Occasionally someone asks me about waking up to music on their Airport Express connected speakers with Air Tunes. Is that you something you add on alarm clocks?
As I'm sure most people already know, am alarm clock is not on iTunes to play music from it in the morning. This is one of those features, alarm clock, makes itself from the rest, and there are rock-solid stability. For more information about why it is important that an alarm clock application is not on iTunes from, check out my FAQ, Question No. 2
http://www.wholesaleidea.com/home-office-gadgets-alarm-clocks-c-228_238.html
Now, via Air Tunes
Unfortunately, the API to music wirelessly via Airport Express kept secret from Apple. In other words, they have decided to use the functionality within iTunes, and not allow 3rd party developers to use the technology. So, currently this is not a built-in alarm clock feature.
However, this is one of those functions that can not really be a good idea for an alarm clock. Send music wirelessly to a set of speakers adds an element of uncertainty. If another computer is connected to the speakers, it will fail. If the network has problems, it will fail. If there is any kind of interference, it will fail. These are all problems that you do not see when you use your built-in speaker, or a series of speakers that are hardwired to your computer. In addition, many people who use Air Tunes (perhaps not you, but also many other users) its Airport Express to a home theater system has joined. This also means that to make sure before you go to bed that your audio receiver or TV-DVD switch to the right attitude, have to allow to play music from your computer. A problem that most users never dedicated to the use of a series of speakers to take care of their computers.
Now it can be used for alarm to some of the above scenarios possible again. If the connection to the speakers not, it might just the audio from the speaker. But herein lies the problem. Who of all the extra trouble and effort to configure their alarm to play would go to a different set of wireless speakers is probably a reason to do so. And for this reason is probably because their computer speakers are not loud enough to wake her, or her computer in another room, and too far away to be loud in the bedroom. So when the Air Tunes not in any of the above scenarios, it means disaster for the user. If the computer in your bedroom or non-integrated or attached speakers loud enough to wake you, it's probably not a good idea to use it as an alarm clock anyway. (And then there are those users who would use the feature just because of the cool factor ...)
So even if Apple decided to make public the API to use Air Tunes, I had to think long and hard before implementing them in alarm. In many ways it is like a gun to the users themselves in the foot to shoot. There are many other software alarm clock on the market, the importance of the functions set far and above the stability and reliability. Alarm Clock 2 is not one of them.
I would like to point out that it use an application on the market that allow you to clock and the radio play is wirelessly via Air Tunes. The product is called Airfoil, and you can read more about it here:
http://www.wholesaleidea.com/home-office-gadgets-alarm-clocks-c-228_238.html
But please remember that Apple's API or private. Which means that this application because they made it, Apple's API (as far as I know) I hack works. If Apple decides what to change in the future, this product has stopped working. And since then all the other problems with playing music are wireless, that I mentioned.
As always, I am welcome to the criticism. So, if you agree with everything I said or not, you just have a different perspective on something, feel free to let me know.
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