and Time applet but what if you need to reference more time zones around the world?

Well, the Windows 10 Universal Windows Platform (UWP) App Alarms & Clocks gives you that flexibility and it brings along a couple of other handy features.

The Alarms tab shows your active and inactive alarms which can be easily turned on and off with one click/tap.

There are multiple options for each alarm including how often it will be triggered, unique sounds and how long the snooze period will be.

This is where the Alarms & Clock app well exceeds the limit of only two additional clocks in the Windows Date and Time applet. I can add much more than just two clocks now and I stopped after adding 10 of them to test the Alarms & Clock app - so max flexibility for keeping up with the time around the world.

There is even an option to move the timeline back and forth to see what time it is in different time zones you are tracking to find an ideal meeting/phone call time.

In addition to all of these features the app also has a timer and stopwatch that can be used for a multitude of purposes throughout your day.

My only complaint about this app is the lack of sync across devices or at least the ability to select what tabs are synced between my Windows 10 installs. It would be very handy to setup time zones in one app and have them available on others.

This app also remembers the last tab that was opened when you close it so the next time you open it up that same tab will display and this is very handy for World Clock display for quick reference. Pinning it to the taskbar puts it just one click away.

But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.

About the Author

Richard Hay

Senior Content Producer, IT Pro Today (Informa Tech)

I served for 29 plus years in the U.S. Navy and retired as a Master Chief Petty Officer in November 2011. My work background in the Navy was telecommunications related so my hobby of computers fit well with what I did for the Navy. I consider myself a tech geek and enjoy most things in that arena.

My first website – AnotherWin95.com – came online in 1995. Back then I used GeoCities Web Hosting for it and WindowsObserver.com is the result of the work I have done on that site since 1995.

In January 2010 my community contributions were recognized by Microsoft when I received my first Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for the Windows Operating System. Since then I have been renewed as a Microsoft MVP each subsequent year since that initial award. I am also a member of the inaugural group of Windows Insider MVPs which began in 2016.

I previously hosted the Observed Tech PODCAST for 10 years and 317 episodes and now host a new podcast called Faith, Tech, and Space. 

I began contributing to Penton Technology websites in January 2015 and in April 2017 I was hired as the Senior Content Producer for Penton Technology which is now Informa Tech. In that role, I contribute to ITPro Today and cover operating systems, enterprise technology, and productivity.

https://twitter.com/winobs

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